| 1 | 1 | | II |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 359 |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | To implement a 5-year pilot program establishing a performance-based pay |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | structure for certain Federal employees in order to enhance productivity, |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | accountability, and employee satisfaction in public service. |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | FEBRUARY3, 2025 |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | Mrs. B |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | LACKBURN(for herself, Mr. TILLIS, and Mr. RICKETTS) introduced the |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | To implement a 5-year pilot program establishing a perform- |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | ance-based pay structure for certain Federal employees |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | in order to enhance productivity, accountability, and em- |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | ployee satisfaction in public service. |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Employee Per-4 |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | formance and Accountability Act of 2025’’. 5 |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | In this Act: 7 |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S359.IS S359 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | •S 359 IS |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 1 |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | the Director of the Office of Management and Budg-2 |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | et. 3 |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | (2) E |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | LIGIBLE EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘eligible 4 |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | employee’’ means an employee of an Executive agen-5 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | cy employed in a position that— 6 |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | (A) is— 7 |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | (i) at the GS–11, GS–12, GS–13, 8 |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | GS–14, or GS–15 level; or 9 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | (ii) a senior-level position, which shall 10 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | be defined as a position classified above 11 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | the GS–15 level under section 5108 of title 12 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | 5, United States Code; and 13 |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | (B) has clearly measurable performance 14 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | criteria, such as— 15 |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | (i) a project management position; 16 |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | (ii) a position involving administrative 17 |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | or policy analysis; 18 |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | (iii) an information technology, fi-19 |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | nance, or procurement specialist; 20 |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | (iv) a leadership position that involves 21 |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | managing a team, evaluating program per-22 |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | formance, or supervising operations; 23 |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | (v) a customer service representative; 24 |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | or 25 |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S359.IS S359 |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | •S 359 IS |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | (vi) a claims processor. 1 |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | (3) E |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | XECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 2 |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | 105 of title 5, United States Code. 4 |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | (4) P |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | ARTICIPATING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘par-5 |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | ticipating agency’’ means an Executive agency, 1 or 6 |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | more employees of which are participating employees 7 |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | in accordance with section 3(b)(1). 8 |
