10 U.S.C. § 1597 (ARMED FORCES)
§ 1597. Civilian positions: guidelines for reductions
(a) Requirement of Guidelines for Reductions in Civilian Positions.—
Reductions in the number of civilian positions of the Department of Defense during a fiscal year, if any, shall be carried out in accordance with the guidelines established pursuant to subsection (b).
(b) Guidelines.—
The Secretary of Defense shall establish guidelines for the manner in which reductions in the number of civilian positions of the Department of Defense are made. In establishing the guidelines, the Secretary shall ensure that nothing in the guidelines conflicts with the requirements of section 129 of this title or the policies and procedures established under section 129a of this title. The guidelines shall include procedures for reviewing civilian positions for reductions according to the following order:
(1) Positions filled by foreign national employees overseas.
(2) All other positions filled by civilian employees overseas.
(3) Overhead, indirect, and administrative positions in headquarters or field operating agencies in the United States.
(4) Direct operating or production positions in the United States.
(c) Master Plan.—
(1) The Secretary of Defense shall include in the materials submitted to Congress in support of the budget request for the Department of Defense for each fiscal year a civilian positions master plan described in paragraph (2) for the Department of Defense as a whole and for each military department, Defense Agency, and other principal component of the Department of Defense.
(2) The master plan referred to in paragraph (1) shall include the information described in paragraph (3). Such information shall include information for each of the two fiscal years immediately preceding such fiscal year and projected information for such fiscal year and each of the two fiscal years immediately following such fiscal year.
(3) The information referred to in paragraph (2) is the following:
(A) A profile of the levels of civilian positions sufficient to establish and maintain a baseline for tracking annual accessions and losses of civilian positions and to provide for the analysis of trends in the levels of civilian positions within the Department of Defense as a whole and for each military department, major subordinate command of each military department, Defense Agency, and other principal component of the Department of Defense. The profile shall include information on the following:
(i) The total number of civilian employees.
(ii) Of the total number of civilian employees, the number of civilian employees in the United States, the number of civilian employees overseas, and the number of foreign national employees overseas.
(iii) Of the total number of civilian employees at the end of each fiscal year covered by the master plan, the number of full-time employees, the number of part-time employees, and the number of temporary and on-call employees.
(iv) Accessions and losses of civilian positions, shown in the aggregate and by the number of full-time employees, the number of part-time employees, and the number of temporary and on-call employees.
(v) The number of losses of civilian positions, by appropriation account, due to reductions in force, furloughs, or functional transfers or other significant transfers of work away from the military department, Defense Agency, or other component.
(vi) The extent to which accessions and losses of civilian positions are due to functional transfers or competitive actions that are related to the Department of Defense management review initiatives of the Secretary of Defense.
(vii) The total number of individuals employed by contractors and subcontractors of the Department of Defense under a contract or subcontract entered into pursuant to Office of Management and Budget Circular A–76 to perform commercial activities for the Department of Defense, a military department, a defense agency, or other component.
(B) For industrial-type and commercial-type activities funded through the Defense Business Operations Fund, the following information:
(i) Annual trends in the amount of funded workload for each activity, based upon the average number of months of accumulated, funded workload to be performed, or projected to be performed, by the activity.
(ii) The extent to which such workload is funded by funds that are appropriated from appropriation accounts and managed through the Defense Business Operations Fund.
(C) Information that indicates trends in the extent to which the military department, Defense Agency, or other component enters into contracts with persons outside of the Department of Defense, rather than uses civilian positions, to perform work for the military department, Defense Agency, or other component.
(D) Information that indicates the extent to which the Department of Defense management review initiatives of the Secretary of Defense and other productivity enhancement programs of the Department of Defense significantly affect the number of losses of civilian positions, particularly administrative and management positions.
(4) The Secretary of Defense shall include in the materials referred to in paragraph (1) a report on the implementation of the master plan for the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year for which such materials are submitted.
(d) Exceptions.—
The Secretary of Defense may permit a variation from the guidelines established under subsection (b) or a master plan prepared under subsection (c) if the Secretary determines that such variation is critical to the national security. The Secretary shall immediately notify the Congress of any such variation and the reasons for such variation.
(e) Involuntary Reductions of Civilian Positions.—
The Secretary of Defense may not implement any involuntary reduction or furlough of civilian positions in a military department, Defense Agency, or other component of the Department of Defense until the expiration of the 45-day period beginning on the date on which the Secretary submits to Congress a report setting forth the reasons why such reductions or furloughs are required and a description of any change in workload or positions requirements that will result from such reductions or furloughs.
(f) Reductions Based Primarily on Performance.—
The Secretary of Defense shall establish procedures to provide that, in implementing any reduction in force for civilian positions in the Department of Defense in the competitive service or the excepted service, the determination of which employees shall be separated from employment in the Department shall be made primarily on the basis of performance, as determined under any applicable performance management system.
(Added Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title III, § 322(a)(1), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1528; amended Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title III, § 371(a), Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2382; Pub. L. 103–35, title II, § 201(d)(1), May 31, 1993, 107 Stat. 98; Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title III, § 363, Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1628; Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title IX, § 933(b), Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1544; Pub. L. 114–92, div. A, title XI, § 1101(a), Nov. 25, 2015, 129 Stat. 1022.)
heading: Amendments
text: 2015—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 114–92 added subsec. (f).
2011—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–81 inserted after first sentence “In establishing the guidelines, the Secretary shall ensure that nothing in the guidelines conflicts with the requirements of section 129 of this title or the policies and procedures established under section 129a of this title.”
1993—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–160, § 363(a)(1), substituted “during a fiscal year” for “during fiscal year 1993”.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–160, § 363(a)(2), struck out “for fiscal year 1993” after “establish guidelines” in introductory provisions.
Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 103–160, § 363(b)(1), substituted “for each fiscal year” for “for fiscal year 1994”.
Subsec. (c)(3)(A)(v). Pub. L. 103–35, § 201(d)(1)(A)(i), substituted “Defense Agency” for “defense agency”.
Subsec. (c)(3)(A)(vii). Pub. L. 103–160, § 363(b)(2), added cl. (vii).
Subsec. (c)(3)(C). Pub. L. 103–35, § 201(d)(1)(A)(ii), substituted “Defense Agency” for “defense agency” after “to which the military department,” and “Defense Agency,” for “defense agency” after “for the military department,”.
Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 103–160, § 363(b)(3), added par. (4).
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 103–35, § 201(d)(1)(B), substituted “on the date” for “of the date”.
1992—Pub. L. 102–484 substituted “Civilian positions: guidelines for reductions” for “Employees of industrial-type or commercial-type activities: guidelines for future reductions” as section catchline and amended text generally, substituting subsecs. (a) to (e) for former subsecs. (a) to (c).
heading: Pilot Program for Payment of Retraining Expenses
text: Pub. L. 107–107, div. A, title XI, § 1102, Dec. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 1235, authorized the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to facilitate the reemployment of eligible employees of the Department of Defense who were involuntarily separated due to a reduction in force, relocation as a result of a transfer of function, realignment, or change of duty station, and to pay retraining incentives to encourage non-Federal employers to hire and retain such employees, and provided that no incentive could be paid under such program for training commenced after Sept. 30, 2005.
heading: Non-Federal Employment Incentive Pilot Program
text: Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title III, § 348, Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2725, authorized the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program for the payment of incentives to facilitate the reemployment of eligible employees of the Department of Defense whose employment with the Department was being terminated by reason of the closure or realignment of the military installations where such persons were employed, to pay retraining and relocation incentives to encourage non-Federal employers to hire and retain such employees, and to pay a relocation incentive to an eligible employee if it was necessary for the employee to relocate in order to commence employment with a non-Federal employer under such program, and provided that no incentive could be paid under such program for training or relocations commenced after Sept. 30, 1999.
heading: Skill Training Programs in Department of Defense
text: Pub. L. 102–484, div. D, title XLIV, § 4435, Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2722, authorized the Secretaries of the military departments and the Secretary of Defense, during the period beginning on Oct. 1, 1992, and ending on Sept. 30, 1995, to provide not more than one year of training in training facilities of the Department of Defense to civilian employees of the Department who were separated from employment as a result of a reduction in force or a closure or realignment of a military installation, and directed the Secretary to publish a register of the skill training programs carried out by the Department not later than Feb. 1, 1993.
heading: Involuntary Reductions of Civilian Personnel in Fiscal Year 1991
text: Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title III, § 322(b), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1529, provided that after Nov. 5, 1990, an agency or component of the Department of Defense could not implement any involuntary reductions or furloughs of civilian personnel in industrial-type or commercial-type activities in fiscal year 1991 until 45 days after the date on which the agency or component submitted a report to Congress outlining the reasons why such reductions or furloughs were required.