II 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3528 

To provide for mandatory training for Federal Government supervisors and 

the assessment of management competencies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2016 

Ms. HEITKAMP 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 2016’’. 

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) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘program’ means any activity, 

5 project, function, or policy that has an identifiable 

6 purpose or set of objectives; and 

7 ‘‘(2) the term ‘supervisor’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) a supervisor, as defined under section 

9 7103(a)(10); 

10 ‘‘(B) a management official, as defined 

11 under section 7103(a)(11); or 

12 ‘‘(C) any other employee as the Director of 

13 the Office of Personnel Management may by 

14 regulation prescribe.’’; 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘In consultation with’’ and in16 serting ‘‘(b) TRAINING PROGRAMS TO BE ESTAB17 LISHED.—In consultation with’’; and 

18 (3) by striking paragraph (2) (of the matter re19 designated as subsection (b) as a result of the 

20 amendment under paragraph (2) of this subsection) 

21 and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(2) a program— 

23 ‘‘(A) to require supervisors to have indi24 vidual development plans that provide for trainVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Dec 13, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3528.IS S3528

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1 ing on actions, options, and strategies a super2 visor may use in— 

3 ‘‘(i) developing and discussing rel4 evant performance goals and objectives 

5 with the employee and ensuring the per6 formance goals and objectives align to the 

7 mission and priority goals of the agency; 

8 ‘‘(ii) communicating and discussing 

9 progress relative to performance goals and 

10 objectives, and conducting performance ap11 praisals; 

12 ‘‘(iii) mentoring and motivating em13 ployees and improving employee engage14 ment, performance, and productivity; 

15 ‘‘(iv) fostering a work environment 

16 characterized by fairness, respect, equal 

17 opportunity, and attention paid to the 

18 merit of the work of employees; 

19 ‘‘(v) effectively managing employees 

20 with unacceptable performance, including 

21 training to understand the disciplinary op22 tions and procedures available to the su23 pervisor; 

24 ‘‘(vi) effectively using the proba25 tionary period to examine whether an emVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Dec 13, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3528.IS S3528

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1 ployee has demonstrated successful per2 formance or conduct to continue past the 

3 probationary period; 

4 ‘‘(vii) addressing reports of a hostile 

5 work environment, retaliation, or harass6 ment of, or by, another supervisor or em7 ployee; 

8 ‘‘(viii) meeting supervisor com9 petencies established by the Office of Per10 sonnel Management or the employing agen11 cy of the supervisor; 

12 ‘‘(ix) collaborating with human re13 sources employees to recruit, select, ap14 praise, and reward employees to build a 

15 workforce based on organizational goals, 

16 budget considerations, and staffing needs; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(x) otherwise carrying out the duties 

19 or responsibilities of a supervisor; 

20 ‘‘(B) to provide training to supervisors on 

21 the prohibited personnel practices under section 

22 2302 (particularly with respect to such prac23 tices described under paragraphs (1) and (8) of 

24 subsection (b) of that section), employee rights, 


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1 and the procedures and processes used to en2 force employee rights; and 

3 ‘‘(C) under which experienced supervisor 

4 mentors are identified, evaluated, and approved 

5 to provide guidance and advice to new or under6 performing supervisors to— 

7 ‘‘(i) transfer knowledge and advice in 

8 areas such as communication, critical 

9 thinking, responsibility, flexibility, moti10 vating and engaging employees, teamwork, 

11 leadership, and professional development; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(ii) identify strengths and areas for 

14 development. 

15 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR TRAINING DESIGN.— 

16 Training in the program components established under 

17 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (b)(2) shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) be designed using principles of adult learn19 ing and an industry standard instructional design 

20 model; and 

21 ‘‘(2) to the extent practicable, as determined by 

22 the agency, be training that is instructor-based. 

23 ‘‘(d) TIMING OF TRAINING.— 

24 ‘‘(1) INITIAL TRAINING.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

2 after the date on which an individual is ap3 pointed to the position of supervisor, that indi4 vidual shall be required to have completed each 

5 program component established under sub6 section (b)(2). 

7 ‘‘(B) EXTENSIONS.—The Director of the 

8 Office of Personnel Management may establish 

9 and administer procedures under which an 

10 agency may extend the 1-year period described 

11 under subparagraph (A) with respect to an in12 dividual. 

13 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT TRAINING.—After comple14 tion of a program component under subparagraphs 

15 (A) and (B) of subsection (b)(2), each supervisor 

16 shall be required to complete a program component 

17 under such subparagraphs not less frequently than 

18 once every 3 years. 

19 ‘‘(3) CREDIT FOR SIMILAR TRAINING.—Each 

20 program component established under subsection 

21 (b)(2) shall include provisions under which the agen22 cy gives a supervisor credit toward a period of train23 ing that the agency determines is similar to training 

24 that the supervisor previously completed. 


