II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 662
To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for an alternative removal
for performance or misconduct for Federal employees.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY20, 2025
Mr. S
HEEHY(for himself, Mr. CRAMER, and Mrs. HYDE-SMITH) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for an
alternative removal for performance or misconduct for
Federal employees.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
(a) S
HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
‘‘Modern Employment Reform, Improvement, and Trans-5
formation Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘MERIT Act of 2025’’. 6
(b) T
ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7
this Act is as follows: 8
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Termination of authority for chapter 43 performance-based actions.
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Sec. 3. Adverse actions based on performance or conduct.
Sec. 4. Prohibition on grieving adverse actions and reductions in force.
Sec. 5. Actions against senior executives for performance or conduct.
Sec. 6. Actions against supervisors for performance or conduct.
Sec. 7. Modification of procedures for furlough.
Sec. 8. Reduction of annuity of employee convicted of a felony for which an ad-
verse action is or would have been taken.
Sec. 9. Authority to recoup bonuses or awards paid to employees.
Sec. 10. Extension of probationary period for positions within the Senior Exec-
utive Service.
Sec. 11. Extension of probationary period for employees in the competitive serv-
ice.
Sec. 12. Application.
SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY FOR CHAPTER 43
1
PERFORMANCE-BASED ACTIONS. 2
(a) R
EPEAL.—Section 4303 of title 5, United States 3
Code, is repealed. 4
(b) A
PPLICATION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 5
any performance-based action under section 4303 of title 6
5, United States Code, commenced before the effective 7
date provided in section 12. 8
(c) C
ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.— 9
(1) T
ITLE 5.—Title 5, United States Code, is 10
amended— 11
(A) in section 2302(e)(1)(A), by striking 12
‘‘3504, and 4303(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘and 13
3504’’; 14
(B) in section 4302(c)(6), by striking ‘‘but 15
only after an opportunity to demonstrate ac-16
ceptable performance’’; 17
(C) in section 7512, by striking subpara-18
graph (D) and redesignating subparagraphs (E) 19
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and (F) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respec-1
tively; 2
(D) in section 7701(c)(1), by striking ‘‘de-3
cision’’ and all that follows through ‘‘preponder-4
ance of the evidence’’ and inserting ‘‘decision is 5
supported by a preponderance of the evidence’’; 6
(E) in section 9508(d), by striking ‘‘(1) In 7
applying’’ and all that follows through ‘‘(2)’’; 8
and 9
(F) in section 9902(a)(2), by striking ‘‘sec-10
tions 4302 and 4303(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 11
4302’’. 12
(2) T
ITLE 31.—Section 732(d)(3) of title 31, 13
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘con-14
sistent with section 4303 of title 5’’. 15
(d) C
LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 16
for chapter 43 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 17
by striking the item relating to section 4303. 18
SEC. 3. ADVERSE ACTIONS BASED ON PERFORMANCE OR 19
CONDUCT. 20
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 7513 of title 5, United 21
States Code, is amended to read as follows: 22
‘‘§ 7513. Cause and procedure for actions other than 23
furlough 24
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.— 25
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‘‘(1) STANDARD FOR CERTAIN ADVERSE AC -1
TIONS.—Under regulations prescribed by the Office 2
of Personnel Management, an agency may take an 3
action described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of 4
section 7512 against an employee if the agency de-5
termines by a preponderance of the evidence that the 6
performance or misconduct of the employee warrants 7
such action. 8
‘‘(2) F
ACTORS FOR INITIAL DECISION .—When 9
making an initial decision on an action described in 10
paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 7512 with re-11
spect to an employee, the deciding employee of the 12
agency shall exclusively apply the following factors: 13
‘‘(A) The nature and seriousness of the of-14
fense, and its relation to the employee’s duties, 15
position, and responsibilities, including whether 16
the offense— 17
‘‘(i) was intentional or technical or in-18
advertent; 19
‘‘(ii) was committed maliciously or for 20
gain; or 21
‘‘(iii) was frequently repeated. 22
‘‘(B) The employee’s job level and type of 23
employment, including any supervisory or fidu-24
ciary role, and the prominence of the position. 25
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‘‘(C) The employee’s past disciplinary 1
records. 2
‘‘(D) The employee’s past work record, in-3
cluding length of service, performance on the 4
job, ability to get along with fellow workers, 5
and dependability. 6
‘‘(E) Mitigating circumstances surrounding 7
the offense, such as— 8
‘‘(i) unusual job tensions, personality 9
problems, or mental impairment; or 10
‘‘(ii) harassment, bad faith, malice, or 11
provocation on the part of others involved 12
in the matter. 13
‘‘(3) S
TANDARD OF REVIEW .—The agency 14
shall— 15
‘‘(A) review the initial decision described in 16
paragraph (2), without regard to whether the 17
employee responds under subsection (e)(2); and 18
‘‘(B) uphold the initial decision if it is sup-19
ported by substantial evidence. 20
‘‘(b) P
AY OFCERTAINEMPLOYEESSUBJECT TO A 21
R
EDUCTION INGRADE.— 22
‘‘(1) A
PPLICABLE RATE OF PAY .—Notwith-23
standing any other provision of law, an employee 24
subject to a reduction in grade shall, beginning on 25
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the date of the reduction in grade, receive the an-1
nual rate of pay applicable to the reduced grade. 2
‘‘(2) N
O ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE , OR PAY 3
WITHOUT WORKING OR USE OF OTHER LEAVE , DUR-4
ING APPEAL.—If an employee subject to a reduction 5
in grade appeals the reduction in grade under this 6
section, during the period during which the appeal 7
is ongoing, the employee— 8
‘‘(A) may not be placed on administrative 9
leave; and 10
‘‘(B) may only receive pay and benefits if 11
the employee— 12
‘‘(i) reports for duty; or 13
‘‘(ii) is approved to use accrued un-14
used annual, sick, family medical, military, 15
or court leave. 16
‘‘(3) C
ONDITIONS ON PAY AND BENEFITS GEN -17
