VA Hiring Enhancement Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3401 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the non-applicability of non-Department of Veterans Affairs covenants not to compete to the appointment of certain Veterans Health Administration personnel, to permit the Veterans Health Administration to make contingent ap- pointments, and to require certain Veterans Health Administration physi- cians to complete residency training. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 20, 2021 Mrs. HARTZLER (for herself, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. GALLA- GHER, and Mr. ROUZER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the non-applicability of non-Department of Veterans Affairs covenants not to compete to the appointment of certain Veterans Health Administration personnel, to permit the Veterans Health Administration to make contingent ap- pointments, and to require certain Veterans Health Ad- ministration physicians to complete residency training. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3401.IH H3401 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3401 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Hiring Enhance- 2 ment Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. NON-APPLICABILITY OF NON-DEPARTMENT OF VET- 4 ERANS AFFAIRS COVENANTS NOT TO COM- 5 PETE TO APPOINTMENT OF VETERANS 6 HEALTH ADMINISTRATION PERSONNEL. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 74 of title 8 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 9 the following new section: 10 ‘‘§ 7414. Effect of non-Department covenants not to 11 compete 12 ‘‘(a) NON-APPLICABILITY.—Except as provided in 13 subsection (b), in the case of an individual who is an appli- 14 cant for appointment to a position in the Veterans Health 15 Administration described in section 7401 of this title, any 16 covenant not to compete into which the individual has en- 17 tered with a non-Department facility or party shall have 18 no force or effect with respect to the appointment of the 19 individual to such a position. 20 ‘‘(b) SERVICE OBLIGATION.—(1) Any individual who 21 is appointed to such a position in the Veterans Health Ad- 22 ministration shall, as a condition of such appointment, 23 agree to provide clinical services at a Department medical 24 facility for the duration of the period described in para- 25 graph (2). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3401.IH H3401 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3401 IH ‘‘(2) The period described in this paragraph is the 1 period that begins on the date on which an individual is 2 appointed to such a position and ends on the latter of the 3 following dates: 4 ‘‘(A) The date that is one year after such date 5 of appointment. 6 ‘‘(B) The date of the termination of any cov- 7 enant not to compete entered into between the indi- 8 vidual and a non-Department facility or party. 9 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may waive the requirement under 10 paragraph (1) with respect to an individual at the discre- 11 tion of the Secretary. 12 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION OF DEPARTMENT EMPLOY- 13 MENT.—In the case of an individual who is appointed to 14 such a position in the Veterans Health Administration 15 who has entered into a covenant not to compete that is 16 rendered non-applicable pursuant to subsection (a), if the 17 individual’s employment at the Veterans Health Adminis- 18 tration is terminated for any reason before the specified 19 termination date of such covenant, subsection (a) shall not 20 apply with respect to such covenant after the date of the 21 termination of the individual’s employment at the Vet- 22 erans Health Administration. 23 ‘‘(d) COVENANT NOT TO COMPETE.—In this section, 24 the term ‘covenant not to compete’ means an agreement— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3401.IH H3401 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3401 IH ‘‘(1) between an employee and employer or a 1 contractor and principal that restricts such employee 2 or contractor from performing— 3 ‘‘(A) any work for another employer for a 4 specified period of time; 5 ‘‘(B) any work in a specified geographical 6 area; or 7 ‘‘(C) work for another employer per- 8 forming work that is similar to the work such 9 employee or contractor performed for the em- 10 ployer or principal, included as a party to the 11 agreement; and 12 ‘‘(2) that is entered into after the date of enact- 13 ment of this Act.’’. 14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 15 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 16 after the item relating to section 7413 the following new 17 item: 18 ‘‘7414. Effect of non-Department covenants not to compete.’’. SEC. 3. RECRUITMENT OF PHYSICIANS ON A CONTINGENT 19 BASIS PRIOR TO COMPLETION OF TRAINING 20 REQUIREMENTS. 21 Section 7402 of title 38, United States Code, is 22 amended— 23 (1) in subsection (b)(1)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3401.IH H3401 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3401 IH (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 1 (A) by inserting ‘‘or to be offered an appoint- 2 ment to such position on a contingent basis 3 under subsection (h)’’ after ‘‘position’’; and 4 (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in- 5 serting the following: 6 ‘‘(B)(i) have completed a residency leading to 7 board eligibility in a specialty, satisfactory to the 8 Secretary; or 9 ‘‘(ii) with respect to an offer for an appoint- 10 ment on a contingent basis under subsection (h), 11 complete such a residency by not later than two 12 years after the date of such offer; and’’; and 13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 14 section: 15 ‘‘(h)(1) The Secretary may appoint an individual 16 under subsection (b)(1) on a contingent basis in accord- 17 ance with this subsection if the Secretary reasonably an- 18 ticipated that the individual will have completed the re- 19 quirements for appointment under such subsection (b)(1) 20 by not later than two years after the date on which the 21 individual is so appointed. 22 ‘‘(2) An individual who is appointed to a position on 23 a contingent basis under paragraph (1) shall be appointed 24 to such position on a permanent basis if, by not later than 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3401.IH H3401 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3401 IH two years after the date of the contingent appointment, 1 the individual completes all the requirements for appoint- 2 ment under subsection (b)(1). 3 ‘‘(3) An individual who is appointed on a contingent 4 basis under paragraph (1) who fails to complete the re- 5 quirements for appointment under subsection (b)(1) by 6 not later than two years after the date on which the indi- 7 vidual is so appointed may not be appointed to such posi- 8 tion on a permanent basis.’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3401.IH H3401 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS