DHS MORALE Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1433 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 2, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT 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 engage- ment steering committee, requiring action plans, and au- thorizing an annual employee award program, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1433.RFS H1433 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 1433 RFS 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 ‘‘Department of Home- 4 land Security Morale, Recognition, Learning and Engage- 5 ment Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘DHS MORALE Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. CHIEF HUMAN CAPITAL OFFICER RESPONSIBIL- 7 ITIES. 8 Section 704 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 9 (6 U.S.C. 344) is amended— 10 (1) in subsection (b)— 11 (A) in paragraph (1)— 12 (i) by inserting ‘‘, including with re- 13 spect to leader development and employee 14 engagement,’’ after ‘‘policies’’; 15 (ii) by striking ‘‘and in line’’ and in- 16 serting ‘‘, in line’’; and 17 (iii) by inserting ‘‘and informed by 18 best practices within the Federal govern- 19 ment and the private sector,’’ after ‘‘prior- 20 ities,’’; 21 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘develop 22 performance measures to provide a basis for 23 monitoring and evaluating’’ and inserting ‘‘use 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1433.RFS H1433 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 1433 RFS performance measures to evaluate, on an ongo- 1 ing basis,’’; 2 (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘that, 3 to the extent practicable, are informed by em- 4 ployee feedback’’ after ‘‘policies’’; 5 (D) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘includ- 6 ing leader development and employee engage- 7 ment programs,’’ before ‘‘in coordination’’; 8 (E) in paragraph (5), by inserting before 9 the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘that is 10 informed by an assessment, carried out by the 11 Chief Human Capital Officer, of the learning 12 and developmental needs of employees in super- 13 visory and non-supervisory roles across the De- 14 partment and appropriate workforce planning 15 initiatives’’; 16 (F) by redesignating paragraphs (9) and 17 (10) as paragraphs (12) and (13), respectively; 18 and 19 (G) by inserting after paragraph (8) the 20 following new paragraphs: 21 ‘‘(9) maintain a catalogue of available employee 22 development opportunities, including the Homeland 23 Security Rotation Program pursuant to section 844, 24 departmental leadership development programs, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1433.RFS H1433 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 1433 RFS interagency development programs, and other rota- 1 tional programs; 2 ‘‘(10) ensure that employee discipline and ad- 3 verse action programs comply with the requirements 4 of all pertinent laws, rules, regulations, and Federal 5 guidance, and ensure due process for employees; 6 ‘‘(11) analyze each Department or Government- 7 wide Federal workforce satisfaction or morale survey 8 not later than 90 days after the date of the publica- 9 tion of each such survey and submit to the Secretary 10 such analysis, including, as appropriate, rec- 11 ommendations to improve workforce satisfaction or 12 morale within the Department;’’; 13 (2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 14 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; 15 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol- 16 lowing new subsection: 17 ‘‘(d) CHIEF LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT OFFI- 18 CER.—The Chief Human Capital Officer may designate 19 an employee of the Department to serve as a Chief Learn- 20 ing and Engagement Officer to assist the Chief Human 21 Capital Officer in carrying out this section.’’; and 22 (4) in subsection (e), as so redesignated— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1433.RFS H1433 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 1433 RFS (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), 1 and (4) as paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), respec- 2 tively; and 3 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 4 following new paragraphs: 5 ‘‘(2) information on employee development op- 6 portunities catalogued pursuant to paragraph (9) of 7 subsection (b) and any available data on participa- 8 tion rates, attrition rates, and impacts on retention 9 and employee satisfaction; 10 ‘‘(3) information on the progress of Depart- 11 ment-wide strategic workforce planning efforts as 12 determined under paragraph (2) of subsection (b); 13 ‘‘(4) information on the activities of the steer- 14 ing committee established pursuant to section 15 711(a), including the number of meetings, types of 16 materials developed and distributed, and rec- 17 ommendations made to the Secretary;’’. 18 SEC. 3. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT STEERING COMMITTEE 19 AND ACTION PLAN. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu- 21 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 22 adding at the end the following new section: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1433.RFS H1433 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 1433 RFS ‘‘SEC. 711. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT. 1 ‘‘(a) STEERING COMMITTEE.—Not later than 120 2 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the 3 Secretary shall establish an employee engagement steering 4 committee, including representatives from operational 5 components, headquarters, and field personnel, including 6 supervisory and non-supervisory personnel, and employee 7 labor organizations that represent Department employees, 8 and chaired by the Under Secretary for Management, to 9 carry out the following activities: 10 ‘‘(1) Identify factors that have a negative im- 11 pact on employee engagement, morale, and commu- 12 nications within the Department, such as percep- 13 tions about limitations on career progression, mobil- 14 ity, or development opportunities, collected through 15 employee feedback platforms, including through an- 16 nual employee surveys, questionnaires, and other 17 communications, as appropriate. 18 ‘‘(2) Identify, develop, and distribute initiatives 19 and best practices to improve employee engagement, 20 morale, and communications within the Department, 21 including through annual employee surveys, ques- 22 tionnaires, and other communications, as appro- 23 priate. 24 ‘‘(3) Monitor efforts of each component to ad- 25 dress employee engagement, morale, and commu- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1433.RFS H1433 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 1433 RFS nications based on employee feedback provided 1 through annual employee surveys, questionnaires, 2 and other communications, as appropriate. 3 ‘‘(4) Advise the Secretary on efforts to improve 4 employee engagement, morale, and communications 5 within specific components and across the Depart- 6 ment. 7 ‘‘(5) Conduct regular meetings and report, not 8 less than once per quarter, to the Under Secretary 9 for Management, the head of each component, and 10 the Secretary on Department-wide efforts to improve 11 employee engagement, morale, and communications. 