January 27, 2000
Web posted at: 6:55 p.m. EST (2355 GMT)

In this story: Manufacturing vs. office work 'Shot across the bow' RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Correspondent Jonathan Aiken

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal workplace safety inspectors won't be coming to check the home offices of the approximately 20 million Americans who "telecommute" to their jobs, a Labor Department official said.

The assurance came in testimony prepared for delivery to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions' subcommittee on employment, safety and training.

Charles Jeffress, an assistant secretary of labor in charge of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the agency "will respect the privacy of the home and it expects that employers will as well." He also said the Labor Department would not hold companies responsible for the safety of home offices.

Jeffress said OSHA "has taken no action -- nor will it take any action -- that would discourage this form of work," and he assured lawmakers in his written testimony that "OSHA does not and will not inspect home offices."

Jeffress was scheduled to appear Wednesday before the subcommittee, but the hearing was canceled because of inclement weather.

The testimony is an effort by the Labor Department to clarify what became a confusing policy dilemma that began when a "letter of interpretation," issued November 15, was inadvertently put on the Department's Web site.

The letter stated that employers would be responsible for federal health and safety violations that occurred in the homes of employees who work from home offices.

Manufacturing vs. office work

That missive was in response to a single case involving a Texas firm and was not intended to be a definitive policy statement. But the furor caused by its release prompted Labor Secretary Alexis Herman to withdraw the OSHA letter less than 48 hours after it appeared online.

Jeffress' testimony makes a sharp distinction between in-home manufacturing (which occurs in some industries) and white-collar telecommuting.

The Clinton administration, in making that distinction, has decided that employers are not exempt from liability stemming from hazardous home manufacturing work such as the assembly of fireworks, fishing lures and electronic components.

While noting the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 does not exclude workplaces in the home from meeting federal safety standards, Jeffress told lawmakers OSHA will hold employers responsible "only for work activities in home workplaces other than home offices." He also said the agency will inspect risky home manufacturing sites only if it has received a complaint or referral.

Jeffress met privately Wednesday with some subcommittee members. Subcommittee chairman Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming, said he was pleased to see OSHA was working to maintain and encourage what he called "flexible and family-friendly work arrangements."

An OSHA official has said he expects the exemption on home office inspections to apply to ergonomics issues, too

'Shot across the bow'

But Enzi said legislation may be forthcoming to formalize what appears to be an informal assurance.

Those concerns are being voiced elsewhere as well.

In testimony being prepared for delivery Friday to the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, the Northern Virginia Technology Council -- a pro-business group that supports telecommuting -- will urge lawmakers to get OSHA's assurances regarding home offices in writing.

"I want to see it grounded in something a little more formal than the hearts and minds of the current regulators," said Council President Bobbie Kilberg.

Kilberg said the OSHA letter was a "shot across the bow" to efforts like those sponsored by Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Virginia, that would offer financial incentives to companies that encourage telecommuting by their employees.

The group is also concerned that OSHA has not formally addressed the issue of ergonomics in Jeffress' testimony. The business community strongly opposes OSHA's proposed standards, which would hold employers liable for repetitive-stress injuries like the ones that result from using keyboards and computer workstations.

Jeffress has said he expects the exemption on home office inspections to apply to ergonomics issues as well.

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