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1 ‘‘(4) EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION.—Each 

2 agency shall measure the effectiveness of training 

3 program components established under subsection 

4 (b)(2). 

5 ‘‘(e) INFORMATION ON DEVELOPMENTAL OPPORTU6 NITIES.—An agency shall make available to each super7 visor— 

8 ‘‘(1) a detailed list of developmental opportuni9 ties available to the supervisor; and 

10 ‘‘(2) the policies of the agency for requiring su11 pervisor development. 

12 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—Notwithstanding section 

13 4118(c), the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage14 ment shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section, 

15 including the monitoring of agency compliance with this 

16 section. Regulations prescribed under this subsection shall 

17 include measures by which to assess the effectiveness of 

18 agency supervisor training programs.’’. 

19 (b) REPORT ON EXTENSIONS FOR TRAINING RE20 QUIREMENTS.— 

21 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate 

23 congressional committees’’ means— 

24 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

25 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, which shall include— 

14 (i) a brief description of the reason 

15 why the training was not completed; 

16 (ii) the actions the agency plans to 

17 take to ensure training is received; and 

18 (iii) the date by which the agency in19 tends to complete the training; and 

20 (B) the number of individuals completing 

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

22 title 5, United States Code, as added by sub23 section (a) of this section. 

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

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


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1 of Personnel Management shall prescribe regulations 

2 under section 4121(f) of title 5, United States Code, as 

3 added by subsection (a) of this section. 

4 (d) CAREER TRACK FOR TECHNICAL EXPERTS.— 

5 Section 5106 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

6 by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(d) To the extent practicable under the require8 ments under this chapter, each agency shall develop a ca9 reer track for employees of the agency whom the agency 

10 determines are mission critical technical experts that af11 fords the employees the opportunity for career advance12 ment, without being required to be appointed to a manage13 ment or supervisory position.’’. 

14 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION.— 

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

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

17 enactment of this Act. 

18 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made 

19 by this section shall apply to— 

20 (A) each individual appointed to the posi21 tion of a supervisor, as defined under section 

22 4121(a) of title 5, United States Code (as 

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

24 after the effective date of the amendments; and 


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1 (B) each individual who is employed in the 

2 position of a supervisor on the effective date of 

3 the amendments as provided under paragraph 

4 (3). 

5 (3) EXISTING SUPERVISORS.—Each individual 

6 who is employed in the position of a supervisor, as 

7 defined under section 4121(a) of title 5, United 

8 States Code (as added by subsection (a) of this sec9 tion), on the effective date of the amendments made 

10 by this section and is not subject to an extension 

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

12 States Code (as added by subsection (a) of this sec13 tion) shall be required to— 

14 (A) complete each program component es15 tablished under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

16 section 4121(b)(2) of title 5, United States 

17 Code (as added by subsection (a) of this sec18 tion), not later than 3 years after the effective 

19 date of the amendments; and 

20 (B) complete program components every 3 

21 years thereafter in accordance with paragraphs 

22 (2) and (3) of section 4121(d) of that title (as 

23 added by subsection (a) of this section). 

24 (f) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 


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1 shall submit to Congress a report on the mandatory train2 ing programs required to be established by under section 

3 4121(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code (as added by 

4 subsection (a) of this section) and the effectiveness of 

5 those programs. 

6 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES. 

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

8 States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating section 4305 as section 

10 4306; and 

11 (2) by inserting after section 4304 the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘§ 4305. Management competencies 

14 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘super15 visor’ means— 

16 ‘‘(1) a supervisor, as defined under section 

17 7103(a)(10); 

18 ‘‘(2) a management official, as defined under 

19 section 7103(a)(11); or 

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

21 Office of Personnel Management may by regulation 

22 prescribe. 

23 ‘‘(b) GUIDANCE.—The Director of the Office of Per24 sonnel Management shall issue guidance to agencies on 

25 competencies supervisors are expected to meet in order to 


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1 effectively manage, and be accountable for managing, the 

2 performance of employees. 

3 ‘‘(c) ASSESSMENT BY AGENCIES.—Based on guid4 ance issued under subsection (b) and on any additional 

5 competencies developed by an agency, each agency shall 

6 assess the performance of the supervisors and the overall 

7 capacity of the supervisors in that agency. 

8 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.—Every year, or on any basis re9 quested by the Director of the Office of Personnel Man10 agement, each agency shall submit to the Office of Per11 sonnel Management a report on the progress of the agency 

12 in implementing this section, including measures used to 

13 assess program effectiveness.’’. 

14 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

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

17 amended by striking the item relating to section 

18 4305 and inserting the following: 

‘‘4305. Management competencies. 

‘‘4306. Regulations.’’. 

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

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

21 4305’’ and inserting ‘‘section 4306’’. 

Æ 


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