II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 790 

To provide for mandatory training for Federal Government supervisors and 

the assessment of management competencies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 12, 2011 

Mr. AKAKA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for mandatory training for Federal Government 

supervisors and the assessment of management competencies. 

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 Supervisor 

5 Training Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MANDATORY TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR SUPER7 VISORS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4121 of title 5, United 

9 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting before ‘‘In consultation with’’ 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(a) In this section, the term ‘supervisor’ means— 

4 ‘‘(1) a supervisor as defined under section 

5 7103(a)(10); 

6 ‘‘(2) a management official as defined under 

7 section 7103(a)(11); and 

8 ‘‘(3) any other employee as the Director of the 

9 Office of Personnel Management may by regulation 

10 prescribe.’’; 

11 (2) by striking ‘‘In consultation with’’ and in12 serting ‘‘(b) Under operating competencies pre13 scribed by, and in consultation with,’’; and 

14 (3) by striking paragraph (2) (of the matter re15 designated as subsection (b) as a result of the 

16 amendment under paragraph (2) of this subsection) 

17 and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(2)(A) a program to provide training to super19 visors on actions, options, and strategies a super20 visor may use in— 

21 ‘‘(i) developing and discussing relevant 

22 goals and objectives together with the employee, 

23 communicating and discussing progress relative 

24 to performance goals and objectives and con25 ducting performance appraisals; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) mentoring and motivating employees 

2 and improving employee performance and pro3 ductivity; 

4 ‘‘(iii) fostering a work environment charac5 terized by fairness, respect, equal opportunity, 

6 and attention paid to the merit of the work of 

7 employees; 

8 ‘‘(iv) effectively managing employees with 

9 unacceptable performance; 

10 ‘‘(v) addressing reports of a hostile work 

11 environment, reprisal, or harassment of, or by, 

12 another supervisor or employee; 

13 ‘‘(vi) meeting supervisor competencies es14 tablished by the Office of Personnel Manage15 ment or the employing agency of the supervisor; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(vii) otherwise carrying out the duties or 

18 responsibilities of a supervisor; 

19 ‘‘(B) a program to provide training to super20 visors on the prohibited personnel practices under 

21 section 2302 (particularly with respect to such prac22 tices described under subsection (b) (1) and (8) of 

23 that section), employee collective bargaining and 

24 union participation rights, and the procedures and 

25 processes used to enforce employee rights; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) a program under which experienced super2 visors mentor new supervisors by— 

3 ‘‘(i) transferring knowledge and advice in 

4 areas such as communication, critical thinking, 

5 responsibility, flexibility, motivating employees, 

6 teamwork, leadership, and professional develop7 ment; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) pointing out strengths and areas for 

9 development. 

10 ‘‘(c) Training in programs established under sub11 section (b)(2) (A) and (B) shall be— 

12 ‘‘(1) interactive training which may include 

13 computer-based training; and 

14 ‘‘(2) to the extent practicable as determined by 

15 the head of the agency, training that is instructor16 based. 

17 ‘‘(d)(1)(A) Not later than 1 year after the date on 

18 which an individual is appointed to the position of super19 visor, that individual shall be required to have completed 

20 each program established under subsection (b)(2). 

21 ‘‘(B) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage22 ment may establish and administer procedures under 

23 which the head of an agency may extend the 1-year period 

24 described under subparagraph (A) with respect to an indi25 vidual. 


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1 ‘‘(2) After completion of a program under subsection 

2 (b)(2) (A) and (B), each supervisor shall be required to 

3 complete a program under subsection (b)(2) (A) and (B) 

4 at least once every 3 years. 

5 ‘‘(3) Each program established under subsection 

6 (b)(2) shall include provisions under which credit shall be 

7 given for periods of similar training previously completed. 

8 ‘‘(4) Each agency shall measure the effectiveness of 

9 training programs established under subsection (b)(2). 

10 ‘‘(e) Notwithstanding section 4118(c), the Director of 

11 the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe regu12 lations to carry out this section, including the monitoring 

13 of agency compliance with this section. Regulations pre14 scribed under this subsection shall include measures by 

15 which to assess the effectiveness of agency supervisor 

16 training programs.’’. 

17 (b) REPORT ON EXTENSIONS FOR TRAINING RE18 QUIREMENTS.— 

19 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT20 TEES.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate 

21 congressional committees’’ means— 

22 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

23 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 


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1 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Gov2 ernment Reform of the House of Representa3 tives. 

4 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act and annually there6 after, the Director of the Office of Personnel Man7 agement shall submit a report with respect to the 

8 preceding fiscal year to the appropriate congres9 sional committees on— 

10 (A) the number of extensions granted 

11 under section 4121(d)(1)(B) of title 5, United 

12 States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this 

13 section; and 

14 (B) the number of individuals completing 

15 the requirements of section 4121(d)(1)(A) of 

16 title 5, United States Code, as added by sub17 section (a) of this section. 

18 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 

20 of Personnel Management shall prescribe regulations 

21 under section 4121(e) of title 5, United States Code, as 

22 added by subsection (a) of this section. 

23 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall take effect 1 year after the date of 

3 enactment of this Act and apply to— 

4 (A) each individual appointed to the posi5 tion of a supervisor, as defined under section 

6 4121(a) of title 5, United States Code (as 

7 added by subsection (a) of this section), on or 

8 after that effective date; and 

9 (B) each individual who is employed in the 

10 position of a supervisor on that effective date as 

11 provided under paragraph (2). 

12 (2) SUPERVISORS ON EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each 

13 individual who is employed in the position of a su14 pervisor on the effective date of this section and is 

15 not subject to an extension under section 

16 4121(d)(1)(B) of title 5, United States Code (as 

17 added by subsection (a) of this section) shall be re18 quired to— 

19 (A) complete each program established 

20 under section 4121(b)(2) of title 5, United 

21 States Code (as added by subsection (a) of this 

22 section), not later than 3 years after the effec23 tive date of this section; and 

24 (B) complete programs every 3 years 

25 thereafter in accordance with section 4121(d) 


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1 (2) and (3) of that title (as added by subsection 

2 (a) of this section). 

3 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 43 of title 5, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating section 4305 as section 

7 4306; and 

8 (2) inserting after section 4304 the following: 

9 ‘‘§ 4305. Management competencies 

10 ‘‘(a) In this section, the term ‘supervisor’ means— 

11 ‘‘(1) a supervisor as defined under section 

12 7103(a)(10); 

13 ‘‘(2) a management official as defined under 

14 section 7103(a)(11); and 

15 ‘‘(3) any other employee as the Director of the 

16 Office of Personnel Management may by regulation 

17 prescribe. 

18 ‘‘(b) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage19 ment shall issue guidance to agencies on competencies su20 pervisors are expected to meet in order to effectively man21 age, and be accountable for managing, the performance 

22 of employees. 

23 ‘‘(c) Based on guidance issued under subsection (b) 

24 and on any additional competencies developed by an agen25 cy, each agency shall assess the performance of the superVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:33 Apr 13, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S790.IS S790

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1 visors and the overall capacity of the supervisors in that 

2 agency. 

3 ‘‘(d) Every year, or on any basis requested by the 

4 Director of the Office of Personnel Management, each 

5 agency shall submit a report to the Office of Personnel 

6 Management on the progress of the agency in imple7 menting this section, including measures used to assess 

8 program effectiveness.’’. 

9 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

10 (1) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 

11 for chapter 43 of title 5, United States Code, is 

12 amended by striking the item relating to section 

13 4305 and inserting the following: 

‘‘4305. Management competencies. 

‘‘4306. Regulations.’’. 

14 (2) REFERENCE.—Section 4304(b)(3) of title 5, 

15 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 

16 4305’’ and inserting ‘‘section 4306’’. 

Æ 


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