|---|
| 68 | 68 | | (5) P |
|---|
| 69 | 69 | | ARTICIPATING EMPLOYEE .—The term 9 |
|---|
| 70 | 70 | | ‘‘participating employee’’ means an eligible employee 10 |
|---|
| 71 | 71 | | who participates in the Program. 11 |
|---|
| 72 | 72 | | (6) P |
|---|
| 73 | 73 | | ERFORMANCE METRICS .—The term ‘‘per-12 |
|---|
| 74 | 74 | | formance metrics’’, with respect to a participating 13 |
|---|
| 75 | 75 | | agency, means standards for participating employees 14 |
|---|
| 76 | 76 | | tailored to functions that are specific to the partici-15 |
|---|
| 77 | 77 | | pating agency, which may include— 16 |
|---|
| 78 | 78 | | (A) productivity standards, which measure 17 |
|---|
| 79 | 79 | | quantifiable outputs such as completed cases, 18 |
|---|
| 80 | 80 | | projects, or responses per quarter; 19 |
|---|
| 81 | 81 | | (B) quality standards, which measure com-20 |
|---|
| 82 | 82 | | pliance with protocols, accuracy, and customer 21 |
|---|
| 83 | 83 | | satisfaction rates; and 22 |
|---|
| 84 | 84 | | (C) timeliness standards, which measure 23 |
|---|
| 85 | 85 | | compliance with processing deadlines, efficiency 24 |
|---|
| 86 | 86 | | improvements, and timely task completion. 25 |
|---|
| 87 | 87 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S359.IS S359 |
|---|
| 88 | 88 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 |
|---|
| 89 | 89 | | •S 359 IS |
|---|
| 90 | 90 | | (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 1 |
|---|
| 91 | 91 | | the pilot program established under section 3(a). 2 |
|---|
| 92 | 92 | | SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY AND PROGRAM 3 |
|---|
| 93 | 93 | | SCOPE. 4 |
|---|
| 94 | 94 | | (a) I |
|---|
| 95 | 95 | | NGENERAL.—During the 5-year period begin-5 |
|---|
| 96 | 96 | | ning on the date that is 180 days after the date of enact-6 |
|---|
| 97 | 97 | | ment of this Act, the Director shall carry out a pilot pro-7 |
|---|
| 98 | 98 | | gram that establishes a performance-based pay structure 8 |
|---|
| 99 | 99 | | for participating employees. 9 |
|---|
| 100 | 100 | | (b) P |
|---|
| 101 | 101 | | ARTICIPATION.— 10 |
|---|
| 102 | 102 | | (1) I |
|---|
| 103 | 103 | | N GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 11 |
|---|
| 104 | 104 | | the head of each Executive agency shall ensure that 12 |
|---|
| 105 | 105 | | not less than 1 percent and not more than 10 per-13 |
|---|
| 106 | 106 | | cent of eligible employees of the Executive agency 14 |
|---|
| 107 | 107 | | participate in the Program. 15 |
|---|
| 108 | 108 | | (2) O |
|---|
| 109 | 109 | | PT-OUT.— 16 |
|---|
| 110 | 110 | | (A) I |
|---|
| 111 | 111 | | N GENERAL.—The head of an Execu-17 |
|---|
| 112 | 112 | | tive agency may elect to not have the Executive 18 |
|---|
| 113 | 113 | | agency participate in the Program if the head 19 |
|---|
| 114 | 114 | | of the Executive agency determines that partici-20 |
|---|
| 115 | 115 | | pation could pose risks to national security or 21 |
|---|
| 116 | 116 | | public safety. 22 |
|---|
| 117 | 117 | | (B) T |
|---|
| 118 | 118 | | RANSPARENCY REQUIREMENT .—If 23 |
|---|
| 119 | 119 | | the head of an Executive agency determines 24 |
|---|
| 120 | 120 | | that the Executive agency should not partici-25 |
|---|
| 121 | 121 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S359.IS S359 |
|---|
| 122 | 122 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 |
|---|
| 123 | 123 | | •S 359 IS |
|---|
| 124 | 124 | | pate in the Program pursuant to subparagraph 1 |
|---|
| 125 | 125 | | (A), the head of the Executive agency shall sub-2 |
|---|
| 126 | 126 | | mit to the Director a written justification for 3 |
|---|
| 127 | 127 | | the decision. 4 |
|---|
| 128 | 128 | | SEC. 4. PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND ACCOUNT-5 |
|---|
| 129 | 129 | | ABILITY. 6 |
|---|
| 130 | 130 | | (a) A |
|---|
| 131 | 131 | | NNUALPERFORMANCE METRICS.—A partici-7 |
|---|
| 132 | 132 | | pating agency shall establish annual performance metrics 8 |
|---|
| 133 | 133 | | for each participating employee related to core functions 9 |
|---|
| 134 | 134 | | and public service delivery, focusing on productivity, qual-10 |
|---|
| 135 | 135 | | ity, and timeliness. 11 |
|---|
| 136 | 136 | | (b) E |
|---|
| 137 | 137 | | VALUATIONPROCESS.—The Director shall es-12 |
|---|
| 138 | 138 | | tablish, and each participating agency shall implement, a 13 |
|---|
| 139 | 139 | | standardized, objective performance evaluation system 14 |
