Questions and Answers about Telecommuting for Persons with Disabilities:
A Guide for Employers

Dr. James E. Jarrett
Graduate School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin
&
The Independent Living Research Utilization Program
The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research
Houston, Texas

ILRU Program & James Jarrett, Copyright 1996

Link to RTF version of this document.

A Guide for Human Resource Staff

Introduction

Overview

Successful Telecommuting by Persons with Disabilities

Home/Alternative Work Site

Supervisory Issues

Legal Matters

Final Points

Summary of Survey Results

Appendix

A Guide for Human Resource Staff

Introduction

This guide is for human resource staffs and supervisors in private and public organizations on issues related to telecommuting by employees with disabilities. The guide is based mainly on a national mail survey conducted in early 1995 of approximately 500 employers. Additional information for the guide came from telephone interviews, reviews of materials submitted by corporations and by departments of federal, state, and local governments, and analysis of prior telecommuting studies.

About 160 employers had responded at the time this guide was being written. Responses came from all types of employers: some employers did not track if persons with disabilities were among their organization's telecommuters; some employers did not have telecommuting employees with disabilities; and some employers did have telecommuting employees with disabilities.

The purpose of this guide is to present key issues involved with employees and potential employees with disabilities who are or may wish to begin telecommuting. Telecommuting in this guide means working at least one day each week at home or an alternative work location near home. The guide addresses issues from an employer's perspective. A companion guide addresses related issues from an employee's perspective. Both guides were prepared in a question-and-answer format for ease of communication.

Grateful acknowledgments are made to the sponsors of the research and the guides: The Dole Foundation for Employment of People with Disabilities, The JM Foundation, and the Rose M. Badgeley Residuary Charitable Trust. All views and opinions expressed are those of the research team and not the sponsoring organizations.

Overview

Q Do many businesses or government agencies employ telecommuters who have disabilities?

A Yes. A researcher at the Business School of The University of Texas (UT) at Austin in cooperation with The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) conducted a recent nationwide survey. This research identified more than 35 organizations that employ telecommuters who have disabilities. The numbers of private corporations and government agencies were roughly equal with a limited number of nonprofit agencies. The organizations ranged in size from less than 50 employees to the U.S. Department of Defense. Geographically, all regions of the United States were represented as were organizations from Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

The survey found several distinct types of telecommuting programs established for persons with permanent and temporary disabilities.

The number of employers with telecommuters who have disabilities is greater than 35 organizations, without doubt, for three reasons.

• About half of all organizations responding to the survey do not track if they have telecommuters with disabilities, and some of these organizations have more than 1,000 telecommuters.
• Programs are known to include employees with disabilities but the surveys were not completed.
• The survey effort was limited to approximately 500 employers because of resource constraints.

Q What types, of telecommuting initiatives involve employees with disabilities?

A Several distinct types of initiatives exist although some overlap.

• Some programs and projects are established solely for persons with disabilities. Some have been in existence for more than seven years while others are relatively new. Generally, the older programs were set up for individuals with permanent, physical impairments. The more recently established programs often were set up not only for such individuals but also for the reemployment of employees with temporary disabilities.
• Another type of program is less formal and usually does not include a formal telecommuting program or telecommuting policy. In this instance, employees are working in unique job accommodations for temporary conditions such as pregnancy complications, cancer treatments, broken limbs, family medical emergencies, or other conditions.
• A third type of program occurs when employees with disabilities participate as part of an employer's larger telecommuting program. According to survey results, this program is the most frequently used type of telecommuting for employees with disabilities.
• Some telecommuting projects are in reality home-based employment programs. These programs are for individuals who, because of the nature of their disabilities or transportation difficulties, are unable to have a job in which regular and reliable on-site attendance is required.
• Employees with disabilities, who often have computer-related training, have been placed in probationary positions with for-profit firms by nonprofit agencies. Although many of these individuals can work on-site, others cannot and perform some of their duties off-site. These employers often do not consider that they have formal telecommuting programs or policies in effect.

Q Why do firms, organizations, and governments use telecommuting for employees with disabilities?

Most employers are positive about their telecommuting employees.

