Title: Department of Homeland Security Morale, Recognition, Learning and Engagement Act of 2017
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Department of Homeland Security Morale, Recognition, Learning and Engagement Act of 2017 or the DHS MORALE Act
This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to:
The chief may designate a DHS employee to serve as Chief Learning and Engagement Officer.
DHS's report to Congress on fulfilling its workforce strategies shall include information on: (1) employee development opportunities, participation and attrition rates, and impacts on retention and employee satisfaction; (2) progress of strategic workforce planning efforts; and (3) activities of the employee engagement steering committee established by this bill to develop and report on efforts to improve DHS employee engagement, morale, and communications.
The chief shall: (1) issue a DHS-wide employee engagement action plan; and (2) require the head of each DHS component to identify and assign a senior executive to serve on the steering committee, develop and implement a component-specific plan to advance the action plan, monitor progress on implementation of such action plan, and provide monthly reports on progress.
DHS: (1) may establish an annual employee award program, and (2) shall execute an agreement with an entity outside the government to conduct an independent audit of how DHS disciplinary processes are administered.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2283 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2283

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to improve morale within the 
      Department of Homeland Security workforce by conferring new 
 responsibilities to the Chief Human Capital Officer, establishing an 
  employee engagement steering committee, requiring action plans, and 
 authorizing an annual employee award program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 2, 2017

    Mr. Thompson of Mississippi (for himself, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. 
 Langevin, Mr. Richmond, Mr. Keating, Mr. Payne, Mr. Vela, Mrs. Watson 
 Coleman, Mr. Correa, Mrs. Demings, Ms. Barragan, and Miss Rice of New 
    York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Homeland Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to improve morale within the 
      Department of Homeland Security workforce by conferring new 
 responsibilities to the Chief Human Capital Officer, establishing an 
  employee engagement steering committee, requiring action plans, and 
 authorizing an annual employee award program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Homeland Security 
Morale, Recognition, Learning and Engagement Act of 2017'' or the ``DHS 
MORALE Act''.

SEC. 2. CHIEF HUMAN CAPITAL OFFICER RESPONSIBILITIES.

    Section 704 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 344) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by inserting ``, including with respect 
                        to leader development and employee 
                        engagement,'' after ``policies'';
                            (ii) by striking ``and in line'' and 
                        inserting ``, in line''; and
                            (iii) by inserting ``and informed by best 
                        practices within the Federal government and the 
                        private sector,'' after ``priorities,'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``develop 
                performance measures to provide a basis for monitoring 
                and evaluating'' and inserting ``evaluate, on an 
                ongoing basis,'';
                    (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``that, to the 
                extent practicable, are informed by employee 
                feedback,'' after ``policies'';
                    (D) in paragraph (4), by inserting ``including 
                leader development and employee engagement programs,'' 
                before ``in coordination'';
                    (E) in paragraph (5), by inserting before the 
                semicolon at the end the following: ``that is informed 
                by an assessment, carried out by the Chief Human 
                Capital Officer, of the learning and developmental 
                needs of employees in supervisory and non-supervisory 
                roles across the Department and appropriate workforce 
                planning initiatives'';
                    (F) by redesignating paragraphs (9) and (10) as 
                paragraphs (11) and (12), respectively; and
                    (G) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following 
                new paragraphs:
            ``(9) maintain a catalogue of available employee 
        development opportunities, including the Homeland Security 
        Rotation Program pursuant to section 844, departmental 
        leadership development programs, interagency development 
        programs, and other rotational programs; and
            ``(10) ensure that employee discipline and adverse action 
        programs comply with the requirements of all pertinent laws, 
        rules, regulations, and Federal guidance, and ensure due 
        process for employees;'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections 
        (e) and (f), respectively;
            (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(d) Chief Learning and Engagement Officer.--The Chief Human 
Capital Officer may designate an employee of the Department to serve as 
a Chief Learning and Engagement Officer to assist the Chief Human 
Capital Officer in carrying out this section.''; and
            (4) in subsection (e), as so redesignated--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) 
                as paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following 
                new paragraphs:
            ``(2) information on employee development opportunities 
        catalogued pursuant to paragraph (9) of subsection (b) and any 
        available data on participation rates, attrition rates, and 
        impacts on retention and employee satisfaction;
            ``(3) information on the progress of Department-wide 
        strategic workforce planning efforts as determined under 
        paragraph (2) of subsection (b); and
            ``(4) information on the activities of the steering 
        committee established pursuant to section 710(a), including the 
        number of meeting, types of materials developed and 
        distributed, and recommendations made to the Secretary;''.

SEC. 3. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT STEERING COMMITTEE AND ACTION PLAN.

    (a) In General.--Title VII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 710. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT.

    ``(a) Steering Committee.--Not later than 120 days after the date 
of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish an 
employee engagement steering committee, including representatives from 
operational components and headquarters, including supervisory and non-
supervisory personnel, and employee labor organizations that represent 
Department employees, and chaired by the Under Secretary for 
Management, to carry out the following activities:
            ``(1) Identify factors that have a negative impact on 
        employee engagement, morale, and communications within the 
        Department, such as perceptions about limitations on career 
        progression, mobility, or development opportunities, collected 
        through employee feedback platforms, including through annual 
        employee surveys, questionnaires, and other communications, as 
        appropriate.
            ``(2) Identify, develop, and distribute initiatives and 
        best practices to improve employee engagement, morale, and 
        communications within the Department, including through annual 
        employee surveys, questionnaires, and other communications, as 
        appropriate.
            ``(3) Monitor efforts of each component to address employee 
        engagement, morale, and communications based on employee 
        feedback provided through annual employee surveys, 
        questionnaires, and other communications, as appropriate.
            ``(4) Advise the Secretary on efforts to improve employee 
        engagement, morale, and communications within specific 
        components and across the Department.
            ``(5) Conduct regular meetings and report, not less than 
        once per quarter, to the Under Secretary for Management, the 
        head of each component, and the Secretary on Department-wide 
        efforts to improve employee engagement, morale, and 
        communications.
    ``(b) Action Plan; Reporting.--The Secretary, acting through the 
Chief Human Capital Officer, shall--
            ``(1) not later than 120 days after the date of the 
        establishment of the steering committee under subsection (a), 
        issue a Department-wide employee engagement action plan, 
        reflecting input from the employee engagement steering 
        committee established pursuant to subsection (a) and employee 
        feedback provided through annual employee surveys, 
        questionnaires, and other communications in accordance with 
        paragraph (1) of such subsection, to execute strategies to 
        improve employee engagement, morale, and communications within 
        the Department; and
            ``(2) require the head of each component to--
                    ``(A) identify and assign a senior executive to 
                serve on the steering committee;
                    ``(B) develop and implement a component-specific 
                employee engagement plan to advance the action plan 
                required under paragraph (1) that includes performance 
                measures and objectives, is informed by employee 
                feedback provided through annual employee surveys, 
                questionnaires, and other communications, as 
                appropriate, and sets forth how employees and, where 
                applicable, their labor representatives are to be 
                integrated in developing programs and initiatives;
                    ``(C) monitor progress on implementation of such 
                action plan; and
                    ``(D) provide to the Chief Human Capital Officer 
                and the steering committee monthly reports on actions 
                planned and progress made under this paragraph.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 709 the following new item:

``Sec. 710. Employee engagement.''.
    (c) Submissions to Congress.--
            (1) Department-wide employee engagement action plan.--The 
        Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Chief Human 
        Capital Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, shall 
        submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 
        Governmental Affairs of the Senate the Department-wide employee 
        engagement action plan required under subsection (b)(1) of 
        section 710 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (as added by 
        subsection (a) of this section) not later than 30 days after 
        the issuance of such plan under such subsection (b)(1).
            (2) Component-specific employee engagement plans.--Each 
        head of a component of the Department of Homeland Security 
        shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 
        of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 
        Governmental Affairs of the Senate the component-specific 
        employee engagement plan of each such component required under 
        subsection (b)(2) of section 710 of the Homeland Security Act 
        of 2002 (as added by subsection (a) of this section) not later 
        than 30 days after the issuance of each such plan under such 
        subsection (b)(2).

SEC. 4. ANNUAL EMPLOYEE AWARD PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Title VII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 341 et seq.), as amended by section 3 of this Act, is further 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 711. ANNUAL EMPLOYEE AWARD PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary may establish an annual employee 
award program to recognize Department employees or groups of employees 
for significant contributions to the achievement of the Department's 
goals and missions. If such a program is established, the Secretary 
shall--
            ``(1) establish within such program categories of awards, 
        each with specific criteria, that emphasizes honoring employees 
        who are at the non-supervisory level;
            ``(2) publicize within the Department how any employee or 
        group of employees may be nominated for an award;
            ``(3) establish an internal review board comprised of 
        representatives from Department components to submit to the 
        Secretary award recommendations regarding specific employees or 
        groups of employees;
            ``(4) select recipients from the pool of nominees submitted 
        by the internal review board under paragraph (3) and convene a 
        ceremony at which employees or groups of employees receive such 
        awards from the Secretary; and
            ``(5) publicize such program within the Department.
    ``(b) Internal Review Board.--The internal review board described 
in subsection (a)(3) shall, when carrying out its function under such 
subsection, consult with representatives from operational components 
and headquarters, including supervisory and non-supervisory personnel, 
and employee labor organizations that represent Department employees.
    ``(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed to authorize additional funds to carry out the requirements 
of this section or to require the Secretary to provide monetary bonuses 
to recipients of an award under this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended by section 3 of this Act, 
is further amended by inserting after the item relating to section 710 
the following new item:

``Sec. 711. Annual employee award program.''.

SEC. 5. INDEPENDENT AUDIT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
issuance of any comprehensive report by the Inspector General of the 
Department of Homeland Security on the administration of the 
disciplinary and adverse action program within the Department but in no 
case later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Homeland Security shall execute an agreement with an 
entity outside the Federal Government to conduct an independent audit 
of how disciplinary processes are administered throughout the 
Department.
    (b) Contents.--Not later than 180 days after the agreement 
described in subsection (a) is executed, the entity referred to in such 
subsection shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate the audit required under such 
subsection, including findings regarding whether disciplinary processes 
of the Department of Homeland Security are administered in a consistent 
manner within components and across the Department, and recommendations 
for actions to promote greater uniformity and transparency in the 
administration of such disciplinary processes. The audit shall 
specifically review whether such disciplinary processes administered 
within each component of the Department result in the same or 
substantially similar disciplinary outcomes for misconduct by a non-
supervisory or supervisory employee who engaged in same or 
substantially similar misconduct. In carrying out the audit, the entity 
shall consult with representatives of Federal employee labor 
organizations that represent Department employees.

SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON NEW FUNDING.

    No funds are authorized to carry out this Act and the amendments 
made by this Act. This Act and such amendments shall be carried out 
using amounts otherwise made available.
                                 <all>