May 11, 2022
Good Afternoon,
Work continues on preparing to implement our permanent telework policy starting September 6.
Our Staff Education and Training Unit (SETU) has developed, and continues to develop, new trainings that will be helpful for this transition. Over the next couple weeks SETU is offering several trainings around Microsoft Teams and how to use some of its features, like breakout rooms and channels more effectively. In addition, there are new resiliency trainings for employees and for supervisors, and trainings on how to host inclusive meetings. Hybrid meetings using Teams or other platforms has become the new normal on how some of us carry out our work. Here’s your opportunity to learn how to maximize these platforms to improve productivity, inclusion, and general knowledge of what’s possible. To learn more about these trainings and to register, please visit SETU’s website. Most trainings will be recorded so if you can’t make a particular date or time, you can watch it later at your convenience.
In the coming month, your Office / Division (other than RPC or DDPC) will host meetings to discuss the DHHS Telework Policy. You can also email questions to: employeequestions.dhhs@maine.gov. Note that we can answer questions about the policy but not necessarily your individual situation: such questions will be answered by your supervisors during the DHHS Telework Approval Form process.
Next week, we will start training supervisors on the forms and processes for the DHHS Telework Approval process. The week of May 23, we’ll roll out training for workers on this process. Notifications about these training opportunities are forthcoming and the DHHS Telework Approval Form will be posted and distributed on May 31.
To telework after September 6, Department employees will fill out two forms: (1) the “DHHS Telework Approval Form” followed, after that is approved, by (2) the State of Maine “Executive Branch Telework Authorization Form.” Our DHHS Approval Form provides additional detailed information needed to, for example, manage space, ensure adequate coverage, and stagger schedules as needed to make sure that the Department’s policy can be implemented well. It will be our primary management tool, allowing for the appropriate level of approval and supervision of telework arrangements within Offices / Divisions and across the Department.
This DHHS Telework Approval Form is what you will fill out first, in June, and Supervisors will review in June and/or July.
When that is done, in August or September, we’ll give you instructions and training on how to use your DHHS Telework Approval to fill out the Executive Branch Telework Authorization Form so your information will be part of the Statewide database for tracking and reporting. We expect it will be easy for you to fill out the DAFS Authorization Form once you and your supervisor have a completed DHHS Approval Form.
Again, for the next two months, we will focus only on the DHHS Telework Approval Form. Do not fill out the DAFS Executive Branch Telework Authorization Form until we communicate that it is time to do so. This will ensure that the final information from your DHHS Telework Approval Form gets into the reporting system.
Thank you, Jeanne
Jeanne M. Lambrew, PhD,
Commissioner