July 25, 2022
Good morning,
On Friday, July 29, we are hoping to round out the third phase of implementing the Department of Health and Human Services’ Telework Policy. This month supervisors review workers’ requests. These reviews will help us plan office space, coverage, and meetings.
If you submitted a DHHS Telework Approval Form by July 1 and you have not received an approval or rejection email, please contact your supervisor to remind them to review your submission. We have discovered some workers think that they have submitted their Forms but missed a step along the way.
If you are a supervisor, check your email (search “Microsoft Power Automate”) or this link to see if you have forms waiting for review. I found that when a worker submits an updated form and I approve it, the previous submissions are still in the system: you can feel free to reject the older, outdated submissions. It will not affect the form that you have approve or denied. If you have workers who are seeking either an Americans with Disability Act (ADA) accommodation or have an extraordinary request, we ask you to approve or reject the telework request pursuant to our policy if you deem appropriate the Form as submitted. These special requests will be reviewed by either HR or the Office Directors in consultation with the Commissioner’s Office separate from the telework Form approval process.
As a reminder, the DHHS Telework Approval Forms will be filled out by new workers or current workers changing jobs on a rolling basis, so there will always be some Forms pending review.
We look forward to announcing in August a series of “Welcome Back” activities after Labor Day. In the meantime, continue to enjoy summer in Maine.
Thanks, Jeanne
Jeanne M. Lambrew, PhD,
Commissioner