I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3218

To amend title 5, United States Code, to eliminate narrow restrictions on

employee training; to provide a temporary voluntary separation incentive;

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 5, 1993

Mr. CLAY (by request) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Post Office and Civil Service

A BILL

To amend title 5, United States Code, to eliminate narrow

restrictions on employee training; to provide a temporary

voluntary separation incentive; 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 ‘‘Federal Workforce Re5 structuring Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. TRAINING.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 41 of title 5, United

8 States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) in section 4101(4) by striking ‘‘fields’’ and

2 all that follows through the semicolon and inserting

3 ‘‘fields which will improve individual and organiza4 tional performance and assist in achieving the agen5 cy’s mission and performance goals;’’;

6 (2) in section 4103—

7 (A) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘In’’ and

8 all that follows through ‘‘proficiency’’ and in9 serting ‘‘In order to assist in achieving an agen10 cy’s mission and performance goals by improv11 ing employee and organizational performance’’;

12 and

13 (B) in subsection (b)—

14 (i) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘de15 termines’’ and all that follows through the

16 period and inserting ‘‘determines that such

17 training would be in the interests of the

18 Government.’’;

19 (ii) by striking paragraph (2) and re20 designating paragraph (3) as paragraph

21 (2); and

22 (iii) in subparagraph (C) of paragraph

23 (2) (as so redesignated) by striking ‘‘re24 taining’’ and all that follows through the

25 period and inserting ‘‘such training.’’;
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1 (3) in section 4105—

2 (A) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘(a)’’;

3 and

4 (B) by striking subsections (b) and (c);

5 (4) by striking section 4106;

6 (5) in section 4107—

7 (A) by amending the catchline to read as

8 follows:

9 ‘‘§ 4107. Restriction on degree training’’;

10 (B) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and

11 redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as sub12 sections (a) and (b), respectively;

13 (C) by amending subsection (a) (as so re14 designated)—

15 (i) by striking ‘‘subsection (d)’’ and

16 inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘by, in, or through a

18 non-Government facility’’; and

19 (D) by amending paragraph (1) of sub20 section (b) (as so redesignated) by striking

21 ‘‘subsection (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)’’;

22 (6) in section 4108(a) by striking ‘‘by, in, or

23 through a non-Government facility under this chap24 ter’’ and inserting ‘‘for more than a minimum period

25 prescribed by the head of the agency’’;
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1 (7) in section 4113(b) by striking the matter

2 following the first sentence;

3 (8) by striking section 4114; and

4 (9) in section 4118—

5 (A) in subsection (a)(7) by striking ‘‘by,

6 in, and through non-Government facilities’’;

7 (B) by striking subsection (b); and

8 (C) by redesignating subsections (c) and

9 (d) as subsections (b) and (c), respectively.

10 (b) CHAPTER ANALYSIS.—The analysis of chapter 41

11 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

12 (1) by striking the items relating to sections

13 4106 and 4114; and

14 (2) by amending the item relating to section

15 4107 to read as follows:

‘‘4107. Restriction on degree training.’’.

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

17 this section shall become effective on the date of enact18 ment of this Act.

19 SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY SEPARATION INCENTIVES.

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this section—

21 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means an Executive

22 agency, as defined in section 105 of title 5, United

23 States Code, but does not include the Department of

24 Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, or the

25 General Accounting Office; and
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1 (2) the term ‘‘employee’’ means an employee, as

2 defined in section 2105 of title 5, United States

3 Code, of an agency, serving under an appointment

4 without time limitation, who has been currently em5 ployed for a continuous period of at least 12 months,

6 including an individual employed by a county com7 mittee established under section 8(b) of the Soil

8 Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16

9 U.S.C. 590h(b)), but does not include—

10 (A) a reemployed annuitant under sub11 chapter III of chapter 83 or chapter 84 of title

12 5, United States Code, or another retirement

13 system for employees of the Government; or

14 (B) an employee having a disability on the

15 basis of which such employee is or would be eli16 gible for disability retirement under the applica17 ble retirement system referred to in subpara18 graph (A).

19 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to assist in the re21 structuring of the Federal workforce while minimiz22 ing involuntary separations, the head of an agency

23 may pay, or authorize the payment of, a voluntary

24 separation incentive to employees in any component

25 of the agency, employees in any occupation or geo-
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1 graphic location, or any combination thereof, who

2 agree, during a continuous 90-day period designated

3 by the agency head for the agency or a component

4 thereof, beginning no earlier than the date of enact5 ment of this Act and ending no later than Septem6 ber 30, 1994, to separate from service with the

7 agency, whether by retirement or resignation.

8 (2) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SEPARATION

9 DATE.—In order to receive a voluntary separation

10 incentive, an employee shall separate from service no

11 later than the last day of the 90-day period des12 ignated by the agency head under paragraph (1),

13 unless the agency head determines that, in order to

14 ensure the performance of the agency’s mission, the

15 employee must agree to continue in service until a

16 later date, but not later than 2 years after such last

17 day of the 90-day period.