A While telecommuting might be seen as a work place option that primarily serves employees' needs, nearly all telecommuting programs involving persons with disabilities are established to fill employers' needs. The results of the UT TIRR survey show that the most important reasons for creating and maintaining this work place practice are to accomplish the following:

• Retain valuable employees and/or reemploy trained employees, thereby lowering employee recruitment and training costs and sometimes reducing workers' compensation expenses.
• Respond to particular employees' medical or family situations, keep morale high, and retain their loyalty.
• Fill positions for which recruitment had been difficult or in which turnover had been high such as evening shift jobs, part time positions, or jobs that previously were in crime-ridden locations.
• Comply with trip reduction and air quality regulations in certain metropolitan areas of the United States.

On the survey, 15 percent of employers indicated they had started telecommuting to increase diversity of their work force and ten percent to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Telecommuting is first and foremost a work place option for management.

Q Are your counterparts at firms and government departments satisfied with telecommuting?

A Nearly all employers are positive about their telecommuting employees. Fewer than three percent of employers indicated they had terminated their telecommuting efforts. However, some organizations probably did not respond to the survey because they were disenchanted with telecommuting. A majority of employers (57 percent) believe employees have become more productive since beginning to telecommute while only six percent believe productivity has declined.

Telecommuting is not generally viewed as a technique for cost savings. Many employers indicated that they experienced no appreciable cost savings or that they did not have sufficient data at this time. However, employers do anticipate cost savings from reorganization and downsizing of their physical facilities once the number of telecommuters increases enough to eliminate permanently some existing office space.

Successful Telecommuting by Persons with Disabilities

Q What are the requirements for successful telecommuting by employees with disabilities in contrast to telecommuting by nondisabled employees?

A The essential requirements are the same. For any telecommuting program or individual telecommuting work arrangement to succeed, there are certain "musts" according to employers with telecommuters. Successful telecommuting is characterized by answering positively the following questions:

• Type of work assignment. Can the tasks be performed off site? Can the tasks be completed without significant interaction with other employees? Jobs with large numbers of telecommuters include strategic planning, market analysis, program analysis, budget and finance, and information technology with fewer jobs in procurement or human resources.
• Supervisory style. Are your supervisors willing to and capable of managing and monitoring by results rather than by direct observation of employees' activities?
• Measurement. Can progress toward completing the work be readily and easily measured? Do known or pre-established work standards exist to assess employee productivity?
• Equipment. Does the employee have proper equipment to perform his/her work, especially in interfacing with your organization's information technologies such as LAN? Will information security be maintained in transferring data electronically?
• Telecommuting work site. Is the employee's work site conducive to completing assignments? Have all liability and legal matters been satisfactorily resolved?
• Telecommuter qualifications. Does the employee have the necessary skills and abilities to perform the tasks? Does the particular employee have the disposition and motivation to work regularly by her/himself or does the employee need extensive interpersonal interaction found within an office environment?

Q Don't other considerations exist over and above those just mentioned when telecommuting involves employees with disabilities?

A Yes, usually additional issues must be addressed. Perhaps the most important issue is isolation. All telecommuters may suffer from isolation, but for employees with disabilities the problem can be particularly serious. Employers should adopt specific policies and procedures to prevent the employees from losing touch and to maintain a firm's organizational culture with employees who are off-site. Other employers have adopted a variety of both short-term and long-term policies and procedures.

Short-term procedures and actions have included the following:

• Mandatory participation in on-site staff meetings, on-site: social events, and on-site training sessions.
• Limiting telecommuting to a maximum number of days per week, usually two or three.
• Arranging occasional visits by supervisors and co-workers at the new work site.
• Requiring telecommuters to check in, via telephone or electronic mail, a minimum number of times each day or week and/or at pre-established times daily.
• Increasing communication among telecommuters with disabilities through extra on-site meetings after normal departmental or work team meetings, through electronic mail, and other ways of creating an employment support network.

Specific policies and procedures can help maintain a firm 's organizational culture with employees who are off-site.

To prevent isolation over the long-term, some organizations now have policies that require on-site positions be made available to telecommuters with disabilities. For example, one federal agency has adopted a policy that telecommuters with disabilities must be offered on-site employment at least every two years and that employees may request a change to an on-site position at any time after completion of probation. Obviously, the availability of positions and each employee's disabilities will be factors in adopting such policies.

Q Do other employers believe their current practices are adequate to prevent isolation of telecommuters?

A Yes. Based on the nationwide survey, an overwhelming majority of employers believe current practices have proven sufficient to prevent isolation of telecommuters. Eighty percent of employers who have one or more telecommuters with disabilities believe ". . . existing practices are adequate to prevent isolation of telecommuters and to maintain satisfactory communication among employees." Only one of the 30 employers indicated that existing practices are inadequate. Among employers who do not have telecommuters with disabilities, the result was nearly the same. About 60 percent indicated their existing practices and procedures are proving successful.

Q What are other considerations for telecommuting employees with disabilities?

A Employers should give special attention to assistive technology and equipment needed by individual employees. The cost of some assistive technology for employees with disabilities is higher than for other telecommuters. This higher cost is especially the case with some newer equipment for employees who are blind or visually impaired. However, only about one of every seven employers cites the cost of equipment or problems with equipment as a barrier to telecommuting. This issue was cited just as frequently among all employers with employees who have disabilities.

Yet, not every telecommuter will use computers extensively. The survey found some supervisors of telecommuters indicating the only mandatory piece of equipment is a telephone. Some telecommuters use only paper and pencil to complete assignments off-site.

Transportation-related issues also are more important for employees with disabilities than for most other telecommuters in your organization. Where public transit is inadequate or not conducive to use by mobility or visually-impaired individuals, many employees with disabilities are forced to travel by a private vehicle. Telecommuting by employees with disabilities becomes more necessary in metropolitan areas under air quality improvement mandates and where parking for private vehicles is either very limited or expensive.

Q What if an employee cannot come to the central work site on a regular basis?

A Procedures for preventing isolation were outlined previously. In some cases, however, the employees may not be able to come to a central work site without undue difficulty even several times a week. For individuals with the most significant disabilities, work might need to be taken to their home-site. One organization sends a courier daily to six different home-based telecommuters to deliver new work assignments and to pick up completed ones. All six telecommuters live within a 25-mile radius of the central office site.

Q Are employees with disabilities satisfied with their telecommuting arrangements?

A As noted earlier, we have not directly asked employees with disabilities if they are pleased with their job arrangements, so a definitive answer to this question cannot be provided.

Some indirect evidence indicates employee satisfaction, however. According to employers, very few individual telecommuters with disabilities have stopped telecommuting. Those who have stopped generally did so for the following reasons: they moved away, their disability became more limiting, or they took a job with another firm. Only a handful stopped telecommuting to resume their prior work schedule at the employer's main location.

Home/Alternative Work Site

Q What typically do employers purchase, and what are telecommuters expected to purchase?

A Most employers will reimburse installation charges for any new phone lines and for business-related calls made from the remote work site. Necessary office supplies are obtained from the central work site.

Employees are responsible for additional utility costs and for any expenses related to furniture. Employers often provide computer equipment, whereas some employers allow employees to use their own equipment but do not supply equipment for off-site locations. Employers usually are responsible for correct ergonomics and, therefore, should provide any necessary ergonomic alterations.

Q What if an injury occurs at the remote work site?

A Injuries are covered by workers' compensation laws just as if the injury occurred at the central office location.

Telecommuters are responsible for maintaining safe working conditions. To ensure that such conditions exist, some employers insist that supervisors have the right to make on-site inspections at mutually agreed upon times. One employer asks employees who are interested in telecommuting to provide a photograph of their intended work site as part of their application for telecommuting. Most emplyoyers exclude injuries to a telecommuter if they occur outside the designated work area at a telecommuter's residence or outside the agreed-upon work hours Only ten percent of employers reported insurance, liability, or legal issues are limiting telecommuting within their organization.

Q What if property is stolen from a telecommuter's site?

A Most employers have Insurance coverage that extends to remote work site locations of their employees. If telecommuters are using their own equipment to perform duties for your organization or firm, then employees should check their homeowner's or renter's insurance policies to ensure that any loss will be covered. Insurance is not always a clear-cut issue, however. At least one major corporation requires telecommuters to add an insurance rider for incidental business use. The corporation insists on being added as an additional insured party on the rider. For the large majority of employers, however, insurance is not a concern nor are liablity or legal issues.

Supervisory Issues

Q While telecommuters may be more productive in accomplishing their assignments, doesn't telecommuting put an extra burden on an organization's supervisors and managers?

A In theory, managing people off-site should be no different from managing them on-site. After all, a good manager manages by results not activities. Yet, in reality a new telecommuting program can generate more work for supervisors and managers if many people in the department are telecommuting and schedules need to be juggled or if office employees are asking supervisors questions that the telecommuters should be answering.

Methods exist to adjust to these growing pains at the beginning of a telecommuting project, so be prepared when they arise. Reasonably priced training packages are available for both supervisors and telecommuters so both can anticipate and prevent common problems.

