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Some Commerce bureaus are experimenting with alternative work sites known as "Flexiplace."

The Patent and Trademark Office has initiated a reinvention laboratory to experiment with alternative work sites, known as "Flexiplace." The flexiplace lab will allow large numbers of employees to perform a substantial portion of their duties at a work site away from the Patent and Trademark Office, most often in the home. The flexiplace concept is also an effort to allow the Department to tap the much-needed skills of members of the workforce who constitute a new demographic setting, such as single parents, dual career households, the handicapped, and the elderly.

(Contact: Colleen Woodard, 703-305-8062)

During Commerce's Performance Review, the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Computing and Applied Mathematics Laboratory submitted a suggestion to establish a telecommuting experiment to allow staff to perform certain kinds of duties at home. The experiment is in the process of being implemented by NIST. Each office has nominated staff who will be willing to participate in the program.

(Contact: Elaine Bunten-Mines, 301-975-2667)

Main NPR Category: Employee Empowerment

Contact Person: Contacts are included in the text above.

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