I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1367 

To improve the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to hire and 

retain physicians and other employees of the Department of Veterans 

Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2017 

Mr. WENSTRUP introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To improve the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

to hire and retain physicians and other employees of 

the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Modification to annual determination of staffing shortages in Veterans 

Health Administration. 

Sec. 3. Executive management fellowship program. 

Sec. 4. Accountability of leaders for managing the Department of Veterans Affairs. 


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Sec. 5. Modification to veterans preference. 

Sec. 6. Reemployment of former employees. 

Sec. 7. Recruiting database. 

Sec. 8. Human resources academy. 

Sec. 9. Promotional opportunities for technical experts. 

Sec. 10. Comptroller General study on succession planning. 

Sec. 11. Information on hiring effectiveness. 

Sec. 12. Employment of students and recent graduates. 

Sec. 13. Exit surveys. 

1 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION TO ANNUAL DETERMINATION OF 

2 STAFFING SHORTAGES IN VETERANS HEALTH 

3 ADMINISTRATION. 

4 Section 7412(a) of title 38, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘the five occupations’’ and in7 serting ‘‘the five clinical occupations and the five 

8 nonclinical occupations’’; and 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘throughout the Department’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘with respect to each medical center of 

11 the Department,’’. 

12 SEC. 3. EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

13 (a) FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.—Chapter 7 of title 38, 

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

15 following new subchapter: 

16 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT 

17 FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM 

18 ‘‘§ 741. Executive Management Fellowship Program 

19 ‘‘(a) FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.—There is in the De20 partment an Executive Management Fellowship Program. 

21 The purpose of the program shall be to provide— 


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1 ‘‘(1) eligible employees of the Veterans Benefits 

2 Administration and the Veterans Health Administra3 tion with training and experience in the private sec4 tor; and 

5 ‘‘(2) eligible employees of a private-sector entity 

6 with training and experience in the Department of 

7 Veterans Affairs. 

8 ‘‘(b) FELLOWSHIP.—(1) A fellowship provided under 

9 this section is a one-year fellowship during which— 

10 ‘‘(A) with respect to a Department participant, 

11 the participant receives training and experience at a 

12 private-sector entity that is engaged in the adminis13 tration and delivery of health care or other services 

14 similar to the benefits administered by the Sec15 retary; and 

16 ‘‘(B) with respect to a private-sector partici17 pant, the participant receives training and experi18 ence at the Veterans Benefits Administration or the 

19 Veterans Health Administration. 

20 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall enter into such agreements 

21 with private-sector entities as are necessary to carry out 

22 this section. 

23 ‘‘(c) SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS.—(1) In August of 

24 each year, the Secretary shall select— 


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1 ‘‘(A) not fewer than 18 and not more than 30 

2 eligible employees of the Veterans Benefits Adminis3 tration and the Veterans Health Administration to 

4 receive a fellowship under this section; and 

5 ‘‘(B) not fewer than 18 and not more than 30 

6 eligible employees of private-sector entities to receive 

7 a fellowship under this section. 

8 ‘‘(2) To the extent practicable, the Secretary shall se9 lect eligible employees under subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

10 of paragraph (1) from among eligible employees who are 

11 veterans in a manner that is reflective of the demographics 

12 of the veteran population of the United States. 

13 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES.—For the purposes of 

14 this section, an eligible employee is— 

15 ‘‘(1) with respect to an employee of the Vet16 erans Benefits Administration or the Veterans 

17 Health Administration, an employee who— 

18 ‘‘(A) is compensated at a rate of basic pay 

19 not less than the minimum rate of basic pay 

20 payable for grade GS–14 of the General Sched21 ule and not more than either the minimum rate 

22 of basic pay payable to a member of the Senior 

23 Executive Service under section 5382 of title 5, 

24 United States Code, or the minimum rate of 


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1 basic pay payable pursuant to chapter 74 of 

2 this title, as the case may be; 

3 ‘‘(B) enters into an agreement with the 

4 Secretary under subsection (e); and 

5 ‘‘(C) submits to the Secretary an applica6 tion containing such information and assur7 ances as the Secretary may require; and 

8 ‘‘(2) with respect to an employee of a private9 sector entity, an employee who— 

10 ‘‘(A) is employed in a position whose du11 ties and responsibilities are commensurate with 

12 an employee of the Department described in 

13 paragraph (1); 

14 ‘‘(B) enters into an agreement with the 

15 Secretary under subsection (e); and 

16 ‘‘(C) submits to the Secretary an applica17 tion containing such information and assur18 ances as the Secretary may require. 

19 ‘‘(e) AGREEMENTS.—(1) An agreement between the 

20 Secretary and a Department participant shall be in writ21 ing, shall be signed by the participant, and shall include 

22 the following provisions: 

23 ‘‘(A) The Secretary’s agreement to provide the 

24 participant with a fellowship under this section; 

25 ‘‘(B) The participant’s agreement— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to accept the fellowship; 

2 ‘‘(ii) after completion of the fellowship, to 

3 serve as a full-time employee in the Veterans 

4 Benefits Administration or the Veterans Health 

5 Administration for at least two years as speci6 fied in the agreement; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) that, during the two-year period be8 ginning on the last day of the fellowship, the 

9 participant will not accept employment in the 

10 same industry as the industry of the private11 sector entity at which the participant accepts 

12 the fellowship. 

13 ‘‘(C) A provision that any financial obligation of 

14 the United States arising out of an agreement en15 tered into under this subchapter, and any obligation 

16 of the participant which is conditioned on such 

17 agreement, is contingent upon funds being appro18 priated. 

19 ‘‘(D) A statement of the damages to which the 

20 United States is entitled under this subchapter for 

21 the participant’s breach of the agreement. 

22 ‘‘(E) Such other terms as the Secretary deter23 mines are required to be included in the agreement. 

24 ‘‘(2) An agreement between the Secretary and a pri25 vate-sector participant shall be in writing, shall be signed 


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1 by the participant, and shall include the following provi2 sions: 

3 ‘‘(A) The Secretary’s agreement to provide the 

4 participant with a fellowship under this section. 

5 ‘‘(B) The participant’s agreement to accept the 

6 fellowship. 

7 ‘‘(C) Such other terms as the Secretary deter8 mines are required to be included in the agreement. 

9 ‘‘(f) TREATMENT OF RECIPIENTS.—(1) A Depart10 ment participant shall be considered an employee of the 

11 Department for all purposes, including for purposes of re12 ceiving a salary and benefits, and shall remain eligible for 

13 all promotion and incentive programs otherwise available 

14 to such an employee. 

15 ‘‘(2) A private-sector participant shall be considered 

16 an employee of the private-sector entity that employs the 

17 participant for all purposes, including for purposes of re18 ceiving a salary and benefits, and during the fellowship 

19 shall be treated as a contractor of the Department. 

20 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.—Not later than 60 days after com21 pleting a fellowship under this section, a recipient of the 

22 fellowship shall submit to the Secretary a report on the 

23 fellowship. Each such report shall describe the duties of 

24 the recipient during the fellowship and any recommenda25 tions of the recipient for the application by the Secretary 


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1 of industry processes, technologies, and best practices. Not 

2 later than seven days after receiving each such report, the 

3 Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af4 fairs of the Senate and House of Representatives such re5 port without change. 

6 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Department participant’ means 

8 an employee of the Veterans Benefits Administration 

9 or the Veterans Health Administration who is par10 ticipating in the fellowship under this section. 

11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘private-sector entity’ includes 

12 an entity operating under a public-private partner13 ship. 

14 ‘‘(3) The term ‘private-sector participant’ 

15 means an employee of a private-sector entity who is 

16 participating in the fellowship under this section.’’. 

17 (b) DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later 

18 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

19 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall implement the Ex20 ecutive Management Fellowship Program required under 

21 section 741 of title 38, United States Code, as added by 

22 subsection (a). 

23 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

24 at the beginning of chapter 7 of title 38, United States 


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1 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 items: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

‘‘741. Executive Management Fellowship Program.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. ACCOUNTABILITY OF LEADERS FOR MANAGING 

4 THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 38, United 

6 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 717 the 

7 following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 719. Annual performance plan for political ap9 pointees 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct an 

11 annual performance plan for each political appointee of 

12 the Department that is similar to the annual performance 

13 plan conducted for an employee of the Department who 

14 is appointed as a career appointee (as that term is defined 

15 in section 3132(a)(4) of title 5) within the Senior Execu16 tive Service at the Department. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELEMENTS OF PLAN.—Each annual perform18 ance plan conducted under subsection (a) with respect to 

19 a political appointee of the Department shall include an 

20 assessment of whether the appointee is meeting the fol21 lowing goals: 

22 ‘‘(1) Recruiting, selecting, and retaining well23 qualified individuals for employment at the Depart24 ment. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Engaging and motivating employees. 

2 ‘‘(3) Training and developing employees and 

3 preparing those employees for future leadership roles 

4 within the Department. 

