CSAVR News Update

February 3, 2006

The following is a Question and Answer interview with M.J. Willard, Ed.D, Executive Director of National Telecommuting Institute, Inc and Carl Suter, Executive Director of CSAVR

Question 1. What is NTI?

Answer: NTI is a non-profit disability organization that specializes in home-based jobs for VR consumers who strongly prefer or require home-based employment.

Question 2. What percent of VR consumers need home-based jobs?

Answer: According to a 1994 survey of VR counselors in Massachusetts, an estimated 12% of the consumers in their caseloads REQUIRED home-based work. This 12% does not include those that would find home-based employment more convenient, just those that need it if they are going to be able to work at all.

Question #3: How difficult is it to connect VR consumers to home-based jobs?

Answer: Historically it has been exceedingly difficult. But that is changing. Between 1996 and 2004 NTI averaged 50 telework placements per year. In 2005 NTI made over 300 telework placements. And based on commitments we currently have from employers, we should exceed 400 telework placements in 2006. We expect the numbers to rise steadily each year.

Question #4: How do you define Telework?

Telework is work that is conducted remotely, most often from the home, for a traditional employer. Taxes are withheld and statutory benefits are paid by the employer. Sometimes health and welfare benefits are provided as well. Teleworkers are W-2 employees, unlike independent contractors or small business owners. Telework wages are typically much more dependable than home business earnings.

Question #5 What kinds of telework positions are we talking about?

Answer: Over 90% of the jobs NTI accesses are call center jobs. For example we have several hundred home-based individuals with disabilities taking orders for IRS Forms and Publications. We are in the midst of filling 25 telework positions with CMS’ 800-Medicare Hotline call center. And we are filling 100 telework jobs with Meijer, a major retailer in the mid-west, who will have home-agents answer customer questions about product availability, store hours and locations. NTI has matched consumers to call center jobs with companies such as Alamo Car Rental, Ticket Master, Lens Express, GE Financial, AT&T Language Line, Home Shopping Network, GAP, Staples, Phase2Solutions, and 800 Flowers. We almost never handle telemarketing jobs as the work is usually unpleasant. We do handle some home-based Medical Transcription work for Veterans Administration Hospitals. It is important to note that in most cases, virtual agents can live ANYWHERE in the country and hold these jobs.

Question #6: Are these jobs in which VR consumers can make a living and get off Social Security benefits?

Answer: Sometimes. The 800-Medicare jobs, for example, will only approve agents willing to work a minimum of 30 hours per week. They provide statutory and health and welfare benefits. However, many of the applicants referred to us by VR agencies report they don’t have the stamina for full-time work. Many of these individuals have very severe disabilities. Most of our call center jobs can be held by people who want part-time work. Those taking part-time jobs stay on benefits.

Question #7: Is there a career path for someone starting with a $9 per hour part-time call center job?

Answer: Yes. They can move on to more demanding and higher paying call center work and they can become supervisors or quality control specialists. Some of our government jobs pay $17 per hour. NTI facilitates transitions as a part of our basic service.

Question #8: Who is the employer of these teleworkers?

Answer: It varies. Sometimes the companies put the teleworker on their payroll. In other cases NTI is the employer of record in a co-employment arrangement with a call center. NTI brings a national virtual workforce to the table and some employers find the paperwork involved in being a multi-state employer too burdensome. But even if NTI is the employer of record, the day to day management and control of the worker is the responsibility of the commercial company. Sometimes NTI is the sole employer. This occurs in situations in which NTI handles outsourced federal work under the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Program. There is no relationship between the expected length of tenure in the position and the employer model used. Other than the occasional seasonal contract all of these telework positions are expected to be long-term.

Question# 9: Who pays for accommodations if needed?

Answer: NTI expects state VR agencies to pay for the rare home-based accommodation when needed. Companies, federal agencies and NTI have already incurred significant expense in order to take their work virtual. By making the job travel to the individual with the disability instead of requiring the individual to travel, the employer has already accommodated most of special needs of this targeted population.

Questions #10: How is NTI funded?

Historically NTI was grant funded. Federal agencies such as the Dept of Education and Dept of Labor (PWI, ODEP and FIPSE) have funded NTI telework research. So have private foundations such as Mott, AT&T, Robert Wood Johnson and Fidelity. More recently, as NTI is beginning to achieve economies of scale, fees collected from VR agencies have played a more important role. NTI charges VR agencies a $3,300 training/support fee - contingent upon the consumer achieving at least 90 days in telework employment. NTI is also generating revenue from federal telework contracts acquired under the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Program.

Question #11: If VR counselors have consumers they believe in need of home-based work, what should they do?

Answer: Check the NTI web site www.nticentral.org to make sure that NTI is on their agency’s approved vendor list. NTI is currently listed as an approved vendor with 26 state agencies. If already on the list, the counselor can simply refer consumers to the NTI web site to apply on-line. The consumer will be contacted within 7 days for an intake interview. Of those who are accepted for training, 75% are expected to make it to successful closure. If NTI is not an approved vendor in a particular state, counselors should email NTI with information about the vendor approval process for their state.