Manager

There should be no significant difference between managing the performance of an employee who is teleworking or working remotely and of an employee who works in the office. As a threshold consideration, management expectations for performance should be clearly addressed in the employee's performance plan, and the performance plan should be reviewed to ensure the standards do not create inequities or inconsistencies between teleworking or remote employees and employees who work only at an agency office. Like non-teleworking employees, teleworkers and remote workers are held accountable for their performance against applicable performance standards. Managing performance of teleworking or remote employees may require the supervisor to rethink and expand techniques for observing and evaluating work in progress.

Under most circumstances, poor performance would result in suspension or termination of a telework agreement. However, terminating a telework or remote work arrangement, particularly if the employee resides outside the local commuting area of the agency worksite, may require additional considerations. In an approved remote work arrangement, the employee’s worksite (e.g., home) becomes the employee’s official duty station for pay and other purposes. If the employee resides outside the local commuting area of the agency worksite, there may not be a Government site where the employee can report following an agency determination that the remote work arrangement is negatively impacting the employee’s performance. In such a case, an agency may determine that an employee is a better candidate for a PIP that can be done remotely at the alternative worksite versus requiring the struggling employee to work onsite via a management-directed reassignment. In such cases, the PIP should contain a description of the manner in which the employees and the supervisor will communicate during the PIP and any barriers that should be resolved before the opportunity period begins.