12 ‘‘(b) ACTION PLAN; REPORTING.—The Secretary, 13 acting through the Chief Human Capital Officer, shall— 14 ‘‘(1) not later than 120 days after the date of 15 the establishment of the employee engagement steer- 16 ing committee under subsection (a), issue a Depart- 17 ment-wide employee engagement action plan, reflect- 18 ing input from the steering committee and employee 19 feedback provided through annual employee surveys, 20 questionnaires, and other communications in accord- 21 ance with paragraph (1) of such subsection, to exe- 22 cute strategies to improve employee engagement, 23 morale, and communications within the Department; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1433.RFS H1433 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 HR 1433 RFS ‘‘(2) require the head of each component to— 1 ‘‘(A) develop and implement a component- 2 specific employee engagement plan to advance 3 the action plan required under paragraph (1) 4 that includes performance measures and objec- 5 tives, is informed by employee feedback pro- 6 vided through annual employee surveys, ques- 7 tionnaires, and other communications, as appro- 8 priate, and sets forth how employees and, where 9 applicable, their labor representatives are to be 10 integrated in developing programs and initia- 11 tives; 12 ‘‘(B) monitor progress on implementation 13 of such action plan; and 14 ‘‘(C) provide to the Chief Human Capital 15 Officer and the steering committee quarterly re- 16 ports on actions planned and progress made 17 under this paragraph. 18 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION.—This section shall terminate on 19 the date that is five years after the date of the enactment 20 of this section.’’. 21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 22 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 23 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 24 710 the following new item: 25 ‘‘Sec. 711. Employee engagement.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1433.RFS H1433 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 HR 1433 RFS (c) SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS.— 1 (1) DEPARTMENT-WIDE EMPLOYEE ENGAGE- 2 MENT ACTION PLAN.—The Secretary of Homeland 3 Security, acting through the Chief Human Capital 4 Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, 5 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu- 6 rity of the House of Representatives and the Com- 7 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af- 8 fairs of the Senate the Department-wide employee 9 engagement action plan required under subsection 10 (b)(1) of section 711 of the Homeland Security Act 11 of 2002 (as added by subsection (a) of this section) 12 not later than 30 days after the issuance of such 13 plan under such subsection (b)(1). 14 (2) COMPONENT-SPECIFIC EMPLOYEE ENGAGE- 15 MENT PLANS.—Each head of a component of the 16 Department of Homeland Security shall submit to 17 the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 18 of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland 19 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate the 20 component-specific employee engagement plan of 21 each such component required under subsection 22 (b)(2) of section 711 of the Homeland Security Act 23 of 2002 not later than 30 days after the issuance of 24 each such plan under such subsection (b)(2). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1433.RFS H1433 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 HR 1433 RFS SEC. 4. ANNUAL EMPLOYEE AWARD PROGRAM. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu- 2 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.), as amended by 3 section 3 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the 4 end the following new section: 5 ‘‘SEC. 712. ANNUAL EMPLOYEE AWARD PROGRAM. 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may establish an 7 annual employee award program to recognize Department 8 employees or groups of employees for significant contribu- 9 tions to the achievement of the Department’s goals and 10 missions. If such a program is established, the Secretary 11 shall— 12 ‘‘(1) establish within such program categories 13 of awards, each with specific criteria, that empha- 14 sizes honoring employees who are at the non-super- 15 visory level; 16 ‘‘(2) publicize within the Department how any 17 employee or group of employees may be nominated 18 for an award; 19 ‘‘(3) establish an internal review board com- 20 prised of representatives from Department compo- 21 nents, headquarters, and field personnel to submit to 22 the Secretary award recommendations regarding 23 specific employees or groups of employees; 24 ‘‘(4) select recipients from the pool of nominees 25 submitted by the internal review board under para- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1433.RFS H1433 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 HR 1433 RFS graph (3) and convene a ceremony at which employ- 1 ees or groups of employees receive such awards from 2 the Secretary; and 3 ‘‘(5) publicize such program within the Depart- 4 ment. 5 ‘‘(b) INTERNAL REVIEW BOARD.—The internal re- 6 view board described in subsection (a)(3) shall, when car- 7 rying out its function under such subsection, consult with 8 representatives from operational components and head- 9 quarters, including supervisory and non-supervisory per- 10 sonnel, and employee labor organizations that represent 11 Department employees. 12 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 13 tion may be construed to authorize additional funds to 14 carry out the requirements of this section or to require 15 the Secretary to provide monetary bonuses to recipients 16 of an award under this section.’’. 17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 18 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 19 amended by section 3 of this Act, is further amended by 20 inserting after the item relating to section 711 the fol- 21 lowing new item: 22 ‘‘Sec. 712. Annual employee award program.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1433.RFS H1433 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 HR 1433 RFS SEC. 5. INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION AND IMPLEMENTA- 1 TION PLAN. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 4 of the United States shall investigate whether the applica- 5 tion in the Department of Homeland Security of discipline 6 and adverse actions are administered in an equitable and 7 consistent manner that results in the same or substantially 8 similar disciplinary outcomes across the Department for 9 misconduct by a non-supervisory or supervisor employee 10 who engaged in the same or substantially similar mis- 11 conduct. 12 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the investiga- 13 tion described in subsection (a), the Comptroller General 14 of the United States shall consult with the Under Sec- 15 retary for Management of the Department of Homeland 16 Security and the employee engagement steering committee 17 established pursuant to subsection (b)(1) of section 711 18 of the Homel [Text truncated for display. 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