ERALLY.—During any period other than a period de-18
scribed in paragraph (2), if an employee subject to 19
a reduction in grade does not report for duty or re-20
ceive approval to use accrued unused leave, the em-21
ployee may not receive pay or benefits. 22
‘‘(c) P
ROCEDURE.— 23
‘‘(1) R
ESPONSE PERIOD.—The period during 24
which an employee may respond to a notice of an ac-25
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tion described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of sec-1
tion 7512 in writing and furnish affidavits and other 2
documentary evidence in support of the response, as 3
provided under subsection (e)(2), shall be 7 business 4
days. 5
‘‘(2) F
INAL DECISION.— 6
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—The agency shall issue 7
a final decision with respect to an action de-8
scribed in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 9
7512, with respect to an employee, not later 10
than 15 business days after the agency provides 11
notice, including a file containing all the evi-12
dence in support of the proposed action, to the 13
employee, unless there is reasonable cause to 14
believe the employee has committed a crime for 15
which a sentence of imprisonment may be im-16
posed. 17
‘‘(B) F
ORM AND CONTENTS .—A final deci-18
sion described in subparagraph (A) shall— 19
‘‘(i) be in writing; and 20
‘‘(ii) include the specific reasons 21
therefor. 22
‘‘(d) PIP.—The agency may carry out an action de-23
scribed in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 7512 with 24
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respect to an employee without first placing the employee 1
on a performance improvement plan. 2
‘‘(e) E
MPLOYEERIGHTS.—An employee against 3
whom an action described in paragraphs (1) through (4) 4
of section 7512 is proposed is entitled to— 5
‘‘(1) a written notice stating the specific rea-6
sons for the proposed action; 7
‘‘(2) respond in writing and furnish affidavits 8
and other documentary evidence in support of the 9
response; 10
‘‘(3) be represented by an attorney or other 11
representative; and 12
‘‘(4) a written decision and the specific reasons 13
therefor at the earliest practicable date. 14
‘‘(f) H
EARING.—An agency may provide, by regula-15
tion, for a hearing which may be in lieu of or in addition 16
to the opportunity to respond provided under subsection 17
(e)(2). 18
‘‘(g) A
PPEAL.—An employee against whom an action 19
described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 7512 20
is taken is entitled to appeal to the Merit Systems Protec-21
tion Board (referred to in this section as the ‘Board’) 22
under section 7701 of this title not later than 10 business 23
days after the effective date of the action. 24
‘‘(h) R
ECORDS.— 25
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‘‘(1) AGENCY RECORDS ; PROVISION TO 1
BOARD.—The agency shall maintain, and shall fur-2
nish to the Board upon request of the Board, copies 3
of the notice of proposed action, the response of the 4
employee when written, a summary thereof when 5
made orally, the notice of decision and reasons 6
therefor, and any order effecting an action described 7
in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 7512, to-8
gether with any supporting material. 9
‘‘(2) P
ROVISION TO EMPLOYEE .—Upon the re-10
quest of an affected employee, the agency shall fur-11
nish copies of the documents described in paragraph 12
(1) to the employee, to the extent those documents 13
were not provided under subsection (c).’’. 14
(b) D
ISCIPLINE OFSUPERVISORSBASED ONRETAL-15
IATION AGAINST WHISTLEBLOWERS.—Section 16
7515(b)(2)(B) of title 5, United States Code, is amend-17
ed— 18
(1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘not later than 14 19
days’’ and inserting ‘‘not later than 7 business 20
days’’; and 21
(2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘14-day period’’ 22
and inserting ‘‘7-business-day period’’. 23
(c) A
PPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub-24
sections (a) and (b) shall not apply to any action under 25
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section 7513 or 7515 of title 5, United States Code, as 1
amended by those subsections, respectively, commenced 2
before the effective date provided in section 12. 3
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON GRIEVING ADVERSE ACTIONS 4
AND REDUCTIONS IN FORCE. 5
Section 7121 of title 5, United States Code, is 6
amended— 7
(1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘the settle-8
ment of’’; 9
(2) in subsection (c)— 10
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 11
through (5) as paragraphs (5) through (9), re-12
spectively; and 13
(B) by inserting before paragraph (5), as 14
so redesignated, the following: 15
‘‘(1) an adverse action under subchapter II of 16
chapter 75; 17
‘‘(2) a furlough of more than 30 days by a re-18
duction in force action under subchapter I of chap-19
ter 35; 20
‘‘(3) a separation by a reduction in force action 21
under subchapter I of chapter 35; 22
‘‘(4) a demotion by a reduction in force action 23
under subchapter I of chapter 35;’’; 24
(3) in subsection (e)— 25
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(A) in paragraph (1)— 1
(i) by striking ‘‘(1) Matters’’ and all 2
that follows through ‘‘but not both.’’; and 3
(ii) in the second sentence, by striking 4
‘‘Similar matters’’ and inserting ‘‘Matters 5
similar to those covered under subchapter 6
II of chapter 75’’; and 7
(B) by striking paragraph (2); and 8
(4) in subsection (f)— 9
(A) by striking the first sentence; and 10
(B) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘In 11
matters similar to those covered under sections 12
4303 and 7512 of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘In 13
matters similar to those covered under sub-14
chapter II of chapter 75’’. 15
SEC. 5. ACTIONS AGAINST SENIOR EXECUTIVES FOR PER-16
FORMANCE OR CONDUCT. 17
(a) R
EPEAL OFPAYRETENTION FOR CAREERAP-18
POINTEESREMOVEDFROM THE SENIOREXECUTIVE 19
S
ERVICE.—Section 3594(c)(1)(B) of title 5, United States 20
Code, is amended to read as follows: 21
‘‘(B)(i) any career appointee placed under sub-22
section (a) or (b)(2) of this section shall be entitled 23
to receive basic pay at the highest of— 24
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‘‘(I) the rate of basic pay in effect for the 1
position in which placed; 2
‘‘(II) the rate of basic pay in effect at the 3
time of the placement for the position the ca-4
reer appointee held in the civil service imme-5
diately before being appointed to the Senior Ex-6
ecutive Service; or 7
‘‘(III) the rate of basic pay in effect for 8
the career appointee immediately before being 9
placed under subsection (a) or (b)(2) of this 10
section; and 11
‘‘(ii) any career appointee placed under sub-12
section (b)(1) of this section shall be entitled to re-13
ceive basic pay at the rate of basic pay in effect for 14
the position in which placed; and’’. 15
(b) A
PPRAISALSYSTEMREQUIREMENTS.—Section 16
4314(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 17
(1) in paragraph (3), by inserting before the 18
semicolon the following: ‘‘or, as warranted, from the 19
civil service’’; and 20
(2) in paragraph (4), by inserting before the pe-21
riod at the end the following: ‘‘or, as warranted, 22
from the civil service’’. 23
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(c) SUSPENSION FOR14 DAYS ORLESS.—Paragraph 1
(1) of section 7501 of title 5, United States Code, is 2
amended to read as follows: 3
‘‘(1) ‘employee’ means— 4
‘‘(A) an individual in the competitive serv-5
ice who is not serving a probationary period or 6
trial period under an initial appointment or who 7
has completed 1 year of current continuous em-8
ployment in the same or similar positions under 9
other than a temporary appointment limited to 10
1 year or less; or 11
‘‘(B) a career appointee in the Senior Ex-12
ecutive Service who— 13
‘‘(i) has completed the probationary 14
period prescribed under section 3393(d); or 15
‘‘(ii) was covered by the provisions of 16
subchapter II of this chapter immediately 17
before appointment to the Senior Executive 18
Service; and’’. 19
(d) M
ODIFICATION OFCAUSE ANDPROCEDURE FOR 20
S
USPENSION AND TERMINATION.—Section 7543 of title 21
5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 22
‘‘§ 7543. Cause and procedure 23
‘‘(a) S
TANDARD FOR ADVERSEACTIONS.—Under 24
regulations prescribed by the Office of Personnel Manage-25
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ment, an agency may take an action covered by this sub-1
chapter against an employee if the agency determines by 2
a preponderance of the evidence that the performance or 3
misconduct of the employee warrants such action. 4
‘‘(b) F
ACTORS FORINITIALDECISION.—When mak-5
ing an initial decision on an action covered by this sub-6
chapter, the deciding employee of the agency shall exclu-7
sively apply the following factors: 8
‘‘(1) The nature and seriousness of the offense, 9
and its relation to the employee’s duties, position, 10
and responsibilities, including whether the offense— 11
‘‘(A) was intentional or technical or inad-12
vertent; 13
‘‘(B) was committed maliciously or for 14
gain; or 15
‘‘(C) was frequently repeated. 16
‘‘(2) The employee’s job level and type of em-17
ployment, including any supervisory or fiduciary 18
role, and the prominence of the position. 19
‘‘(c) S
TANDARD OFREVIEW.—The agency shall— 20
‘‘(1) review the initial decision described in sub-21
section (b), without regard to whether the employee 22
responds under subsection (e)(2); and 23
‘‘(2) uphold the decision if it is supported by 24
substantial evidence. 25
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‘‘(d) PROCEDURE.— 1
‘‘(1) R
ESPONSE PERIOD.—The period during 2
which an employee may respond to a notice of an ac-3
tion covered by this subchapter in writing and fur-4
nish affidavits and other documentary evidence in 5
support of the response, as provided under sub-6
section (e)(2), shall be 7 business days. 7
‘‘(2) F
INAL DECISION.— 8
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—The agency shall issue 9
a final decision with respect to an action cov-10
ered by this subchapter not later than 15 busi-11
ness days after the agency provides notice, in-12
cluding a file containing all the evidence in sup-13
port of the proposed action, to the employee, 14
unless there is reasonable cause to believe the 15
employee has committed a crime for which a 16
sentence of imprisonment may be imposed. 17
‘‘(B) F
ORM AND CONTENTS .—A final deci-18
sion described in subparagraph (A) shall— 19
‘‘(i) be in writing; and 20
‘‘(ii) include the specific reasons 21
therefor. 22
‘‘(e) E
MPLOYEERIGHTS.—An employee against 23
whom an action covered by this subchapter is proposed 24
is entitled to— 25
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‘‘(1) a written notice stating the specific rea-1
sons for the proposed action; 2
‘‘(2) respond in writing and furnish affidavits 3
and other documentary evidence in support of the 4
response; 5
‘‘(3) be represented by an attorney or other 6
representative; and 7
‘‘(4) a written decision and the specific reasons 8
therefor at the earliest practicable date. 9
‘‘(f) H
EARING.—An agency may provide, by regula-10
tion, for a hearing which may be in lieu of or in addition 11
to the opportunity to respond provided under subsection 12
(e)(2). 13
‘‘(g) A
PPEAL.—An employee against whom an action 14
is taken under this section is entitled to appeal to the 15
Merit Systems Protection Board (referred to in this sec-16
tion as the ‘Board’) under section 7701 of this title not 17
later than 10 business days after the effective date of the 18
action. 19
‘‘(h) R
ECORDS.— 20
‘‘(1) A
GENCY RECORDS ; PROVISION TO 21
BOARD.—The agency shall maintain, and shall fur-22
nish to the Board upon request of the Board, copies 23
of the notice of proposed action, the response of the 24
employee when written, a summary thereof when 25
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made orally, the notice of decision and reasons 1
therefor, and any order effecting an action covered 2
by this subchapter, together with any supporting 3
material. 4
‘‘(2) P
ROVISION TO EMPLOYEE .—Upon the re-5
quest of an affected employee, the agency shall fur-6
nish copies of the documents described in paragraph 7
(1) to the employee, to the extent those documents 8
were not provided under subsection (d)(2)(A). 9
‘‘(i) D
EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘mis-10
conduct’ includes neglect of duty, malfeasance, or failure 11
to accept a directed reassignment or to accompany a posi-12
tion in a transfer of function.’’. 13
(e) R
ELATION TOOTHERPROVISIONS OFLAW.— 14
Section 3592(b)(1) of title 5, United States Code, shall 15
not apply to an action under section 7543(a) of that title, 16
as amended by subsection (d). 17
(f) C
ONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title 5, United 18
States Code, is amended— 19
(1) in section 3592(b)(2)(B), by striking ‘‘any 20
disciplinary action’’ and inserting ‘‘any action under 21
section 7543’’; 22
(2) in section 3593(a)(2), by striking ‘‘mis-23
conduct, neglect of duty, malfeasance,’’ and insert-24
ing ‘‘a removal under section 7543’’; 25
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(3) in section 3594, by adding at the end the 1
following: 2