5 ‘‘(4) Holding each employee of the Department 

6 that is a manager accountable for addressing issues 

7 relating to performance, in particular issues relating 

8 to the performance of employees that report to the 

9 manager. 

10 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF POLITICAL APPOINTEE.—In 

11 this section, the term ‘political appointee’ means an em12 ployee of the Department who holds— 

13 ‘‘(1) a position which has been excepted from 

14 the competitive service by reason of its confidential, 

15 policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advo16 cating character; or 

17 ‘‘(2) a position in the Senior Executive Service 

18 as a noncareer appointee (as such term is defined in 

19 section 3132(a) of title 5).’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

21 at the beginning of chapter 7 of such title is amended by 

22 inserting after the item relating to section 717 the fol23 lowing new item: 

‘‘719. Annual performance plan for political appointees.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. MODIFICATION TO VETERANS PREFERENCE. 

2 (a) ACTIVE DUTY REQUIREMENT.—Section 

3 2108(1)(B) and (D) of title 5, United States Code, are 

4 amended by striking ‘‘consecutive’’ in each instance it ap5 pears and inserting ‘‘cumulative’’. 

6 (b) EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY OF RETIRED VET7 ERANS.—Section 2108(4) of title 5, United States Code, 

8 is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(4) ‘preference eligible’ includes a retired 

10 member of the armed forces; and’’. 

11 SEC. 6. REEMPLOYMENT OF FORMER EMPLOYEES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

13 may noncompetitively appoint a qualified former employee 

14 to any position within the competitive service or any ex15 cepted service position under chapter 74 of title 38, United 

16 States Code, at the Department of Veterans Affairs that 

17 is one grade higher than the grade of the position at the 

18 Department most recently occupied by the employee. 

19 (b) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not appoint a 

20 qualified former employee to a position that is more than 

21 one grade (or equivalent) higher than the position at the 

22 Department most recently occupied by the employee. 

23 (c) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED FORMER EM24 PLOYEE.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘quali25 fied former employee’’ means any individual who— 


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1 (1) formerly occupied any position at the De2 partment of Veterans Affairs within two years before 

3 applying for reemployment at the Department; 

4 (2) voluntarily left such position, or was subject 

5 to a reduction in force, and had a satisfactory per6 formance record while occupying such position; and 

7 (3) since leaving such position has maintained 

8 licensing requirements, related to the position, if 

9 any, and gained skill, knowledge, or other factors re10 lated to the position. 

11 SEC. 7. RECRUITING DATABASE. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 

13 Affairs shall establish a single database that lists each va14 cant position in the Department of Veterans Affairs that 

15 the Secretary determines is critical to the mission of the 

16 Department, difficult to fill, or both. 

17 (b) QUALIFIED APPLICANT.—If the Secretary deter18 mines that an applicant for a vacant position listed in the 

19 database established under subsection (a) is qualified for 

20 such position but does not select the applicant for such 

21 position, the Secretary, at the election of the applicant, 

22 shall consider the applicant for other similar vacant posi23 tions listed in the database for which the applicant is 

24 qualified. 


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1 (c) PROLONGED VACANCIES.—If the Secretary does 

2 not fill a vacant position listed in the database established 

3 under subsection (a) after a period determined appro4 priate by the Secretary, the Secretary— 

5 (1) shall ensure that applicants described in 

6 subsection (b) are considered for such position; and 

7 (2) shall use the database established under 

8 subsection (a) to assist in filling such position. 

9 (d) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

10 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

11 to Congress a report on the use and efficacy of the data12 base established under subsection (a). 

13 SEC. 8. HUMAN RESOURCES ACADEMY. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

15 shall provide to human resources professionals of the Vet16 erans Health Administration of the Department of Vet17 erans Affairs training on how to best recruit and retain 

18 employees of the Veterans Health Administration, includ19 ing with respect to any recruitment and retention matters 

20 that are unique to the Veterans Health Administration 

21 pursuant to chapter 74 of title 38, United States Code, 

22 or other provisions of law. The Secretary shall provide 

23 such training in a manner that the Secretary determines 

24 appropriate in light of budget, travel, and other con25 straints. 


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1 (b) AMOUNT OF TRAINING.—The Secretary shall en2 sure that each human resources professional of the Vet3 erans Health Administration receives the training de4 scribed in subsection (a)— 

5 (1) as soon as practicable after being hired by 

6 the Secretary as a human resource professional; and 

7 (2) annually thereafter. 

8 (c) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall require 

9 that each human resources professional of the Veterans 

10 Health Administration, upon the completion of the train11 ing described in subsection (a), certifies that the profes12 sional received the training and understands the informa13 tion provided by the training. 

14 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit 

15 to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

16 Representatives and the Senate an annual report on the 

17 training described in subsection (a), including the cost of 

18 providing such training and the number of human re19 sources professionals who received such training during 

20 the year covered by the report. 

21 SEC. 9. PROMOTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR TECHNICAL 

22 EXPERTS. 

23 Not later than one year after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

25 establish a promotional track system for employees of the 


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1 Department of Veterans Affairs that the Secretary deter2 mines are technical experts pursuant to regulations pre3 scribed by the Secretary for purposes of carrying out this 

4 section. Such system shall— 

5 (1) provide any such employee the opportunity 

6 to advance within the Department without being re7 quired to transition to a management position; and 

8 (2) for purposes of achieving career advance9 ment— 

10 (A) provide for the establishment of new 

11 positions within the Department; and 

12 (B) notwithstanding any other provision of 

13 law, provide for increases in pay for any such 

14 employee. 

15 SEC. 10. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY ON SUCCESSION 

16 PLANNING. 

17 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

18 States shall conduct a study on each of the following: 

19 (1) The succession planning at each medical fa20 cility of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

21 (2) The succession planning at the Veterans 

22 Benefits Administration and the National Cemetery 

23 Administration of the Department. 


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1 (b) ELEMENTS.—The study under subsection (a) 

2 shall include, for each entity studied under the study, the 

3 following: 

4 (1) A determination of the mission-critical posi5 tions within the entity and the vacancy risk of such 

6 positions. 

7 (2) An analysis of the future needs for mission8 critical positions and gaps within the existing talent 

9 pool of the entity. 

10 (3) A description of strategies to close skill 

11 gaps through the use of training for existing staff, 

12 targeted recruitment, and hiring. 

13 (4) A plan to regularly evaluate progress of 

14 staff and update existing succession plans using 

15 clear and measurable metrics and benchmarks. 

16 (5) A demonstration of the capacity of the enti17 ty to execute succession plans with successful succes18 sion management strategies. 

19 (6) Any other matters the Comptroller General 

20 determines appropriate. 

21 (c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

23 submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

24 House of Representatives and the Senate a report con25 taining each study conducted under subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 11. INFORMATION ON HIRING EFFECTIVENESS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

3 shall measure and collect information on indicators of hir4 ing effectiveness as follows: 

5 (1) With respect to recruiting and hiring— 

6 (A) the ability to reach and recruit well7 qualified talent from diverse talent pools, in8 cluding sources of candidates for mission-crit9 ical occupations; 

10 (B) the use and impact of special hiring 

11 authorities and flexibilities to recruit most 

12 qualified applicants, including the use of stu13 dent internships as a talent pool for permanent 

14 hires; 

15 (C) the use and impact of special hiring 

16 authorities and flexibilities to recruit diverse 

17 candidates, including veteran, minority and dis18 abled candidates; 

19 (D) the use and impact of special hiring 

20 authorities and flexibilities to recruit candidates 

21 for mission-critical occupations and occupations 

22 with shortages; 

23 (E) the age, educational level, and source 

24 of applicants; 


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1 (F) the length of time between the date on 

2 which a position is advertised and the date on 

3 which a first offer of employment is made; 

4 (G) the length of time between the date on 

5 which a first offer of employment for a position 

6 is made and the date on which a new hire 

7 starts in that position; 

8 (H) the number of internal and external 

9 applicants for positions; and 

10 (I) the number of offers accepted com11 pared to the number of offers made for perma12 nent positions. 

13 (2) With respect to the hiring authority— 

14 (A) the satisfaction of the hiring authority 

15 with— 

16 (i) the quality of new hires; 

17 (ii) the match between the skills of 

18 newly hired individuals and the needs of 

19 the Department; 

20 (iii) the hiring process and hiring out21 comes after the first year of the employ22 ment of a new hire; and 

23 (iv) the length of time that elapses to 

24 fill a position and for a new hire to begin 

25 working in a new position; and 


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1 (B) mission-critical deficiencies filled by 

2 new hires and the connection between mission3 critical deficiencies and annual agency perform4 ance. 

5 (3) Satisfaction of employment applicants with 

6 the hiring process, including with respect to the clar7 ity of job announcement, reasons for withdrawal of 

8 applications, user-friendliness of the application 

9 process, communication regarding status of applica10 tion, and timeliness of hiring decision. 