|---|
| 140 | 140 | | that includes periodic review of the performance of a par-15 |
|---|
| 141 | 141 | | ticipating employee. 16 |
|---|
| 142 | 142 | | (c) E |
|---|
| 143 | 143 | | MPLOYEESUPPORT ANDTRAINING.—A partici-17 |
|---|
| 144 | 144 | | pating agency shall provide training and resources to sup-18 |
|---|
| 145 | 145 | | port participating employees in understanding and meet-19 |
|---|
| 146 | 146 | | ing performance metrics, including an introductory train-20 |
|---|
| 147 | 147 | | ing course and quarterly performance feedback sessions. 21 |
|---|
| 148 | 148 | | SEC. 5. INCENTIVE PAY STRUCTURE AND NON-MONETARY 22 |
|---|
| 149 | 149 | | BENEFITS. 23 |
|---|
| 150 | 150 | | (a) T |
|---|
| 151 | 151 | | IEREDSALARYINCREASESTRUCTURE.— 24 |
|---|
| 152 | 152 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S359.IS S359 |
|---|
| 153 | 153 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 |
|---|
| 154 | 154 | | •S 359 IS |
|---|
| 155 | 155 | | (1) IN GENERAL.—A participating agency shall 1 |
|---|
| 156 | 156 | | implement a tiered salary adjustment system for 2 |
|---|
| 157 | 157 | | participating employees based on their annual per-3 |
|---|
| 158 | 158 | | formance evaluations under section 4 under which, 4 |
|---|
| 159 | 159 | | effective as of the first day of the first applicable 5 |
|---|
| 160 | 160 | | pay period beginning on or after the first day of the 6 |
|---|
| 161 | 161 | | second year of the Program, and of each year there-7 |
|---|
| 162 | 162 | | after, a participating agency shall adjust (if applica-8 |
|---|
| 163 | 163 | | ble) the rate of basic pay of a participating employee 9 |
|---|
| 164 | 164 | | in accordance with this subsection. 10 |
|---|
| 165 | 165 | | (2) T |
|---|
| 166 | 166 | | IER 1 (EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS) .—In the 11 |
|---|
| 167 | 167 | | case of a participating employee who significantly 12 |
|---|
| 168 | 168 | | exceeded established performance metrics during the 13 |
|---|
| 169 | 169 | | preceding year (referred to in this section as a ‘‘tier 14 |
|---|
| 170 | 170 | | 1 employee’’), a participating agency shall increase 15 |
|---|
| 171 | 171 | | the rate of basic pay of the participating employee 16 |
|---|
| 172 | 172 | | by 15 percent. 17 |
|---|
| 173 | 173 | | (3) T |
|---|
| 174 | 174 | | IER 2 (MEETS EXPECTATIONS) .—In the 18 |
|---|
| 175 | 175 | | case of a participating employee who met established 19 |
|---|
| 176 | 176 | | performance metrics during the preceding year (re-20 |
|---|
| 177 | 177 | | ferred to in this section as a ‘‘tier 2 employee’’), a 21 |
|---|
| 178 | 178 | | participating agency may not adjust the rate of basic 22 |
|---|
| 179 | 179 | | pay of the participating employee. 23 |
|---|
| 180 | 180 | | (4) T |
|---|
| 181 | 181 | | IER 3 (BELOW EXPECTATIONS) .—In the 24 |
|---|
| 182 | 182 | | case of a participating employee who did not meet 25 |
|---|
| 183 | 183 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S359.IS S359 |
|---|
| 184 | 184 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7 |
|---|
| 185 | 185 | | •S 359 IS |
|---|
| 186 | 186 | | established performance metrics during the pre-1 |
|---|
| 187 | 187 | | ceding year (referred to in this section as a ‘‘tier 3 2 |
|---|
| 188 | 188 | | employee’’), the participating agency shall— 3 |
|---|
| 189 | 189 | | (A) reduce the rate of basic pay of the par-4 |
|---|
| 190 | 190 | | ticipating employee by 15 percent; and 5 |
|---|
| 191 | 191 | | (B) provide training or development oppor-6 |
|---|
| 192 | 192 | | tunities to assist the participating employee in 7 |
|---|
| 193 | 193 | | improving performance. 8 |
|---|
| 194 | 194 | | (b) B |
|---|
| 195 | 195 | | ONUSES.—The head of a participating agency, 9 |
|---|
| 196 | 196 | | at the discretion of the agency head, may award a bonus 10 |
|---|
| 197 | 197 | | to a tier 1 employee. 11 |
|---|
| 198 | 198 | | (c) N |
|---|
| 199 | 199 | | ON-MONETARYBENEFITS.—The head of a par-12 |
|---|
| 200 | 200 | | ticipating agency, at the discretion of the agency head, 13 |
|---|
| 201 | 201 | | may provide a tier 1 employee with flexible scheduling, 14 |
|---|
| 202 | 202 | | telework options, and other non-monetary benefits or in-15 |
|---|
| 203 | 203 | | centives, such as technology upgrades and parking op-16 |
|---|
| 204 | 204 | | tions. 17 |
|---|
| 205 | 205 | | (d) R |
|---|
| 206 | 206 | | ELATION TO TITLE5 PAYADJUSTMENTS, 18 |
|---|
| 207 | 207 | | S |
|---|
| 208 | 208 | | TEP-INCREASES, ANDOTHERMONETARYBENEFITS.— 19 |
|---|
| 209 | 209 | | A participating employee shall not be eligible for any ad-20 |
|---|
