I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4582

To require the Architect of the Capitol to establish and maintain a

comprehensive personnel management system, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 15, 1994

Ms. NORTON (for herself, Mr. WYNN, Mr. MFUME, and Mr. RANGEL) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on

House Administration and Post Office and Civil Service

A BILL

To require the Architect of the Capitol to establish and

maintain a comprehensive personnel management system,

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Architect of the Capitol

5 Human Resources Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDING AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDING.—The Congress finds that the Office of

8 the Architect of the Capitol has not kept pace with human
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1 resource management practices common among other

2 Federal and private sector organizations.

3 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to re4 quire the Architect of the Capitol to establish and main5 tain a personnel management system that incorporates

6 fundamental principles that exist in other modern person7 nel systems.

8 SEC. 3. PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Architect of the Capitol

10 shall establish and maintain a personnel management sys11 tem.

12 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The personnel management

13 system shall at a minimum include the following:

14 (1) A system which ensures that applicants for

15 employment and employees of the Architect of the

16 Capitol are appointed, promoted, and assigned on

17 the basis of merit and fitness after fair and equi18 table consideration of all applicants and employees

19 through open competition.

20 (2) An equal employment opportunity program

21 which includes an affirmative employment program

22 for employees and applicants for employment, and

23 procedures for monitoring progress by the Architect

24 of the Capitol in ensuring a workforce reflective of

25 the diverse labor force.
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1 (3) A system for the classification of positions

2 which takes into account the difficulty, responsibil3 ity, and qualification requirements of the work per4 formed, and which conforms to the principle of equal

5 pay for substantially equal work.

6 (4) A program for the training of Architect of

7 the Capitol employees which has among its goals im8 proved employee performance and opportunities for

9 employee advancement.

10 (5) A formal performance appraisal system

11 which will permit the accurate evaluation of job per12 formance on the basis of objective criteria for all Ar13 chitect of the Capitol employees.

14 (6) A fair and equitable system to address un15 acceptable conduct and performance by Architect of

16 the Capitol employees, including a general statement

17 of violations, sanctions, and procedures which shall

18 be made known to all employees, and a formal griev19 ance procedure.

20 (7) A program to provide services to deal with

21 mental health, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and other

22 employee problems, and which ensures employee con23 fidentiality.

24 (8) A formal policy statement regarding the use

25 and accrual of sick and annual leave which shall be
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1 made known to all employees, and which is consist2 ent with the other requirements of this section.

3 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

4 SYSTEM.

5 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—The Architect of the

6 Capitol shall—

7 (1) develop a plan for the establishment and

8 maintenance of a personnel management system de9 signed to achieve the requirements of section 3;

10 (2) submit the plan to the Congress not later

11 than 3 months after the date of enactment of this

12 Act; and

13 (3) implement the plan not earlier than 30 days

14 and not later than 90 days after the plan is submit15 ted to the Congress, as specified in paragraph (2).

16 (b) EVALUATION AND REPORTING.—The Architect of

17 the Capitol shall develop a system of oversight and evalua18 tion to ensure that the personnel management system of

19 the Architect of the Capitol achieves the requirements of

20 section 3 and complies with all other relevant laws, rules

21 and regulations. The Architect of the Capitol shall report

22 to the Congress on an annual basis the results of its eval23 uation under this subsection.

24 (c) APPLICATION OF LAWS.—Nothing in this Act

25 shall be construed to alter or supersede any other provi-
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1 sion of law otherwise applicable to the Architect of the

2 Capitol or its employees, unless expressly provided in this

3 Act.

4 SEC. 5. DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT PROCESSING.

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

6 (1) The term ‘‘employee of the Architect of the

7 Capitol’’ or ‘‘employee’’ means—

8 (A) any employee of the Architect of the

9 Capitol;

10 (B) any applicant for a position that is to

11 be occupied by an individual described in sub12 paragraph (A); or

13 (C) any individual who was formerly an

14 employee described in subparagraph (A) and

15 whose claim of a violation arises out of the indi16 vidual’s employment with the Architect of the

17 Capitol.

18 (2) The term ‘‘violation’’ means a practice that

19 violates subsection (b) of this section.

20 (b) DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES PROHIBITED.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—All personnel actions affect22 ing employees of the Architect of the Capitol shall

23 be made free from any discrimination based on—
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1 (A) race, color, religion, sex, or national

2 origin, within the meaning of section 717 of the

3 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16);

4 (B) age, within the meaning of section 15

5 of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act

6 of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 633a); or

7 (C) handicap or disability, within the

8 meaning of section 501 of the Rehabilitation

9 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791) and sections 102

10 through 104 of the Americans with Disabilities

11 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12112–14).

12 (2) INTIMIDATION PROHIBITED.—Any intimida13 tion of, or reprisal against, any employee by the Ar14 chitect of the Capitol, or by any employee of the Ar15 chitect of the Capitol, because of the exercise of a

16 right under this section constitutes an unlawful em17 ployment practice, which may be remedied in the

18 same manner as are other violations described in

19 paragraph (1).

20 (c) PROCEDURE FOR CONSIDERATION OF ALLEGED

21 VIOLATIONS.—

22 (1) GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE PERSONNEL

23 APPEALS BOARD.—Any employee of the Architect of

24 the Capitol alleging a violation of subsection (b) may

25 file a charge with the General Accounting Office
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1 Personnel Appeals Board in accordance with the

2 General Accounting Office Personnel Act of 1980

3 (31 U.S.C. 751–55) and regulations of the Board.

4 Such a charge may be filed only after the employee

5 has filed a complaint with the Architect of the Cap6 itol in accordance with requirements prescribed by

7 the Architect of the Capitol and has exhausted all

8 remedies pursuant to such requirements.

9 (2) AUTHORITY OF ARCHITECT.—The Architect

10 of the Capitol shall carry out any action within its

11 authority that the Board orders under section 4 of

12 the General Accounting Office Personnel Act of

13 1980 (31 U.S.C. 753).

14 (3) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Architect of the

15 Capitol shall reimburse the General Accounting Of16 fice for costs incurred by the Board in considering

17 charges filed under this section.

18 (d) AMENDMENTS TO THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING

19 OFFICE PERSONNEL ACT OF 1980.—

20 (1) Section 751(a)(1) of title 31, United States

21 Code, amended by inserting ‘‘or Architect of the

22 Capitol’’ after ‘‘Office’’.

23 (2) Section 753(a) of title 31, United States

24 Code, is amended—
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1 (A) in paragraph (7) by striking ‘‘and’’ at

2 the end of the paragraph;

3 (B) in paragraph (8) by striking the period

4 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

5 (C) by inserting at the end thereof the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘(9) an action involving discrimination prohib8 ited under section 4(b) of the Architect of the Cap9 itol Human Resources Act.’’.

10 (3) Section 755 of title 31, United States Code,

11 is amended—

12 (A) in subsection (a) by striking the ‘‘or

13 (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘, 7, or (9)’’; and

14 (B) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘or appli15 cant for employment’’ and inserting ‘‘applicant

16 for employment, or employee of the Architect of

17 the Capitol’’.

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