Telework
One of the purposes for establishing ODEP was to bring a permanent focus within DOL to address the significant employment obstacles faced by individuals with disabilities and ensure coordination among DOL agencies on matters related to or affecting people with disabilities. ODEP strives to meet this mandate by designing and conducting applied research on topics that increase the knowledge and understanding of strategies that increase the employment of people with disabilities.
Over the past three years, ODEP has been conducting research to better understand how different types of telework can promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities. In FY 2002, ODEP funded a congressionally mandated telework research project that included implementation of three pilot demonstration projects to explore the feasibility of developing and extending home-based telework/ telecommuting options to people with significant disabilities in Federal agencies. Three pilot demonstration projects were implemented to explore using telework/ telecommuting in innovative ways in Federal agencies. The research tested two types of telework, call centers and medical transcription, in three Federal agencies that outsource these types of services.
In FY 2004 three new research projects were funded to investigate telework with two target groups, people on Federal and state workman's' compensation, and service members returning from tours of duty in current combat areas. It is expected that these projects will expand our understanding of the type, nature, and context of different types of telework to open up employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
The three research projects will expand the understanding of the full dimensions of telework as an employment option for people with disabilities with emphasis on newly returning veterans with disabilities and individuals on workers' compensation. All three projects will employ two complimentary research phases. In phase one, the individual research teams completed questionnaire data collection from Federal and state agencies, private employers, and returning disabled service members to identify supporting conditions and strategies that are necessary to effectively implement and sustain telework for people with disabilities. Activities for this phase are now completed and write-ups for the findings from the surveys are being finalized. In phase two the research initiative will involve further exploration and validation of the national findings through telework implementation in several pilot sites and to conduct case studies. The research teams are currently recruiting participants with emphasis on returning veterans and individuals who are on federal or state worker's compensation.