‘‘(d) This section shall not apply to any career ap-3
pointee who is subject to a personnel action under sub-4
chapter V of chapter 75.’’; and 5
(4) in section 7542, by striking ‘‘or to a re-6
moval under section 3592 or 3595’’ and inserting 7
the following: ‘‘to a removal from the Senior Execu-8
tive Service under section 3592 of this title, to a re-9
duction in force as defined in section 3595(d) of this 10
title, or to a transfer of function as described in sec-11
tion 3595(e)’’. 12
(g) A
PPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 13
section shall not apply to any personnel action under sub-14
chapter V of chapter 75 of title 5, United States Code, 15
commenced before the effective date provided in section 16
12 of this Act. 17
SEC. 6. ACTIONS AGAINST SUPERVISORS FOR PERFORM-18
ANCE OR CONDUCT. 19
Subchapter II of title 5, United States Code, is 20
amended— 21
(1) by redesignating sections 7514 and 7515 as 22
sections 7516 and 7517, respectively; and 23
(2) by inserting after section 7513 the fol-24
lowing: 25
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‘‘§ 7514. Supervisors 1
‘‘(a) D
EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘super-2
visor’ has the meaning given that term in section 7103(a). 3
‘‘(b) S
TANDARD FORADVERSEACTIONS.—An agency 4
may take an action covered by this subchapter against a 5
supervisor if the agency determines by a preponderance 6
of the evidence that the performance or misconduct of the 7
supervisor warrants such action. 8
‘‘(c) F
ACTORS FORINITIALDECISION.—When mak-9
ing an initial decision on an action covered by this sub-10
chapter with respect to a supervisor, the deciding employee 11
of the agency shall exclusively apply the following factors: 12
‘‘(1) The nature and seriousness of the offense, 13
and its relation to the supervisor’s duties, position, 14
and responsibilities, including whether the offense— 15
‘‘(A) was intentional or technical or inad-16
vertent; 17
‘‘(B) was committed maliciously or for 18
gain; or 19
‘‘(C) was frequently repeated. 20
‘‘(2) The supervisor’s job level and type of em-21
ployment, including the supervisory role and any fi-22
duciary role, and the prominence of the position. 23
‘‘(d) S
TANDARD OFREVIEW.—The agency shall— 24
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‘‘(1) review the initial decision described in sub-1
section (c), without regard to whether the supervisor 2
responds under subsection (g)(2); and 3
‘‘(2) uphold the initial decision if it is supported 4
by substantial evidence. 5
‘‘(e) P
ROCEDURE.— 6
‘‘(1) R
ESPONSE PERIOD.—The period during 7
which a supervisor may respond to a notice of an ac-8
tion covered by this subchapter in writing and fur-9
nish affidavits and other documentary evidence in 10
support of the response, as provided under sub-11
section (g)(2), shall be 7 business days. 12
‘‘(2) F
INAL DECISION.— 13
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—The agency shall issue 14
a final decision with respect to a covered action 15
not later than 15 business days after the agen-16
cy provides notice, including a file containing all 17
the evidence in support of the proposed action, 18
to the supervisor, unless there is reasonable 19
cause to believe the supervisor has committed a 20
crime for which a sentence of imprisonment 21
may be imposed. 22
‘‘(B) F
ORM AND CONTENTS .—A final deci-23
sion described in subparagraph (A) shall— 24
‘‘(i) be in writing; and 25
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‘‘(ii) include the specific reasons 1
therefor. 2
‘‘(f) R
EDUCTION INGRADE.— 3
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—A reduction in grade under 4
subsection (b) with respect to a supervisor shall be 5
carried out as a reduction in grade— 6
‘‘(A) for which the supervisor is qualified; 7
‘‘(B) that the agency determines is appro-8
priate; and 9
‘‘(C) that reduces the annual rate of pay 10
of the supervisor. 11
‘‘(2) P
AY OF CERTAIN SUPERVISORS SUBJECT 12
TO A REDUCTION IN GRADE .— 13
‘‘(A) A
PPLICABLE RATE OF PAY .—Not-14
withstanding any other provision of law, a su-15
pervisor subject to a reduction in grade shall, 16
beginning on the date of the reduction in grade, 17
receive the annual rate of pay applicable to the 18
reduced grade. 19
‘‘(B) N
O ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE , OR PAY 20
WITHOUT WORKING OR USE OF OTHER LEAVE , 21
DURING APPEAL.—If a supervisor subject to a 22
reduction in grade appeals the reduction in 23
grade under this section, during the period dur-24
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ing which the appeal is ongoing, the super-1
visor— 2
‘‘(i) may not be placed on administra-3
tive leave; and 4
‘‘(ii) may only receive pay and bene-5
fits if the supervisor— 6
‘‘(I) reports for duty; or 7
‘‘(II) is approved to use accrued 8
unused annual, sick, family medical, 9
military, or court leave. 10
‘‘(C) C
ONDITIONS ON PAY AND BENEFITS 11
GENERALLY.—During any period other than a 12
period described in subparagraph (B), if a su-13
pervisor subject to a reduction in grade does 14
not report for duty or receive approval to use 15
accrued unused leave, the supervisor shall not 16
receive pay or benefits. 17
‘‘(g) S
UPERVISORRIGHTS.—A supervisor against 18
whom an action covered by this subchapter is proposed 19
is entitled to— 20
‘‘(1) a written notice stating the specific rea-21
sons for the proposed action; 22
‘‘(2) respond in writing and furnish affidavits 23
and other documentary evidence in support of the 24
response; 25
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‘‘(3) be represented by an attorney or other 1
representative; and 2
‘‘(4) a written decision and the specific reasons 3
therefor at the earliest practicable date. 4
‘‘(h) PIP.—The agency may carry out an action cov-5
ered by this subchapter with respect to a supervisor with-6
out first placing the supervisor on a performance improve-7
ment plan. 8
‘‘(i) R
ELATION TOPERFORMANCE APPRAISALPRO-9
CEDURES.—The procedures under chapter 43 shall not 10
apply to an action covered by this subchapter with respect 11
to a supervisor.’’. 12
SEC. 7. MODIFICATION OF PROCEDURES FOR FURLOUGH. 13
(a) G
ENERALFURLOUGH OF 14 DAYS ORLESS; 14
E
MERGENCYFURLOUGH.—Subchapter I of chapter 75 of 15
title 5, United States Code, is amended— 16
(1) in section 7501, as amended by section 17
5(c)— 18
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 19
(2) as paragraphs (2) and (5), respectively; 20
(B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 21
so redesignated, the following: 22
‘‘(1) ‘emergency furlough’ means a furlough 23
due to a lapse in appropriations;’’; 24
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(C) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 1