| 210 | 210 | | justment of pay, advancement in pay, or bonus or other 21 |
|---|
| 211 | 211 | | type of additional monetary compensation under title 5, 22 |
|---|
| 212 | 212 | | United States Code, based on any service performed while 23 |
|---|
| 213 | 213 | | the employee is participating in the Program, including— 24 |
|---|
| 214 | 214 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S359.IS S359 |
|---|
| 215 | 215 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8 |
|---|
| 216 | 216 | | •S 359 IS |
|---|
| 217 | 217 | | (1) adjustment of the rate of basic pay under 1 |
|---|
| 218 | 218 | | section 5303, 5304, or 5304a of that title; 2 |
|---|
| 219 | 219 | | (2) advancement in pay to a higher rate within 3 |
|---|
| 220 | 220 | | the grade in which the employee’s position is placed 4 |
|---|
| 221 | 221 | | under section 5335 or 5336 of that title; 5 |
|---|
| 222 | 222 | | (3) bonuses under section 5753 or 5754 of that 6 |
|---|
| 223 | 223 | | title; and 7 |
|---|
| 224 | 224 | | (4) performance awards under section 5384 of 8 |
|---|
| 225 | 225 | | that title. 9 |
|---|
| 226 | 226 | | SEC. 6. REPORTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 10 |
|---|
| 227 | 227 | | (a) A |
|---|
| 228 | 228 | | NNUALAGENCYPRODUCTIVITYREPORTS.— 11 |
|---|
| 229 | 229 | | (1) I |
|---|
| 230 | 230 | | N GENERAL.—For each year in which the 12 |
|---|
| 231 | 231 | | Program is carried out, a participating agency shall 13 |
|---|
| 232 | 232 | | submit a report to the Director that includes the fol-14 |
|---|
| 233 | 233 | | lowing information: 15 |
|---|
| 234 | 234 | | (A) Q |
|---|
| 235 | 235 | | UANTITATIVE OUTCOMES .—Data on 16 |
|---|
| 236 | 236 | | cost savings, efficiency gains, and overall pro-17 |
|---|
| 237 | 237 | | ductivity metrics. 18 |
|---|
| 238 | 238 | | (B) Q |
|---|
| 239 | 239 | | UALITATIVE OUTCOMES .—Examples 19 |
|---|
| 240 | 240 | | of how productivity improvements have posi-20 |
|---|
| 241 | 241 | | tively impacted public service outcomes and em-21 |
|---|
| 242 | 242 | | ployee satisfaction. 22 |
|---|
| 243 | 243 | | (2) OMB |
|---|
| 244 | 244 | | OVERSIGHT AND RECOMMENDA -23 |
|---|
| 245 | 245 | | TIONS.—The Director shall— 24 |
|---|
| 246 | 246 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S359.IS S359 |
|---|
| 247 | 247 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9 |
|---|
| 248 | 248 | | •S 359 IS |
|---|
| 249 | 249 | | (A) review each report submitted under 1 |
|---|
| 250 | 250 | | paragraph (1); and 2 |
|---|
| 251 | 251 | | (B) recommend adjustments to partici-3 |
|---|
| 252 | 252 | | pating agencies as appropriate. 4 |
|---|
| 253 | 253 | | (b) A |
|---|
| 254 | 254 | | NNUALOMB ASSESSMENTS.—For each year in 5 |
|---|
| 255 | 255 | | which the Program is carried out, the Director shall— 6 |
|---|
| 256 | 256 | | (1) assess the outcomes of the Program with re-7 |
|---|
| 257 | 257 | | spect to productivity, budgetary impact, and em-8 |
|---|
| 258 | 258 | | ployee satisfaction; and 9 |
|---|
| 259 | 259 | | (2) publish and submit to Congress a report on 10 |
|---|
| 260 | 260 | | the assessment conducted under paragraph (1). 11 |
|---|
| 261 | 261 | | (c) F |
|---|
| 262 | 262 | | INALREVIEW.—Not later than 1 year after the 12 |
|---|
| 263 | 263 | | date on which the Program terminates, the Comptroller 13 |
|---|
| 264 | 264 | | General of the United States and the Director shall assess 14 |
|---|
| 265 | 265 | | the success of the Program and submit to Congress a re-15 |
|---|
| 266 | 266 | | port on the impact of the Program on productivity, budg-16 |
|---|
| 267 | 267 | | ets, and employee engagement. 17 |
|---|
| 268 | 268 | | SEC. 7. FUNDING. 18 |
|---|
| 269 | 269 | | (a) N |
|---|
| 270 | 270 | | OADDITIONALFUNDS.—No additional funds 19 |
|---|
| 271 | 271 | | are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act. 20 |
|---|
| 272 | 272 | | (b) U |
|---|
| 273 | 273 | | SE OFEXISTINGFUNDS.—The Office of Man-21 |
|---|
| 274 | 274 | | agement and Budget, the Government Accountability Of-22 |
|---|
| 275 | 275 | | fice, and each participating agency shall carry out the du-23 |
|---|
| 276 | 276 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S359.IS S359 |
|---|
| 277 | 277 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10 |
|---|
| 278 | 278 | | •S 359 IS |
|---|
| 279 | 279 | | ties of the respective agency under this Act using amounts 1 |
|---|
| 280 | 280 | | otherwise made available to that agency. 2 |
|---|
| 281 | 281 | | Æ |
|---|
| 282 | 282 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S359.IS S359 |
|---|
| 283 | 283 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
|---|