The Sherburne County Board Tuesday approved a telework policy that allows some county employees to work off-site.

 

Administrator Steve Taylor said the county already has some staff members doing work in the field or from home, but the policy will set in place specific practices for working from alternative locations.

 

“It’s an umbrella policy that’s written fairly broadly because we have departments that are very different from one another,” he said.

 

Taylor said there are specific jobs that require staff to work from other places in departments like Health & Human Services (HHS), Information Technology, Probation and Corrections.

 

“What it comes down to is, does it make sense for employees who are working in the field 90% of the time to come in to the office to check in and go back out?” he asked.

 

“We’re trying to increase efficiencies and effectiveness. We’re becoming more and more mobile. We have ipads and iphones. We’re able to take pictures of homes, of septic tanks and things of that nature.”

 

Taylor said security measures have been put in place to protect information in the field. There is encrypted software, firewalls and other measures taken to prevent security issues.

 

Each department will have policies specific to their particular departments.

 

Taylor said telework is not an entitlement, and each department head or manager is responsible for making telework arrangements.

 

He also said telework is not a substitute arrangement for childcare or an accommodation for personal, business or non-county endeavors.

 

“We’re leaving it up to the department heads and managers to see if it works,” he said. “If it doesn’t work because there isn’t enough broadband connectivity, whether they’re in their home or out in the field, or if it’s not working because goals and objectives are not being reached, it’s really up to management.”

 

Taylor said there is already a benefit in HHS with staff who do field work.

 

“In HHS, if this telework went away, we’d have to find a home for about 30 staff, he said. “We are designing the new building to allow staff to check in and use their computers and have meetings. The balance of their time they’re out visiting homes or doing other casework.”

 

Commissioner Rachel Leonard said department heads will have to evaluate their own staff to see which can do telework.

 

“They should know how they can oversee that,” she said.

 

Commissioner Felix Schmiesing agreed it would be important to monitor who could and should work off-site.

 

“We always want to get the most out of our employees, no matter where we have them,” he said. “But telework is not well-suited for all positions or all employees.”

 

Commissioner Bruce Anderson said there are benefits, but there could be drawbacks.

 

“It can be very effective, but it all comes down to management, accountability and supervision,” he said. “If you lose those three it’s a nightmare.”

 

Taylor agreed, and said only a minority of workers would be part of the program.