by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 2
(D) by inserting after paragraph (2), as so 3
redesignated, the following: 4
‘‘(3) ‘furlough’ has the meaning given that term 5
in section 7511(a); 6
‘‘(4) ‘general furlough’ means a furlough that is 7
not due to a lapse in appropriations; and’’; 8
(2) in section 7502, by striking ‘‘This sub-9
chapter’’ and all that follows through ‘‘this title.’’ 10
and inserting the following: ‘‘This subchapter applies 11
to— 12
‘‘(1) a suspension for 14 days or less, but not 13
a suspension under section 7521 or 7532 or any ac-14
tion initiated under section 1215; 15
‘‘(2) a general furlough for 14 days or less; and 16
‘‘(3) an emergency furlough of any duration.’’; 17
(3) by redesignating section 7504 as section 18
7505; and 19
(4) by inserting after section 7503 the fol-20
lowing: 21
‘‘§ 7504. General furlough and emergency furlough 22
cause and procedure 23
‘‘(a) D
EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘em-24
ployee’ has the meaning given the term in section 7501. 25
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‘‘(b) GENERALFURLOUGH.— 1
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—An employee may be sub-2
ject to a general furlough for such cause as will pro-3
mote the efficiency of the service. 4
‘‘(2) E
NTITLEMENT TO PROCEDURES .—Any 5
employee furloughed under this subsection is entitled 6
to the procedures established under the regulations 7
promulgated under paragraph (3). 8
‘‘(3) P
ROCEDURES.—Not later than 180 days 9
after the date of enactment of this section, the Of-10
fice of Personnel Management shall promulgate reg-11
ulations providing for— 12
‘‘(A) the circumstances under which an 13
employee may be furloughed under this sub-14
section; 15
‘‘(B) the procedures to be afforded fur-16
loughed employees, including, to the extent ap-17
propriate and practicable under the cir-18
cumstances of the furlough action— 19
‘‘(i) a written notice stating the spe-20
cific reasons for the proposed action; 21
‘‘(ii) representation by an attorney or 22
other representative; and 23
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‘‘(iii) a written decision and the spe-1
cific reasons therefor at the earliest prac-2
ticable date; and 3
‘‘(C) the materials that shall be furnished 4
to a furloughed employee and the Merit Sys-5
tems Protection Board upon request of the em-6
ployee or the Board. 7
‘‘(c) E
MERGENCYFURLOUGH.— 8
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—An employee may be sub-9
ject to an emergency furlough. 10
‘‘(2) P
ROCEDURES.— 11
‘‘(A) N
OTICE.— 12
‘‘(i) I
N GENERAL.—Under regulations 13
prescribed by the Office of Personnel Man-14
agement, any employee subject to an emer-15
gency furlough shall be afforded notice ex-16
plaining the reasons for the emergency fur-17
lough. 18
‘‘(ii) T
IMING.—If the notice described 19
in clause (i) cannot be provided in advance 20
of the emergency furlough, notice shall be 21
provided as soon as reasonably practicable. 22
‘‘(B) O
THER PROCEDURES .—No other pro-23
cedures, including those provided under sub-24
section (b) or any other provision of this title, 25
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shall be available to any employee subject to an 1
emergency furlough under this subsection.’’. 2
(b) G
ENERALFURLOUGH OF MORETHAN14 3
D
AYS.—Subchapter II of chapter 75 of title 5, United 4
States Code, is amended— 5
(1) in section 7511(a)(5), by inserting before 6
the period the following: ‘‘, but does not include an 7
emergency furlough as defined in section 7501’’; 8
(2) in section 7512, as amended by section 9
2(c)— 10
(A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘a fur-11
lough of 30 days or less’’ and inserting ‘‘a fur-12
lough of more than 14 days but less than 31 13
days’’; 14
(B) in subparagraph (D), as redesignated 15
by section 2(c), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 16
(C) in subparagraph (E), as redesignated 17
by section 2(c), by striking the period at the 18
end and inserting ‘‘, or’’; and 19
(D) by adding at the end the following: 20
‘‘(F) an emergency furlough action under 21
section 7504.’’; and 22
(3) by inserting after section 7514, as added by 23
section 6, the following: 24
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‘‘§ 7515. Furlough cause and procedure 1
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—An employee may be subject to 2
a furlough for such cause as will promote the efficiency 3
of the service. 4
‘‘(b) E
NTITLEMENT TO PROCEDURES.—Any em-5
ployee furloughed under this section is entitled to the pro-6
cedures established under the regulations promulgated 7
under subsection (c). 8
‘‘(c) P
ROCEDURES.—Not later than 180 days after 9
the date of enactment of this section, the Office of Per-10
sonnel Management shall promulgate regulations pro-11
viding for— 12
‘‘(1) the circumstances under which an em-13
ployee may be furloughed under this section; 14
‘‘(2) the procedures provided under section 15
7513 to the extent appropriate and practicable 16
under the circumstances of the furlough action; and 17
‘‘(3) the materials that shall be furnished to a 18
furloughed employee and the Merit Systems Protec-19
tion Board upon request of the employee or the 20
Board. 21
‘‘(d) A
PPEAL.— An employee against whom a fur-22
lough action is taken under this section is entitled to ap-23
peal to the Merit Systems Protection Board under section 24
7701 not later than 10 business days after the effective 25
date of the action.’’. 26
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(c) ADMINISTRATIVE LAWJUDGES.—Section 1
7521(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 2
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 3
the end; 4
(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 5
at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 6
(3) by adding at the end the following: 7
‘‘(D) an emergency furlough action under 8
section 7504.’’. 9
(d) T
ECHNICALAMENDMENTS.— 10
(1) S
ECTION 7503.—The heading of section 11
7503 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 12
striking ‘‘Cause and procedure’’ and inserting 13
‘‘Suspension cause and procedure ’’. 14
(2) S
ECTION 7513.—Section 7513 of title 5, 15
United States Code, is amended by striking 16
‘‘Cause and procedure’’ and inserting ‘‘Cause 17
and procedure for actions other than fur-18
lough’’. 19
(e) C
LERICALAMENDMENTS.— 20
(1) S
UBCHAPTER I OF CHAPTER 75 OF TITLE 21
5.—The table of sections for subchapter I of chapter 22
75 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 23
striking the items relating to sections 7503 and 24
7504 and inserting the following: 25
‘‘7503. Suspension cause and procedure.
