IRS plans telecommuting pilot

The IRS plans to kick off a telecommuting pilot project in mid-June that

would allow some of its employees to work from home several days a week.

The IRS' Flexiplace pilot program will involve about 20 employees from the

IRS' Information Systems Office of Information Resources Management. The

pilot is scheduled to run about three months and will be voluntary.

The employees who partake for the pilot will work at home from one to three

days a week. They will use a laptop computer and have remote access to e-mail.

During the days they work in the office, employees will be assigned a temporary

workspace where they can plug in their computers to access the agency network

under a concept dubbed "hoteling."

Before the pilot begins, the participants will be trained by a vendor on

how to do their jobs under a telecommuting arrangement. Managers will be

trained in remote management skills, said Adriane Thormahlen, senior analyst

in the IRM office, speaking at the General Services Administration's annual

Trail Boss Roundup in Williamsburg, Va., last week. Later this year, the

IRS' Information Systems System Development group will conduct a similar

pilot project.