Q Isn't there a danger that employees who are not telecommuting will become resentful that others are telecommuting or that the office employees will need to perform some tasks that previously were performed by employees who are now telecommuting?

A Resentment by co-workers is possible, and both supervisors and telecommuters must take steps to keep it to a minimum. Employers should establish specific guidelines to prevent the nontelecommuting office employees from shouldering too many additional tasks.

Methods for communicating with the telecommuters should be identified so that office employees can handle unforeseen circumstances. For example, some telecommuters forward all calls from their central office phones to their remote work site telephone which makes contacts as transparent as possible. Some organizations require employees to post telecommuting schedules.

Also, co-workers should have an opportunity to voice their concerns about the work arrangement and to discuss possible solutions to those concerns.

Supervisors should be especially careful to describe the selection criteria used for choosing telecommuters in those organizations in which not every employee is eligible to telecommute. Unless employees understand the criteria and specifically why their job or their past job performance precludes telecommuting, resentment is likely to occur.

Supervisors should be especially careful to describe the selection criteria used for choosing telecommuters in those organizations in which not every employee is eligible to telecommute.

Q Would extra work arise for supervisors or human resource professionals in an organization in devising and implementing a telecommuting program?

A Each organization's standard operating procedures and culture will determine the amount of oversight required. Some employers have no guidelines or policies while others have issued only general guidelines for supervisors.

Other employers have the following procedures: a formal policy, guidelines for supervisors, application procedures for potential telecommuters, rules for employee off-site behavior such as notification to central office staff if employees leave temporarily their remote site during core hours, employee-supervisor agreements, and checklists for supplies and equipment in the off-site work location.

Several employers have assembled all relevant materials for supervisors and telecommuters in easy-to-use manuals.

Q It is one thing for dependable current employees to begin telecommuting, but should new employees be able to telecommute also?

A A majority of firms will start new employees under a telecommuting arrangement. About 47 percent of all employers surveyed indicated that telecommuting is viable for new hires. Another 19 percent think new employees "possibly" might be allowed to telecommute. A rather large number, about 20 percent, however, were unsure.

About seven percent of all employers surveyed do not support telecommuting by new employees. The most commonly expressed reasons are that probationary employees need to be monitored more closely, that time is needed at the central work site to develop solid working relationships and to grasp all aspects of the job, and that new employees must be on-site to absorb the organization's culture.

Most employers who expressed reservations about telecommuting by new hires indicate that employees should work at least one year full time on-site before telecommuting.

With respect to new employees with disabilities, the safest course of action may be to require on-site employment to the extent possible during the first six to 18 months. Yet, on-site employment by a new employee with a disability may not be possible due to the nature of his or her disability. Then the employer should consider a telecommuting pilot project for a small number of new employees who can fill critical needs of the organization. Several organizations have implemented such projects successfully, and information can be provided upon request.

Q Does telecommuting affect the amount of sick leave usage which employees take or their turnover rate?

A Some evidence from employers shows that telecommuters do not use as much sick leave although the data is not entirely conclusive. Telecommuters who need to go to a medical appointment often can rearrange their schedules so that they do not need to use sick leave. That often is not possible when situated at the central work office because medical appointment locations usually are closer to homes than to offices.

In addition, some telecommuters may be able to work at home when they do not feel well enough for a regular commute and to spend an entire day at the office. Other employers have speculated that lower stress from avoiding tedious commutes one or two days a week reduces the number of marginal sick days an employee will take.

Any reduction in sick leave usage should be considered an indirect and added benefit from telecommuting rather than a goal for creating a telecommuting program.

Some prior studies have speculated about telecommuters tending to have lower turnover rates because of improved morale and because the needs of well performing employees are being met. As far as is known, no solid evidence substantiates this belief. The survey of employers did not address this issue.

Q What if a supervisor agrees to let employees telecommute and it doesn't work out?

A Nearly all employers follow the policy that telecommuting arrangements are voluntary and both employee and employer must agree to the policy. The exceptions are some firms that have large roving sales staffs and some firms that are struggling to meet trip reduction mandates under air quality regulations.

Because most firms adhere to the voluntary nature of telecommuting, if supervisors are dissatisfied then they should discontinue the telecommuting arrangements.

Legal Matters

Q Why do many employers require signed telecommuting agreements?

