Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Merit Systems Protec-
tion Board Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of
2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Workplace disputes waste resources of the
Federal Government, take up too much time, and
deflect managers and employees from their primary
job functions.
(2) The Merit Systems Protection Board (here-
after in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Board’’) has al-
ready taken steps to encourage agency use of ADR
before appeals are filed with the Board, including
extending the regulatory time limit for filing appeals
when the parties agree to try ADR, but high levels
of litigation continue.
(3) The Board’s administrative judges, who de-
cide appeals from personnel actions by Federal agen-
cies, find that by the time cases are formally filed
with the Board, the positions of the parties have
hardened, communication between the parties is dif-
ficult and often antagonistic, and the parties are not
amenable to open discussion of alternatives to litiga-
tion.
(4) Early intervention by an outside neutral,
after the first notice of a proposed action by an
agency but before an appeal is filed with the Board,
will allow the parties to explore settlement outside
the adversarial context. However, without the en-
couragement of a neutral provided without cost,
agencies are reluctant to support an early interven-
tion ADR program.
(5) A short-term pilot program allowing the
Board, upon the joint request of the parties, to in-
tervene early in a personnel dispute is an effective
means to test whether ADR at that stage can re-
solve disputes, limit appeals to the Board, and re-
duce time and money expended in such matters.
(6) The Board is well equipped to conduct a
voluntary early intervention pilot program testing
the efficacy of ADR at the initial stages of a per-
sonnel dispute. The Board can provide neutrals who
are already well versed in both ADR techniques and
personnel law. The Board handles a diverse work-
load including removals, suspensions for more than
14 days, and other adverse actions, the resolution of
which entails complex legal and factual questions.
SEC. 3. MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD ALTER-
NATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PILOT PRO-
GRAM.
(a) AMENDMENT
TO CHAPTER 5 OF TITLE 5.—
Chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by
adding immediately after section 584 the following:
‘‘§ 585. Establishment of voluntary early intervention
alternative dispute resolution pilot pro-
gram for Federal personnel disputes
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(1) The Board is authorized under section 572
to establish a 3-year pilot program to provide Fed-
eral employees and agencies with voluntary early
intervention alternative dispute resolution (in this
section referred to as ‘ADR’) processes to apply to
certain personnel disputes. The Board shall provide
ADR services, upon joint request of the parties, in
matters involving removals, suspensions for more
than 14 days, other adverse actions under section
7512, and removals and other actions based on un-
acceptable performance under section 4303.
‘‘(2) The Board shall test and evaluate a vari-
ety of ADR techniques, which may include—
‘‘(A) mediation conducted by private
neutrals, Board staff, or neutrals from appro-
priate Federal agencies other than the Board;
‘‘(B) mediation through use of neutrals
agreed upon by the parties and credentialed
under subsection (c)(5); and
‘‘(C) non-binding arbitration.
‘‘(b) EARLY INTERVENTION ADR.—
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Board is authorized to
establish an early intervention ADR process, which
the agency involved and employee may jointly re-
quest, after an agency has issued a notice letter of
a proposed action to an employee under section
4303 or 7513 but before an appeal is filed with the
Board.
‘‘(2) NOTICE IN PERSONNEL DISPUTES.—Dur-
ing the term of the pilot program, an agency shall,
in the notice letter of a proposed personnel action
under section 4303 or 7513—
‘‘(A) advise the employee that early inter-
vention ADR is available from the neutral
Board, subject to the standards developed pur-
suant to subsection (c)(1)(A), and that the
agency and employee may jointly request it; and
‘‘(B) provide a description of the program,
including the standards developed pursuant to
subsection (c)(1)(A).
‘‘(3) REQUEST.—Any agency and employee may
seek early intervention ADR from the Board by fil-
ing a joint request with the Board pursuant to the
program 
standards 
adopted 
under 
subsection
(c)(1)(A). All personnel dispute matters appealable
to the Board under section 4303 or 7513 shall be
eligible for early intervention ADR, upon joint re-
quest of the parties, unless the Board determines
that the matter is not appropriate for the program
subject to any applicable collective bargaining agree-
ment established under chapter 71.
‘‘(4) CONFIDENTIALITY
AND
WITHDRAWAL.—
The consent of an agency or an employee with re-
spect to an early intervention ADR process is con-
fidential and shall not be disclosed in any subse-
quent proceeding. Either party may withdraw from
the ADR process at any time.
‘‘(5) ANCILLARY
MATTER.—In any personnel
dispute accepted by the Board for the ADR pilot
program authorized by this section, the Board may
attempt to resolve any ancillary matter which the
Board would be authorized to decide if the personnel
action were effected under section 4303 or 7513,
including—
‘‘(A) a claim of discrimination as described
in section 7702(a)(1)(B);
‘‘(B) a prohibited personnel practice claim
as described in section 2302(b); or
‘‘(C) a claim that the agency’s action is or
would be, if effected, not in accordance with
law.
‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—
‘‘(1) PROGRAM DUTIES.—In carrying out the
program under this section, the Board shall—
‘‘(A) develop and prescribe standards for
selecting and handling cases in which ADR has
been requested and is to be used;
‘‘(B) take such actions as may be nec-
essary upon joint request of the parties, includ-
ing waiver of all statutory, regulatory, or Board
imposed adjudicatory time frames; and
‘‘(C) establish a time target within which
it intends to complete the ADR process.
‘‘(2) EXTENSION.—The Board, upon the joint
request of the parties, may extend the time period
as it finds appropriate.
‘‘(3) ADVOCACY AND OUTREACH.—The Board
shall conduct briefings and other outreach, on a non-
reimbursable basis, aimed at increasing awareness
and understanding of the ADR program on the part
of the Federal workforce—including executives,
managers, and other employees.
‘‘(4) RECRUITMENT.—The Chairman of the
Board may contract on a reimbursable basis with of-
ficials from other Federal agencies and contract with
other contractors or temporary staff to carry out the
provisions of this section.
‘‘(5) TRAINING
AND
CREDENTIALLING
OF
NEUTRALS.—The Board shall develop a training and
credentialing program to ensure that all individuals
selected by the Board to serve as program neutrals
have a sufficient understanding of the issues that
arise before the Board and are sufficiently skilled in
the practice of meditation or any other relevant form
of ADR.
‘‘(6) REGULATIONS.—The Board is authorized
to prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to
implement the ADR program established by this sec-
tion.
‘‘(d) EVALUATION.—
‘‘(1) CRITERIA.—The Board’s Office of Policy
and Evaluation shall establish criteria for evaluating
the ADR pilot program and prepare a report con-
taining findings and recommendations as to whether
voluntary early intervention ADR is desirable, effec-
tive, and appropriate for cases subject to section
4303 or 7513.
‘‘(2) REPORT CONTENT.—The report, subject to
subsection (b)(4) and section 574, shall include—
‘‘(A) the number of cases subject to the
ADR program, the agencies involved, the re-
sults, and the resources expended;
‘‘(B) a comprehensive analysis of the effec-
tiveness of the program, including associated
resource and time savings (if any), and the ef-
fect on the Board’s caseload and average case
processing time;
‘‘(C) a survey of customer satisfaction; and
‘‘(D) a recommendation regarding the de-
sirability of extending the ADR program be-
yond the prescribed expiration date and any
recommended changes.
The recommendation under subparagraph (D) shall
discuss the relationship between the Board’s pilot
ADR program and those workplace ADR programs
conducted by other Federal agencies.
‘‘(3) REPORT DATE.—The report shall be sub-
mitted to the President and the Congress 180 days
before the close of the ADR pilot program.’’.
(b) APPROPRIATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of carrying
out the ADR pilot program established by this sec-
tion, there are authorized to be appropriated such
sums as may be necessary for each of the 3 fiscal
years beginning after the date of enactment of this
Act.
(2) NO REDUCTIONS.—The authorization of ap-
propriations by paragraph (1) shall not have the ef-
fect of reducing any funds appropriated for the
Board for the purpose of carrying out its statutory
mission under section 1204.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
subsection (a) shall take effect no later than the close of
the 60th day after the enactment of appropriations au-
thorized by subsection (b)(1) and shall remain in effect
for 3 years from the effective date.
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for subchapter IV of chapter 5 of title 5, United
States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating
to section 584 the following new item:
‘‘585. Establishment of voluntary early intervention alternative dispute resolu-
tion pilot program for Federal personnel disputes.’’.
SEC. 4. MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD ADMINISTRA-
TIVE JUDGES.
(a) AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 53 OF TITLE 5.—
Chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by
adding immediately after section 5372a the following:
‘‘§ 5372b. Merit Systems Protection Board administra-
tive judges
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this
section—
‘‘(1) the term ‘administrative judge (AJ)’
means an employee of the Merit Systems Protection
Board appointed to an administrative judge position
and paid under the MSPB Administrative Judge
Schedule established by subsection (b); and
‘‘(2) the term ‘administrative judge (GS)’
means an employee of the Merit Systems Protection
Board appointed to an administrative judge position
and paid under the General Schedule described in
section 5332 of this title.
‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—There is established the MSPB
Administrative Judge Pay Schedule which shall have 4 lev-
els of pay, designated as AJ–1, AJ–2, AJ–3, and AJ–4.
Each administrative judge (AJ) shall be paid at one of
those levels in accordance with subsection (c).
‘‘(c) RATES OF PAY.—
‘‘(1) BASIC PAY.—The rates of basic pay for
the levels of the MSPB Administrative Judge Pay
Schedule established by subsection (b) shall be as
follows:
‘‘(A) AJ–1: 70 percent of the next to high-
est rate of basic pay for the Senior Executive
Service.
‘‘(B) AJ–2: 80 percent of the next to high-
est rate of basic pay for the Senior Executive
Service.
‘‘(C) AJ–3: 90 percent of the next to high-
est rate of basic pay for the Senior Executive
Service.
‘‘(D) AJ–4: 92 percent of the next to high-
est rate of basic pay for the Senior Executive
Service.
‘‘(2) LOCALITY PAY.—Locality pay as provided
by section 5304 shall be applied to the basic pay for
administrative judges (AJ) paid under the MSPB
Administrative Judge Pay Schedule.
‘‘(d) APPOINTMENT AND ADVANCEMENT.—
‘‘(1) INITIAL
APPOINTMENT.—Except as pro-
vided in paragraph (5), an initial appointment of an
administrative judge (AJ) to the AJ pay schedule
shall be at the AJ–1 level.
‘‘(2) CONVERSION
TO
MSPB
ADMINISTRATIVE
JUDGE
PAY
SCHEDULE.—An administrative judge
(GS) who is serving as of the effective date of this
section shall be eligible for conversion to the MSPB
Administrative Judge Pay Schedule and appoint-
ment as an administrative judge (AJ) in accordance
with subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) below:
‘‘(A) If the administrative judge (GS) oc-
cupies a position at the grade 15 level of the
General Schedule and has served for 3 or more
years as of the effective date of this section, the
judge shall be converted to the MSPB Adminis-
trative Judge Pay Schedule and appointed as
an administrative judge (AJ) on the effective
date of this section so long as the judge’s last
3 performance appraisals of record are at the
‘exceeds fully successful’ level or higher. An ad-
ministrative judge (AJ) so converted shall be
placed in the appropriate pay level prescribed in
paragraph (3), based on the amount of time the
administrative judge (AJ) has served as an ad-
ministrative judge (GS).
‘‘(B) If the administrative judge (GS) oc-
cupies a position at the grade 15 level of the
General Schedule and has served for less than
3 years as of the effective date of this section,
the judge shall be converted to the MSPB Ad-
ministrative Judge Pay Schedule and appointed
as an administrative judge (AJ) on the date the
judge completes 3 years of service at the grade
15 level so long as the judge’s overall perform-
ance appraisal ratings for the 3-year period are
at the ‘exceeds fully successful’ level or higher.
‘‘(C) If the administrative judge (GS) oc-
cupies a position at a level below grade 15 of
the General Schedule on the effective date of
this section and is subsequently advanced to
grade 15 of the General Schedule, the judge
shall, after serving for 3 years at the grade 15
level, be converted to the MSPB Administrative
Judge Pay Schedule and appointed as an ad-
ministrative judge (AJ) so long as the judge’s
overall performance appraisal ratings for the 3-
year period at the grade 15 level are at the ‘ex-
ceeds fully successful’ level or higher.
‘‘(3) ADVANCEMENT.—An administrative judge
(AJ) shall be advanced to the AJ–2 pay level upon
completion of 104 weeks of service with an appraisal
rating for such weeks at the ‘exceeds fully success-
ful’ level or higher, to the AJ–3 pay level upon com-
pletion of 104 weeks of service at the next lower
level with an appraisal rating for such weeks at the
‘exceeds fully successful’ level or higher, and to the
AJ–4 pay level upon completion of 52 weeks of serv-
ice at the next lower level so long as the judge’s
overall performance appraisal ratings for the period
are at the ‘exceeds fully successful’ level or higher.
‘‘(4) REVIEW
BOARD.—If at any time the
MSPB establishes a pass-fail or other performance
appraisal system that does not include an overall
performance appraisal rating of ‘exceeds fully suc-
cessful’, upon completion of the applicable qualifying
time-in-service requirement and receipt of a ‘pass’ or
equivalent performance appraisal rating for the 3
most recent rating periods, an administrative judge
(AJ) shall be eligible for consideration to advance-
ment to the next pay level subject to the approval
of a review board made up of senior MSPB officials,
as designated by the Chairman.
‘‘(5) EXCEPTIONS.—
‘‘(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the
Chairman of the Merit Systems Protection
Board may provide for initial appointment of
an administrative judge (AJ) at a level higher
than AJ–1 under such circumstances as the
Chairman may determine appropriate.
‘‘(B) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the
Chairman of the Merit Systems Protection
Board may, in exceptional cases, provide for the
conversion of an administrative judge (GS) to
the MSPB Administrative Judge Pay Schedule
under such circumstances as the Chairman may
determine appropriate.’’.
(b) TRANSITION PROVISIONS.—
(1) LIMITATION ON PAY INCREASES.—Notwith-
standing the rates of basic pay prescribed under sec-
tion 5372b(c) of title 5, United States Code, as
added by subsection (a), the Chairman of the Merit
Systems Protection Board may, on the effective date
of this section and each year for a period of 7 years
thereafter, limit the pay increase for each adminis-
trative judge (AJ) to an adjustment equal to—
(A) the percentage pay adjustment re-
ceived by members of the Senior Executive
Service under section 5382(c) of this title, if
any;
(B) locality pay under section 5304; and
(C) an additional $3,000.
The Senior Executive Service percentage pay adjust-
ment, if any, shall be included in basic pay. Annual
adjustments in pay after the effective date of this
section will be made on the first day of the first pay
period of each calendar year. The limitation on pay
increases under this subsection may continue during
the time period prescribed by this subsection until
such time as the pay of each administrative judge
(AJ) reaches the appropriate rate of basic pay under
section 5372b(c) of title 5, United States Code, as
added by subsection (a). The Chairman may waive
any limitation on pay under this subsection in the
case of an administrative judge (AJ) serving as a
chief administrative judge.
(2) PAY IN RELATION TO GRADE 15 OF THE
GENERAL SCHEDULE.—In no case shall an adminis-
trative judge (AJ) who is converted in accordance
with section 5372b(d)(2) of title 5, United States
Code, or whose pay increase in any year is limited
under paragraph (1), be paid after the effective date
of this section at a rate that is less than the admin-
istrative judge’s (AJ) rate of pay would have been
had the administrative judge (AJ) remained as an
administrative judge (GS) occupying the grade 15
level of the General Schedule.