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GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES TELEWORK PROGRAM IN DANVILLE/MARTINSVILLE AREA
~ New Workers Will Serve as Customer Service Reps for the Tax
Department ~
RICHMOND – Governor Timothy M. Kaine late last week announced a new
Department of Taxation telework program in the Danville/Martinsville
region. The 25 new employees, who will work from home with equipment
and Internet connections provided by the Tax Department, recently began
12 weeks of training in Martinsville to prepare for their positions.
“The Department of Taxation has been a leader in state government in
shifting a large number of its employees to working from home at least
one day a week, and this southwest Virginia effort is an extension of
that,” said Governor Kaine.
The Tax Department hired the 25 new employees after interviewing nearly
400 applicants at a two-day job fair in Danville. They began training
Oct. 1 at Martinsville’s New College Institute, which offered the use
of its facility and equipment to support the effort. The new Customer
Service Reps will work 30 hours per week and will not receive state
benefits.
Fifty-four percent of eligible Tax Department employees currently work
from home at least one day a week. The Department’s field audit and
collection staffs have been home-based for several years.
“Teleworking has proven to be a great productivity booster for the Tax
Department,” said Governor Kaine. “They have surveyed teleworking
employees and their managers and found that both groups are very
pleased with the results.”
The Tax Department found some very qualified people in the
Danville/Martinsville region, according to Tax Commissioner Janie
Bowen.
“This is really the best of both worlds,” said Bowen. “We get 25 new
employees working exclusively from home which decreases pollution and
increases productivity. And we are able to do this in an area that has
a genuine need for more employment opportunities.”
The Department of Taxation will hire an additional 30 home-based
employees in the same region after the first of the year to key in
information during the busy tax-filing season.