A The primary reason is that both managers and employees are forced to identify key terms and conditions of the telecommuting arrangement. Elements commonly addressed include the telecommuting schedule, both by days of the week and by hours of the day procedures for obtaining messages, equipment arrangements, and safety requirements at the home or remote site. A written agreement improves planning, and a greater likelihood exists for a common understanding of what is expected of the employee and to what conditions the employer has agreed.

Q Should consideration be given to converting a career employee to a contract employee if (s)he telecommutes frequently or full time?

A This issue has arisen as a point of contention in a small number of companies. The incidence of telecommuting should not change or affect the employment status.

Q Should telecommuting be viewed as the primary work place accommodation for employees and potential employees who have disabilities?

A As with the question of telecommuting by new employees, employers have differing views. About 25 percent of employers reported telecommuting is the single most important type of work place accommodation for persons with disabilities. About a similar proportion are unsure. Thirty one percent disagree or strongly disagree that telecommuting is the single most important type of accommodation. They view telecommuting as a work place accommodation that is not a
substitute for but is a supplement to accommodations at the central work site.

Several employers who had the most extensive experience with telecommuting employees with disabilities had a somewhat different perspective. These employers stated the question about telecommuting by employees with disabilities cannot be answered in the abstract or for all employees. They have found telecommuting to be a successful work place accommodation for some persons with disabilities, and they have found telecommuting to be an inappropriate accommodation for other individuals. These employers said that successful telecommuting by employees with disabilities depends on the individual employee, the type of work being performed, and proper equipment: in short, meeting the "musts" identified earlier.

Final Points

Telecommuting employees with disabilities must address one or more of your organization's objectives. Employers responding to the survey view telecommuting this way. To summarize:

• Several types of telecommuting programs exist involving persons with disabilities.
• Nearly all employers are positive about their telecommuting employees with fewer than three percent of employers indicating they had terminated their telecommuting efforts.
• Employers have found telecommuting increases employee productivity.
• Other organizational benefits have included retaining valuable employees, reemploying trained employees, and filling positions for which recruitment had been difficult or in which turnover had been high.
• Employers believe the essential requirements for successful telecommuting are generally the same for persons with disabilities and nondisabled employees except for issues of assistive technology and employee isolation. An overwhelming proportion of employers feel that isolation of telecommuters with disabilities is being addressed adequately by short-term actions and long-term policies.
• Various supervisory issues may derail a telecommuting effort although planning and existing training materials should suffice to overcome the potential problems.
• Telecommuting should be viewed as one type of accommodation that may be particularly well-suited for some persons with disabilities. In some situations, telecommuting may be suitable for new hires.

Telecommuting for employees with disabilities has been successful in most cases. Telecommuting should be considered when it would serve your organization's needs and when that type of accommodation is sought by an employee. Other employers have considered it and adopted it to everyone's benefit.

Summary of Survey Results

Finding: Telecommuting is an option for new employees with disabilities.

Nearly half of all employers (47 percent) would consider telecommuting by new employees with a disability. This finding is surprising because telecommuting entails trust between a supervisor and an employee, because telecommuting sometimes is restricted to employees with superior work histories, and because an increasing number of organizations believe their cultures and work practices are important to orient new employees. Only seven percent of employers said they definitely would not hire new employees with disabilities and allow them to telecommute.

In addition, another 19 percent of employers said they possibly would hire a new telecommuter with a disability, and about one of every five employers did not know if their organization would. The views of employers with telecommuting employees with disabilities were generally the same, although a higher proportion (62 percent) of these employers said they would recommend hiring a new employee with a disability and allow him or her to telecommute immediately.

This finding, which deserves further exploration in additional research and through other surveys, does suggest that telecommuting has the potential to provide dramatic employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.

Appendix

Many resources are available to employers who are interested in telecommuting. Some of the best illustrative and helpful written materials from employers are listed below. Contact James Jarrett via E-mail at jarrettj@msmail.bus.utexas.edu or by telephone at 521-471-6990 for a referral to the organizations which first issued the document or videotape.

Guides and Handbooks

Telecommuting Guide. Guidelines and suggestions for both supervisors and telecommuters covering the full range of implementation issues; also a fact sheet. County of Los Angeles.

Employee Handbook and Manager Handbooks. Each with self-assessment guides, agreements, hints and directions for successful telecommuting, and scenarios and pitfalls to avoid. Tandem Computers.

Telecommuting Manual. Training aid, ongoing reference, do's and don'ts for both supervisors and telecommuters, forms, checklists, ergonomics, diaries. City of San Diego.

Telecommuting Manual. Guidelines, suggestions for successful telecommuting, do's and don'ts, home office supply checklist and safety and ergonomics checklist. BULL HN Information Systems Inc., Phoenix.

Telecommuting Policy & Procedure Manual. Detailed sections on implementing telecommuting in a large organization, including the roles of departmental coordinators, training, forms and agreements, and screening surveys for both supervisors and employees. County of Sacramento.

Telecommuting Handbook. Guidelines, policy, agreements, checklist for telecommuters and for non-telecommuting staff support. California Department of Motor Vehicles, Sacramento, CA.

Telecommuting Guide. Agreement forms, benefits and adjustments, selection, supervising telecommuters, and being a telecommuter. City of Fort Collins, Colorado.

Implementing Telecommuting. A manual which supersedes the earlier federal government's Flexible Workplace Program Handbook. Participation criteria, work schedules, telecommunications and equipment, the work site, and other considerations. U.S. General Services Administration, Washington, D.C.

Balancing Work and Family Demands Through Telecommuting. 16 page booklet that outlines the key elements that agencies, managers, and employees should consider when establishing a home-based telecommuting program. Provides a list of resources, a sample agreement, and a checklist about the home office. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Washington, D.C.

Telecommuting Implementation Manual. Overview, how to get started, how to set up, how to supervise and manage, and how to be in compliance. Midwest Institute for Telecommuting Education, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Telecommuting Work Option. Information guidelines, model policies, evaluating and monitoring, and supervisor's checklist for telecommuters. Telecommuting Advisory Group, State of California.

Agreements and Forms

Work At Home (Temporary) Telecommuting Agreement. U.S. International Trade Commission, Washington, D.C.

Telecommuting Agreement Form. Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority Phoenix.

Equipment/Software Inventory Form. Department of Personnel, State of Washington, Olympia, Washington.

Telecommuting Application Request Form. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Telecommuting Application Form. City of Los Angeles.

Other

Memorandum on Flexiplace for People with Disabilities. Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Civilian Personnel Policy /Equal Opportunity), U.S. Department of Defense, Washington, D.C.

Managing Information Resources for Accessibility. Center on Information Technology Accommodation (formerly the Clearinghouse on Computer Accommodation), U.S. General Services Administration, Washington, D.C.

A Day Seminar on Implementing Telecommuting. Midwest Institute for Telecommuting Education.

Policy and Procedure Statement on Telecommuting from Client Locations. Ernst & Young LLP, Houston.

Questions and Answers on Computer and Telephone Issues. 65 pages of questions and answers about technology to support telecommuting including five pages of questions for persons with disabilities. U.S. General Services Administration, Washington, D.C.

Orientation to Telecommuting. Trainer's Guide and Participant Workbooks. U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C.

Electronic Sources

Federal telecommuting bulletin board system (TeleConX). U.S. General Services Administration. Addresses: (1) Telnet FedWorld.gov and select #56 on Gateway menu; or (2) Via modem, dial (202) 501-7741.

Internet home page for Center on Information Technology Accommodation (formerly the Clearinghouse on Computer Accommodation), the U.S. General Services Administration. http://www.gsa.gov/coca/

Internet home page for Telecommuting Advisory Council (TAC)., http:/ /www.telecommute.org

Internet home page on telecommuting, teleworking, and alternative officing by Gil Gordon and David Peterson. http://www.gilgordon.com

Internet home page for Telecommuting and Travel Research Program of the Institute of Transportation Studies at University California at Davis. http:/ /www.engr.ucdavis.edu/~its/telecom

Videotapes

A 12-minute video for upper management; A 30-minute video, facilitator's guide, and reproducible workbook slicks on implementing telecommuting. Arizona Department of Administration, Phoenix.

A 20-minute video, discussion guide, and participant hand-out that examines the lives and issues of four telecommuters (Working From Home). Midwest Institute for Telecommuting Education, Minneapolis.

A 10-minute video on "Home Based Employment." Bureau of Personnel Management, Division of Motor Vehicles, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Madison, Wisconsin.

A 5-minute video on telecommuting. County of Los Angeles.

ILRU is a program of TIRR, a nationally recognized, free-standing rehabilitation facility for persons with physical disabilities. TIRR is part of TIRR systems, which is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to providing a continuum of services to individuals with disabilities. Since 1959, TIRR has provided patient care, education, and research to promote the integration of people with physical and cognitive disabilities into all aspects of community living.

@1996 by
The Independent Living Research Utilization Program
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