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‘‘7504. General furlough and emergency furlough cause and procedure.
‘‘7505. Regulations.’’.
(2) SUBCHAPTER II OF CHAPTER 75 OF TITLE 1
5.—The table of sections for subchapter II of chap-2
ter 75 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 3
striking the items relating to sections 7513 through 4
7515 and inserting the following: 5
‘‘7513. Cause and procedure for actions other than furlough.
‘‘7514. Supervisors.
‘‘7515. Furlough cause and procedure.
‘‘7516. Regulations.
‘‘7517. Discipline of supervisors based on retaliation against whistleblowers.’’.
(f) APPLICATION.—Notwithstanding section 12, the 6
amendments made by this section shall take effect on the 7
earlier of— 8
(1) the date that is 180 days after the date of 9
enactment of this Act; or 10
(2) the date on which the Office of Personnel 11
Management promulgates regulations under sections 12
7504 and 7515 of title 5, United States Code, as 13
added by this section. 14
SEC. 8. REDUCTION OF ANNUITY OF EMPLOYEE CON-15
VICTED OF A FELONY FOR WHICH AN AD-16
VERSE ACTION IS OR WOULD HAVE BEEN 17
TAKEN. 18
(a) R
EDUCTION OF ANNUITY OFEMPLOYEECON-19
VICTED OF AFELONY FORWHICH ANADVERSEACTION 20
I
STAKEN.— 21
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 83 1
of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 2
at the end the following: 3
‘‘§ 8323. Reduction of benefits of employees convicted 4
of certain crimes 5
‘‘(a) R
EDUCTION OFANNUITY.— 6
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—The felonious service of a 7
covered individual shall not be taken into account 8
for purposes of calculating an annuity with respect 9
to the individual under subchapter III of this chap-10
ter or chapter 84 if— 11
‘‘(A) the covered individual is finally con-12
victed of a felony; and 13
‘‘(B) the head of the agency at which the 14
individual was employed determines that the 15
conviction was based on the acts or omissions 16
of the covered individual that— 17
‘‘(i) were taken or not taken in the 18
performance of the covered individual’s of-19
ficial duties at the agency; and 20
‘‘(ii) are sufficient to support a re-21
moval action under section 7513 or 7543, 22
or any other provision of law, against the 23
covered individual. 24
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‘‘(2) PROCEDURES.—A covered individual 1
against whom a determination is made under para-2
graph (1) shall be afforded— 3
‘‘(A) notice of the determination not later 4
than 15 business days in advance of a final 5
order under paragraph (3); and 6
‘‘(B) an opportunity to respond to the de-7
termination by not later than 10 business days 8
after receipt of the notice. 9
‘‘(3) F
INAL ORDER.—The head of the agency 10
shall issue a final order to carry out paragraph (1) 11
not later than— 12
‘‘(A) in the case of a covered individual 13
who responds under paragraph (2)(B), 5 busi-14
ness days after receiving the response from the 15
covered individual, to the maximum extent 16
practicable; or 17
‘‘(B) in the case of a covered individual 18
who does not so respond, 15 business days after 19
the date on which the head of the agency pro-20
vided notice to the individual under paragraph 21
(2)(A), to the maximum extent practicable. 22
‘‘(4) A
PPEAL.—A covered individual with re-23
spect to whom an annuity is to be reduced under 24
this subsection may appeal the final order under 25
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paragraph (3) to the Merit Systems Protection 1
Board in accordance with any regulations that the 2
Board may prescribe for purposes of this subsection. 3
An appeal may not be made under this paragraph 4
later than that date that is 10 business days after 5
the date on which an order is issued under para-6
graph (3). 7
‘‘(b) A
DMINISTRATIVEREQUIREMENTS.— 8
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 30 business 9
days after the date on which the head of an agency 10
issues a final order under subsection (a) or a final 11
decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board is 12
rendered (as the case may be) with respect to an in-13
dividual, the applicable employing agency shall 14
amend the covered individual’s retirement records to 15
reflect the period of service that is no longer cred-16
itable by operation of this section and transmit the 17
amended records to the Director of the Office of 18
Personnel Management. 19
‘‘(2) A
NNUITANTS.—With respect to any cov-20
ered individual who is an annuitant on the date on 21
which a final order is so issued, the Director of the 22
Office of Personnel Management shall, not later 23
than 30 business days after the receipt of amended 24
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retirement records from an agency under paragraph 1
(1), recalculate the annuity of the annuitant. 2
‘‘(c) L
UMP-SUMANNUITYCREDIT.—A covered indi-3
vidual with respect to whom an annuity is reduced under 4
subsection (a) shall be entitled to be paid so much of the 5
individual’s lump-sum credit as is attributable to the pe-6
riod of felonious service. 7
‘‘(d) S
POUSEEXCEPTION.—The spouse of any cov-8
ered individual referred to in subsection (a) shall be eligi-9
ble for spousal annuity benefits that, but for subsection 10
(a), would otherwise have been payable if the Attorney 11
General of the United States or the attorney general of 12
a State, a territory, or the District of Columbia determines 13
that the spouse fully cooperated with authorities in the 14
conduct of a criminal investigation and subsequent pros-15
ecution of the individual that resulted in the benefit reduc-16
tion. 17
‘‘(e) A
PPLICATION.—Nothing in this section shall be 18
construed to affect or otherwise mitigate the application 19
of any other section of this subchapter. 20
‘‘(f) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section— 21
‘‘(1) the term ‘covered individual’ means— 22
‘‘(A) an individual who is removed from a 23
position as an employee (as defined in section 24
2105) in the civil service for performance or 25
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misconduct under section 7513 or 7543, or any 1
other provision of law; or 2
‘‘(B) an individual who— 3
