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Adopt the County’s Mobileworker, Teleworking and Hoteling Policy, as amended, to address revisions to the Internal Revenue Service Publication 1075
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No _X _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Director of Human Resources recommends that the Board of Supervisors adopt the County’s Mobileworker, Teleworking and Hoteling Policy, as amended, to address revisions to the Internal Revenue Service Publication 1075.
SUMMARY:
The Board of Supervisors adopted the Mobileworker, Teleworking and Hoteling Policy on April 26, 2016. Since that time, revisions to the Internal Revenue Service Publication 1075 have been adopted, necessitating the need to amend this policy, to ensure compliance with State and federal requirements. The amendments primarily address those positions that have access to Federal Tax Information (FTI).
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is a de minimus fiscal impact. There may be cost associated with supervisory time to conduct a site visit inspection of an employee’s alternate worksite for those who have access to FTI.
DISCUSSION:
The Board of Supervisors adopted the Mobileworker, Teleworking and Hoteling Policy on April 26, 2016. This was made possible due to the advances in technology which includes secure data transfer software that safeguards electronic transmissions of information within the County and other agencies. The policy allows for flexibility in employee work locations, where suitable, based on the type of work to be performed, while reducing costs, maintaining or enhancing County service and productivity level.
The recent adopted revisions to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Publication 1075 necessitate the need to amend this policy. The IRS Publication 1075 Tax Information Security Guidelines for federal, state and local agencies provides guidance to ensure the policies, practices, controls and safeguards employed by recipient agencies, agents or contractors adequately protect the confidentiality of citizens’ Federal Tax Information (FTI). FTI consists of federal tax returns and information derived from it; it may include Personally Identifiable Information (PII) (e.g., social security numbers, bank account numbers, date and place of birth, name of a person with respect to whom a return is filed, taxpayer mailing address, taxpayer identification number, etc.) For employees who have access to FTI, and who are approved to work on alternate worksite or home office location (e.g., teleworking, hoteling), the IRS Publication 1075 imposes an inspection requirement to safeguard against improper FTI mishandling, including but not limited to secure equipment, proper documents handling and storage, FTI transit, security-access control devices and County-approved software.
The proposed amendments to the policy includes communicating the requirement of site visit inspections of an employee’s alternate worksite for those who have access to FTI; outlining County expectations from employees to safeguard FTI and other PII; identifying security best practices; and establishing the alternate worksite inspection checklist.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board of Supervisors could choose to not to approve the proposed policy; however, staff does not recommend this alternative as the amendments to the policy reflect State and federal requirements outlined in the adopted Internal Revenue Service Publication 1075.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Notification of, and an opportunity, to meet on the proposed changes to the policy was provided to all bargaining unit representatives. One bargaining group requested to meet, but mainly for further clarification and request for further review of verbiage to comply with departmental practices and the Department of Information Technology policies. There were no substantive changes made to the policy, after the completion of the meet-and-confer process.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION