Improving VA Accountability To Prevent Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1243 To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the equal employment opportunity functions of Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 20, 2021 Ms. ERNST (for herself and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the equal employment opportunity functions of Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving VA Ac- 4 countability To Prevent Sexual Harassment and Discrimi- 5 nation Act of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1243.IS S1243 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1243 IS SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPOR- 1 TUNITY FUNCTIONS OF DEPARTMENT OF 2 VETERANS AFFAIRS. 3 (a) ALIGNMENT OF EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPOR- 4 TUNITY DIRECTOR.— 5 (1) REPORTING AND DUTIES.—Subsection (h) 6 of section 516 of title 38, United States Code, is 7 amended— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘The provisions’’ and in- 9 serting ‘‘(1) The provisions’’; and 10 (B) by adding at the end the following new 11 paragraph: 12 ‘‘(2) Beginning not later than 90 days after the date 13 of the enactment of the Improving VA Accountability To 14 Prevent Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Act of 15 2021, in carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 16 ensure that the official of the Department who serves as 17 the Equal Employment Opportunity Director of the De- 18 partment— 19 ‘‘(A) reports directly to the Deputy Secretary 20 with respect to the functions under this section; and 21 ‘‘(B) does not also serve in a position that has 22 responsibility over personnel functions of the De- 23 partment or other functions that conflict with the 24 functions under this section.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1243.IS S1243 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1243 IS (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section 1 is further amended— 2 (A) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ‘‘, in 3 accordance with subsection (h)(2),’’ after ‘‘an 4 Assistant Secretary or a Deputy Assistant Sec- 5 retary’’; and 6 (B) in subsection (e)(1)(A), by striking 7 ‘‘the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources 8 and Administration’’ and inserting ‘‘the Sec- 9 retary’’. 10 (b) ALIGNMENT OF EEO PROGRAM MANAGERS.— 11 Such section is further amended by adding at the end the 12 following new subsection: 13 ‘‘(i) In accordance with subsection (b), not later than 14 December 31, 2021, the Secretary shall ensure that each 15 Equal Employment Opportunity program manager of the 16 Department at the facility level reports to the head of the 17 Office of Resolution Management, or such successor office 18 established pursuant to subsection (a), with respect to the 19 equal employment functions of the program manager.’’. 20 (c) REPORTING HARASSMENT AND EMPLOYMENT 21 DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINTS.—Subsection (a) of such 22 section is amended— 23 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 24 ‘‘(1) The Secretary’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1243.IS S1243 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1243 IS (2) by adding at the end the following new 1 paragraph: 2 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall ensure that the employment 3 discrimination complaint resolution system established 4 under paragraph (1) requires that any manager of the De- 5 partment who receives a sexual or other harassment or 6 employment discrimination complaint reports such com- 7 plaint to the Office of Resolution Management, or suc- 8 cessor office, immediately, or if such immediate reporting 9 is impracticable, not later than two days after the date 10 on which the manager receives the complaint.’’. 11 (d) TRAINING.—Subsection (c) of such section is 12 amended— 13 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘The Secretary’’; 14 and 15 (2) by adding at the end the following new 16 paragraph: 17 ‘‘(2)(A) Beginning not later than September 30, 18 2021, the Secretary shall provide to each employee of the 19 Department mandatory annual training on identifying and 20 addressing sexual and other harassment and employment 21 discrimination, including with respect to processes under 22 the Harassment Prevention Program of the Department, 23 or such successor program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1243.IS S1243 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1243 IS ‘‘(B) An employee of the Department who is hired 1 on or after such date shall receive the first such manda- 2 tory annual training not later than 60 days after being 3 hired.’’. 4 (e) HARASSMENT AND EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINA- 5 TION POLICIES AND DIRECTIVES.—The Secretary of Vet- 6 erans Affairs shall— 7 (1) by not later than September 30, 2021, and 8 on a regular basis thereafter, review the policies re- 9 lating to sexual and other harassment and employ- 10 ment discrimination of the Department of Veterans 11 Affairs to ensure that such policies are complete and 12 in accordance with the sexual and other harassment 13 and employment discrimination policies established 14 by the Office of Resolution Management of the De- 15 partment, or successor office; and 16 (2) by not later than 180 days after the date 17 of the enactment of this Act, issue a final directive 18 and a handbook for the Harassment Prevention Pro- 19 gram of the Department. 20 (f) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days 21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and semiannu- 22 ally thereafter for one year, the Secretary of Veterans Af- 23 fairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 24 of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1243.IS S1243 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1243 IS the House of Representatives a report on the progress the 1 Secretary has made in carrying out this section and sec- 2 tion 516 of title 38, United States Code, as amended by 3 this section, including with respect to reporting sexual and 4 other harassment and employment discrimination com- 5 plaints pursuant to subsection (a)(2) of such section 516. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1243.IS S1243 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS