Federal Skills Act of 2023

To require the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to revise job classification and qualification standards for positions in the competitive service regarding educational requirements for those positions, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Federal Skills Act of 2023 2. Definitions In this Act— (1) the term agency (2) the term competitive service (3) the term Director (4) the term education 20 U.S.C. 1002 (5) the term personnel assessment (6) the term qualification standards (7) the term selection decision (A) appointment; (B) placement; (C) promotion; (D) referral; (E) retention; or (F) entry into a program leading to career advancement, such as an apprenticeship program, a training program, or a career development program. 3. Revision of job classification and qualification standards (a) Review (1) In general Consistent with the requirements of this section, the Director, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the head of each agency, shall review and revise all job classification and qualification standards for positions in the competitive service, as necessary. (2) Publication; effective date With respect to any change to a job classification or qualification standard made under paragraph (1)— (A) the Director shall, not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, make that change available to the public; and (B) the change shall take effect not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. (b) Education requirement The head of an agency may prescribe a minimum requirement with respect to education for a position in the competitive service only if a minimum qualification with respect to education is legally required to perform the duties of a comparable position in the State or locality where those duties are to be performed. (c) Consideration of education Unless the head of an agency is determining the satisfaction of a legally required minimum requirement with respect to education for an applicant for employment with the agency, the agency head may consider the education of the applicant in determining the satisfaction by the applicant of another minimum qualification only if the education of the applicant directly reflects the competencies necessary to satisfy that qualification and perform the duties of the position. (d) Position listing A position description and job posting published by an agency for a position in the competitive service shall be based on the specific skills and competencies required to perform that position, as established in the position classifications and qualification standards of the Office of Personnel Management. 4. Improving the use of assessments in the Federal hiring process (a) In general The Director shall work with the head of each agency to ensure that, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, for a position in the competitive service, the head of an agency assesses an applicant for employment in a manner that does not rely solely on the education of the applicant to determine the extent to which the applicant possesses relevant knowledge, skills, competencies, and abilities for the position. (b) Other requirements With respect to the assessment practices described in subsection (a)— (1) the head of each agency shall develop or identify those assessment practices; and (2) those assessment practices— (A) may not be substantively equivalent to competencies only attainable through education; and (B) shall be published by the applicable agency in the human resources manual of the agency. (c) Consideration of self-Evaluation (1) In general In assessing an applicant for employment— (A) the head of an agency may not rely solely on the self-evaluation of the stated abilities of the applicant; and (B) the applicant shall fulfill other assessment standards in order to be certified for consideration, as established by the Chief Human Capital Officer of the applicable agency (or an equivalent official). (2) Publication The standards described in paragraph (1)(B) shall be published in the human resources manual of the applicable agency. (d) Evaluation The head of each agency shall continually evaluate the effectiveness of different assessment strategies to promote and protect the quality and integrity of the appointment processes of the agency, which shall be reviewed by the Chief Human Capital Officer of the agency (or an equivalent official), who shall make any necessary changes or take any necessary remedial actions concurrent with the review. 5. Application (a) In general Nothing in this Act may be construed to impair or otherwise affect— (1) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (2) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) Rights or benefits This Act is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. 6. Rule of construction Nothing in this Act may be construed to eliminate or otherwise affect the student loan forgiveness or student loan cancellation options available to borrowers under Federal law, as such options are in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.

Summary: Federal Skills Act of 2023 This bill generally provides statutory authority for the executive order titled Modernizing and Reforming the Assessment and Hiring of Federal Job Candidates, which was issued on June 26, 2020. The order generally prescribes certain limits as to the consideration and use of post-high school educational requirements for positions in the competitive service. Among other things, the order specifies that an executive agency may only institute a minimum educational requirement for a position in the competitive service if it is legally required for the position, and may only consider a candidate's education with respect to other minimum requirements if it directly reflects the competencies necessary for the position. The order requires the Office of Personnel Management to review and revise the classification and qualification standards for positions in the competitive service so as to comply with these requirements. The order also requires changes to be made public, and to take effect, within 120 days and 180 days of the date of the order, respectively. (The bill requires a similar timeline with respect to the date of enactment of the bill.) The bill additionally specifies that it does not affect student loan forgiveness or student loan cancellation options that are available to borrowers under federal law as of the day before the date of enactment of the bill.