11 (4) With respect to a newly hired employee— 

12 (A) the satisfaction of the employee with 

13 the hiring process as described in paragraph 

14 (3); 

15 (B) the satisfaction with the process of 

16 joining and becoming oriented with the Depart17 ment, including with respect to the timeliness of 

18 such process after the hiring decision, the ori19 entation process, and being provided with time20 ly and useful new employee information and as21 sistance after the hire is made but before the 

22 new hire starts in that position and after the 

23 new hire has begun; 

24 (C) attrition and reasons for leaving; 


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1 (D) investment in training and develop2 ment for the employee during the first year of 

3 employment; and 

4 (E) significant barriers to the effective re5 cruitment, selection, joining and becoming ori6 ented with the Department, and retention of 

7 employees. 

8 (b) DISAGGREGATION OF DATA.—To the extent prac9 ticable and in a manner which protects personally identifi10 able information of applicants and employees, the Sec11 retary shall collect and report data collected under sub12 section (a) disaggregated by facility or Veterans Inte13 grated Service Network. 

14 (c) REPORTS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—On an annual basis, the Sec16 retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ 

17 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Sen18 ate a report of the information collected under sub19 section (a). 

20 (2) AVAILABILITY OF RECRUITING AND HIRING

21 INFORMATION.—On an annual basis, the Secretary 

22 shall make publicly available the information col23 lected under subsection (a) in a consistent and ma24 chine-readable format to allow for a comparison of 

25 hiring effectiveness and experience by Veterans InteVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Mar 09, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1367.IH H1367

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1 grated Service Network or comparable public or pri2 vate sector organization. 

3 SEC. 12. EMPLOYMENT OF STUDENTS AND RECENT GRAD4 UATES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

6 shall prescribe regulations to allow for excepted service ap7 pointments of students and recent graduates leading to 

8 conversion to career or career conditional employment of 

9 a student or recent graduate of a qualifying educational 

10 institution, as defined by the Department. 

11 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The conversion authority de12 scribed in subsection (a) shall be applicable to individuals 

13 in good standing who— 

14 (1) are employed in a qualifying internship or 

15 fellowship program at the Department; 

16 (2) are employed in the Department in a volun17 teer capacity and performing substantive duties com18 parable to those of individuals in internship or fel19 lowship programs and meet the required number of 

20 hours for conversion; or 

21 (3) are employed in the Department under a 

22 contract or agreement with an external nonprofit or23 ganization and performing substantive duties com24 parable to those of individuals in internship or fel25 lowship programs. 


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1 (c) UNIFORMITY.—For the purposes of subsections 

2 (b)(2) and (b)(3), hours of work performed by an indi3 vidual employed shall be considered equal to those per4 formed by an individual employed in a qualifying intern5 ship or fellowship program by the Department. 

6 SEC. 13. EXIT SURVEYS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

8 shall develop and carry out a standardized exit survey to 

9 be voluntarily completed by career and noncareer employ10 ees and executives of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

11 who voluntarily separate from the Department. Such exit 

12 survey shall be developed in consultation with an appro13 priate non-Department entity with experience developing 

14 such surveys. 

15 (b) SURVEY CONTENT.—The survey shall include, at 

16 a minimum— 

17 (1) reasons for leaving the Department; 

18 (2) efforts made by the supervisor of the em19 ployee to retain the individual; 

20 (3) the extent of job satisfaction and engage21 ment during the employment; 

22 (4) the intent of employee to either remain em23 ployed within the Federal Government or to leave 

24 employment with the Federal Government; and 


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1 (5) such other matters as the Secretary deter2 mines appropriate. 

3 (c) ANONYMITY OF SURVEY CONTENT.—The Sec4 retary shall ensure that, to the extent possible, data col5 lected under subsection (a) is anonymized and personally 

6 identifiable information is removed. 

7 (d) SHARING OF SURVEY DATA.—The Secretary 

8 shall ensure that the results of the survey required by sub9 section (a) are shared on an annual basis with directors 

10 and managers of facilities of the Department and the Vet11 erans Integrated Service Networks. 

12 (e) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

14 Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af15 fairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 

16 report containing the aggregate results of the exit survey 

17 under subsection (a) covering the year prior to the report. 

18 The report shall include— 

19 (1) an analysis of the most common reasons 

20 employees choose to leave the Department; 

21 (2) steps the Secretary is taking to improve re22 tention, particularly for mission-critical occupations; 

23 (3) the demographic characteristics of employ24 ees choosing to leave the Department; 


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1 (4) any legislative barriers to improving em2 ployee retention; and 

3 (5) the number of employees who took the exit 

4 survey under subsection (a). 

Æ 


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