18 (c) AMOUNT AND TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—A

19 voluntary separation incentive—

20 (1) shall be paid in a lump sum after the em21 ployee’s separation;

22 (2) shall be equal to the lesser of—

23 (A) an amount equal to the amount the

24 employee would be entitled to receive under sec25 tion 5595(c) of title 5, United States Code, if
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1 the employee were entitled to payment under

2 such section; or

3 (B) $25,000;

4 (3) shall not be a basis for payment, and shall

5 not be included in the computation, of any other

6 type of Government benefit;

7 (4) shall not be taken into account in determin8 ing the amount of any severance pay to which an

9 employee may be entitled under section 5595 of title

10 5, United States Code, based on any other separa11 tion; and

12 (5) shall be paid from appropriations or funds

13 available for the payment of the basic pay of the em14 ployee.

15 (d) EFFECT OF SUBSEQUENT EMPLOYMENT WITH

16 THE GOVERNMENT.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—An employee who has re18 ceived a voluntary separation incentive under this

19 section and accepts employment with the Govern20 ment of the United States within 2 years of the date

21 of the separation on which payment of the incentive

22 is based shall be required to repay the entire amount

23 of the incentive to the agency that paid the incen24 tive.
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1 (2) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—If the employment is

2 with an Executive agency (as defined in section 105

3 of title 5, United States Code), the Director of the

4 Office of Personnel Management may, at the request

5 of the head of the agency, waive the repayment if

6 the employment is in a position for which there is

7 exceptional difficulty in recruiting a qualified em8 ployee. If the employment is with an entity in the

9 legislative branch, the head of the entity or the ap10 pointing official may waive the repayment if the em11 ployment is in a position for which there is excep12 tional difficulty in recruiting a qualified employee. If

13 the employment is with the judicial branch, the Di14 rector of the Administrative Office of the United

15 States Courts may waive the repayment if the em16 ployment is in a position for which there is excep17 tional difficulty in recruiting a qualified employee.

18 (e) REGULATIONS.—The Director of the Office of

19 Personnel Management may prescribe any regulations

20 necessary for the administration of this Act.

21 (f) EMPLOYEES OF THE JUDICIAL BRANCH.—The

22 Director of the Administrative Office of the United States

23 Courts may, by regulation, establish a program consistent

24 with the program established by subsections (a) through

25 (d) of this section for employees of the judicial branch.
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1 (g) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that—

3 (1) employment in the executive branch should

4 be reduced by not less than one full-time equivalent

5 position for each 2 employees who are paid voluntary

6 separation incentives under this Act; and

7 (2) each agency should adjust its employment

8 levels to achieve this result.

9 SEC. 4. COORDINATION WITH OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW.

10 (a) DEFENSE AGENCIES.—Section 5597 of title 5,

11 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the

12 following:

13 ‘‘(g) An employee who receives separation pay under

14 this section on the basis of a separation occurring on or

15 after the date of enactment of the Federal Workforce Re16 structuring Act of 1993, and accepts employment with the

17 Government of the United States within 2 years of the

18 date of the separation on which payment of the separation

19 pay is based shall be required to repay the entire amount

20 of the separation pay to the defense agency that paid the

21 separation pay. If the employment is with an Executive

22 agency, the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage23 ment may, at the request of the head of the agency, waive

24 the repayment if the employment is in a position for which

25 there is exceptional difficulty in recruiting a qualified em-
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1 ployee. If the employment is with an entity in the legisla2 tive branch, the head of the entity or the appointing offi3 cial may waive the repayment if the employment is in a

4 position for which there is exceptional difficulty in recruit5 ing a qualified employee. If the employment is with the

6 judicial branch, the Director of the Administrative Office

7 of the United States Courts may waive the repayment if

8 the employment is in a position for which there is excep9 tional difficulty in recruiting a qualified employee.’’.

10 (b) CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.—Section 2(b)

11 of the Central Intelligence Agency Voluntary Separation

12 Pay Act (Public Law 103–36; 107 Stat. 104) is amended

13 by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An employee who re14 ceives separation pay under this section on the basis of

15 a separation occurring on or after the date of enactment

16 of the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act of 1993 and

17 accepts employment with the Government of the United

18 States within 2 years of the date of the separation on

19 which payment of the separation pay is based shall be re20 quired to repay the entire amount of the separation pay

21 to the Central Intelligence Agency. If the employment is

22 with an Executive agency (as defined in section 105 of

23 title 5, United States Code), the Director of the Office

24 of Personnel Management may, at the request of the head

25 of the agency, waive the repayment if the employment is
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1 in a position for which there is exceptional difficulty in

2 recruiting a qualified employee. If the employment is with

3 an entity in the legislative branch, the head of the entity

4 or the appointing official may waive the repayment if the

5 employment is in a position for which there is exceptional

6 difficulty in recruiting a qualified employee. If the employ7 ment is with the judicial branch, the Director of the Ad8 ministrative Office of the United States Courts may waive

9 the repayment if the employment is in a position for which

10 there is exceptional difficulty in recruiting a qualified em11 ployee.’’.

12 SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL AGENCY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE RE13 TIREMENT FUND.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8334 of title 5, United

15 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow16 ing new subsection:

17 ‘‘(m) In addition to any other payments required by

18 this subchapter, an agency shall remit to the Office for

19 deposit in the Treasury of the United States to the credit

20 of the Fund an amount equal to 9 percent of the final

21 rate of basic pay of each employee of the agency who re22 tires under section 8336(d).’’.

23 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by this

24 section shall apply with respect to retirements occurring

25 on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
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