‘‘(i) is an employee (as defined in sec-4
tion 2105) subject to a removal action for 5
performance or misconduct under section 6
7513, 7543, or any other provision of law; 7
and 8
‘‘(ii) voluntarily separates from service 9
with the employing agency prior to the 10
issuance of a final decision with respect to 11
the removal action; 12
‘‘(2) the term ‘felonious service’ means, with re-13
spect to a covered individual, the period of service— 14
‘‘(A) beginning on the date on which the 15
head of the employing agency determines that 16
the individual commenced engaging in the acts 17
or omissions that gave rise to the removal ac-18
tion or proposed removal action described in 19
paragraph (1); and 20
‘‘(B) ending on the date that is the earlier 21
of— 22
‘‘(i) the date on which the individual 23
is removed from or voluntarily separates 24
from a position at the agency; or 25
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‘‘(ii) the date on which the individual 1
ceases engaging in the acts or omissions 2
that gave rise to the removal action or pro-3
posed removal action described in para-4
graph (1); 5
‘‘(3) the term ‘finally convicted’ or ‘final convic-6
tion’ refers to a conviction of a felony— 7
‘‘(A) that has not been appealed and is no 8
longer appealable because the time for taking 9
an appeal has expired; or 10
‘‘(B) that has been appealed and the ap-11
peals process for which is completed; 12
‘‘(4) the term ‘lump-sum credit’ has the mean-13
ing given that term in section 8331(8) or 8401(19) 14
(as the case may be); and 15
‘‘(5) the term ‘service’ has the meaning given 16
that term in section 8331(12) or 8401(26) (as the 17
case may be).’’. 18
(2) C
LERICAL AMENDMENT .—The table of sec-19
tions for subchapter II of chapter 83 of title 5, 20
United States Code, is amended by adding at the 21
end the following: 22
‘‘8323. Reduction of benefits of employees convicted of certain crimes.’’.
(b) APPLICATION.—Section 8323 of title 5, United 23
States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply to 24
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acts or omissions described in subsection (a)(1)(B) of that 1
section occurring after the date of enactment of this Act. 2
(c) R
EGULATIONS.—The Office of Personnel Man-3
agement may prescribe regulations to carry out this sec-4
tion and the amendments made by this section. 5
SEC. 9. AUTHORITY TO RECOUP BONUSES OR AWARDS 6
PAID TO EMPLOYEES. 7
(a) A
DVERSEFINDINGS ANDEMPLOYEESUNDERIN-8
VESTIGATION.—Chapter 45 of title 5, United States Code, 9
is amended by adding at the end the following: 10
‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—LIMITATIONS ON BONUS 11
AUTHORITY 12
‘‘§ 4531. Certain forms of misconduct 13
‘‘(a) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 14
‘‘(1) A
DVERSE FINDING.— 15
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘adverse 16
finding’ means a determination by the head of 17
the agency employing an employee that the con-18
duct of the employee— 19
‘‘(i) violated a policy of the agency for 20
which the employee may be removed or 21
suspended for a period of not less than 14 22
days; or 23
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‘‘(ii) violated a law for which the em-1
ployee may be imprisoned for more than 1 2
year. 3
‘‘(B) B
ASIS.—A determination described in 4
subparagraph (A) may be based on an inves-5
tigation by, a determination of, or information 6
provided by the Inspector General or another 7
senior ethics official of an agency or the Comp-8
troller General of the United States, as part of 9
carrying out an activity, authority, or function 10
of the Inspector General, senior ethics official, 11
or Comptroller General, respectively, under a 12
provision of law other than this section. 13
‘‘(2) A
GENCY.—The term ‘agency’ has the 14
meaning given the term in section 551. 15
‘‘(3) B
ONUS.—The term ‘bonus’ means any 16
performance award or cash award under— 17
‘‘(A) section 4505a; 18
‘‘(B) section 5384; or 19
‘‘(C) section 5754. 20
‘‘(4) E
MPLOYEE.—The term ‘employee’ means 21
an employee of an agency. 22
‘‘(b) P
ROHIBITION.—The head of an agency may not 23
award a bonus to an employee of the agency until the date 24
that is 5 years after the end of the fiscal year during which 25
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the head of the agency makes an adverse finding relating 1
to the employee. 2
‘‘(c) A
FTERBONUSAWARDED.— 3
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—For a bonus awarded to an 4
employee after the date of enactment of this section, 5
if the head of the agency employing the employee 6
makes an adverse finding relating to the employee 7
during the fiscal year in which the bonus is awarded, 8
the head of the agency, after notice and an oppor-9
tunity for a hearing, shall issue an order directing 10
the employee to repay the amount of the bonus. 11
‘‘(2) R
EPAYMENT PLAN.—An agency shall allow 12
an employee who is required to repay a bonus under 13
paragraph (1) to repay that bonus using a repay-14
ment plan. 15
‘‘(3) H
EARINGS.—A hearing under this sub-16
section shall be conducted in accordance with regula-17
tions relating to hearings promulgated by the head 18
of the agency under chapter 75. 19
‘‘(d) C
ONDITION OFRECEIPT.—As a condition of re-20
ceiving a bonus awarded after the date of enactment of 21
this section, an employee shall sign a certification stating 22
that the employee shall repay the bonus in accordance with 23
a final order issued under subsection (c). 24
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‘‘(e) APPEAL.—An employee determined to be ineli-1
gible for a bonus under subsection (b) or against whom 2
an order is issued under subsection (c) may submit an 3
appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board under sec-4
tion 7701. 5
‘‘(f) R
ULEMAKING.—The head of an agency may pro-6
mulgate rules to carry out this section.’’. 7
(b) T
ECHNICAL AND CONFORMINGAMENDMENT.— 8
The table of sections for chapter 45 of title 5, United 9
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-10
lowing: 11
‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—LIMITATIONS ON BONUS AUTHORITY
‘‘4531. Certain forms of misconduct.’’.
SEC. 10. EXTENSION OF PROBATIONARY PERIOD FOR POSI-
12
TIONS WITHIN THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE 13
SERVICE. 14
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 3393(d) of title 5, United 15
States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘1-year’’ and insert-16
ing ‘‘2-year’’. 17
(b) C
ONFORMINGAMENDMENT.—Section 3592(a)(1) 18
of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘1- 19
year’’ and inserting ‘‘2-year’’. 20
(c) A
PPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 21
section shall apply in the case of any individual initially 22
appointed as a career appointee under section 3393 of title 23
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5, United States Code, on or after the effective date pro-1
vided in section 12 of this Act. 2
SEC. 11. EXTENSION OF PROBATIONARY PERIOD FOR EM-3
PLOYEES IN THE COMPETITIVE SERVICE. 4
(a) E
XTENSION OFPROBATIONARYPERIOD.— 5
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Section 3321 of title 5, 6
United States Code, is amended— 7
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘The 8
President’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to sub-9
sections (c) and (d), the President’’; 10
(B) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-11
section (e); and 12
(C) by inserting after subsection (b) the 13
following: 14
‘‘(c)(1) The length of a probationary period estab-15
lished under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) shall— 16
‘‘(A) with respect to any position that requires 17
formal training, begin on the date of the appoint-18
ment to the position and end on the date that is 2 19
years after the date on which the formal training is 20
completed; 21
‘‘(B) with respect to any position that requires 22
a license, begin on the date of the appointment to 23
the position and end on the date that is 2 years 24
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after the date of the appointment or the date on 1
which the license is granted, whichever is later; and 2
‘‘(C) with respect to any position not covered by 3
subparagraph (A) or (B), be a period of 2 years be-4
ginning on the date of the appointment to the posi-5
tion. 6
‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)— 7
‘‘(A) the term ‘formal training’ means, with re-8
spect to any position, a training program required 9
by law, rule, or regulation, or otherwise required by 10
the employing agency, to be completed by the em-11
ployee before the employee is able to successfully 12
execute the duties of the applicable position; and 13
‘‘(B) the term ‘license’ means a license, certifi-14
cation, or other grant of permission to engage in a 15
particular activity. 16
‘‘(d) The head of each agency shall, in the adminis-17
tration of this section, take appropriate measures to en-18
sure that— 19
‘‘(1) any announcement of a vacant position 20
and any offer of appointment made to an individual 21
with respect to a vacant position clearly states the 22
terms and conditions of any applicable probationary 23
period, including any formal training period and any 24
license requirement; 25
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‘‘(2) any individual who is required to complete 1
a probationary period under this section receives 2
timely notice of any requirements, including per-3
formance requirements, that must be met in order to 4
satisfactorily complete that period; 5
‘‘(3) any supervisor or manager of an individual 6
who is required to complete a probationary period 7
under this section receives periodic notifications of 8
the end date of that period not later than 1 year, 9
6 months, 3 months, and 30 days before the end 10
date; and 11
‘‘(4) if the agency head decides to retain an in-12
dividual after the completion of a probationary pe-13
riod under this section, the agency head submits a 14
certification to that effect to the President, sup-15
ported by a brief statement of the basis for the cer-16
tification, in such form and manner as the President 17
may by regulation prescribe.’’. 18
(2) T
ECHNICAL AMENDMENT .—Section 3321(e) 19
of title 5, United States Code (as so redesignated by 20
paragraph (1)), is amended by striking ‘‘Subsections 21
(a) and (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subsections (a) through 22
(d)’’. 23
(3) A
PPLICATION.—This subsection and the 24
amendments made by this subsection shall apply in 25
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the case of any appointment (as referred to in sec-1
tion 3321(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code) and 2
any initial appointment (as referred to in section 3
3321(a)(2) of that title) taking effect on or after the 4
effective date provided in section 12 of this Act. 5
(b) A
DVERSEACTIONS.— 6
(1) S
UBCHAPTER I OF CHAPTER 75 OF TITLE 7
5.—Section 7501(2) of title 5, United States Code, 8
as so redesignated by section 7(a)(1), is amended by 9
striking ‘‘or who has completed 1 year of current’’ 10
and inserting ‘‘and who has completed 2 years of 11
current’’. 12
(2) S
UBCHAPTER II OF CHAPTER 75 OF TITLE 13
5.—Section 7511(a)(1) of title 5, United States 14
Code, is amended— 15
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 16
(i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and 17
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 18
(ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘1 year’’ 19
the first place it appears and inserting ‘‘2 20
years’’; 21
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘1 22
year’’ and inserting ‘‘2 years’’; and 23
(C) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking ‘‘; 24
or’’ and inserting ‘‘; and’’. 25
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(3) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by 1
paragraphs (1) and (2) shall apply in the case of 2
any individual whose period of continuous service 3
commences on or after the effective date provided in 4
section 12. 5
(c) R
EGULATIONS.—The Office of Personnel Man-6
agement may prescribe regulations to carry out this sec-7
tion and the amendments made by this section. 8
SEC. 12. APPLICATION. 9
(a) E
FFECTIVEDATE.—Unless otherwise specifically 10
provided for in this Act, the amendments made by this 11
Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the 12
date of enactment of this Act. 13
(b) C
OLLECTIVEBARGAININGAGREEMENTS.—Not-14
withstanding any other provision of law, the procedures 15
established or amended by this Act shall supersede any 16
collective bargaining agreement to the extent that the 17
agreement is inconsistent with those procedures. 18
(c) D
EFINITION OFBUSINESSDAY.—For purposes 19
of carrying out this Act and the amendments made by this 20
Act, the term ‘‘business day’’ means any day other than 21
a Saturday, Sunday, or legal public holiday under section 22
6103(a) of title 5, United States Code. 23
Æ
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