Federal Jobs Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4374 To establish a Government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the Federal workforce, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 30, 2020 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To establish a Government-wide initiative to promote diver- sity and inclusion in the Federal workforce, 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 ‘‘Federal Jobs Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act: 6 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4374.IS S4374 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4374 IS (A) has the meaning given the term ‘‘Exec- 1 utive agency’’ in section 105 of title 5, United 2 States Code; and 3 (B) includes the United States Postal 4 Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission. 5 (2) AGENCY PLAN.—The term ‘‘agency plan’’ 6 means the plan required under section 4(a)(1). 7 (3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 8 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 9 mittees’’ means— 10 (A) the Committee on Appropriations of 11 the Senate; 12 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 13 the House of Representatives; 14 (C) the Committee on Finance of the Sen- 15 ate; and 16 (D) the Committee on Ways and Means of 17 the House of Representatives. 18 (4) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Deputy 19 Director’’ means the Deputy Director of Manage- 20 ment of the Office of Management and Budget. 21 (5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 22 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 23 (6) DIVERSITY.—The term ‘‘diversity’’ includes 24 characteristics such as national origin, language, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4374.IS S4374 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4374 IS race, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, 1 sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic 2 status, veteran status, and family structure. 3 (7) DIVERSITY PLAN.—The term ‘‘diversity 4 plan’’ means the plan required under section 5 3(a)(2). 6 (8) ECONOMICALLY AND SOCIALLY DISADVAN- 7 TAGED BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘economically and so- 8 cially disadvantaged business’’ has the meaning 9 given the term ‘‘socially and economically disadvan- 10 taged small business concern’’ in section 8(a)(4)(A) 11 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(4)(A)). 12 (9) EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES.—The term ‘‘em- 13 ployment practices’’ means policies and practices of 14 an agency concerning— 15 (A) the recruitment, hiring, promotion, 16 and retention of employees; and 17 (B) professional development and training 18 for employees. 19 (10) HUMAN CAPITAL OPERATING PLAN.—The 20 term ‘‘human capital operating plan’’ means the 21 plan required under section 250.205 of title 5, Code 22 of Federal Regulations. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4374.IS S4374 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4374 IS (11) PRIME CONTRACTOR.—The term ‘‘prime 1 contractor’’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 2 tion 8701 of title 41, United States Code. 3 (12) SUBCONTRACTOR.—The term ‘‘subcon- 4 tractor’’ has the meaning given the term in section 5 8701 of title 41, United States Code. 6 SEC. 3. EXECUTIVE BRANCH DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION 7 INITIATIVE AND STRATEGIC PLAN. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in coordination with 9 the Deputy Director, the President’s Management Coun- 10 cil, and the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity 11 Commission, shall— 12 (1) establish a coordinated initiative to promote 13 diversity and inclusion in the workforce of agencies; 14 (2) not later than 90 days after the date of en- 15 actment of this Act, develop and issue a strategic 16 plan relating to diversity and inclusion for agencies 17 that— 18 (A) focuses on— 19 (i) workforce diversity; 20 (ii) workplace inclusion; and 21 (iii) agency accountability and leader- 22 ship; and 23 (B) highlights comprehensive strategies for 24 agencies to identify and remove barriers to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4374.IS S4374 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4374 IS equal employment opportunity in employment 1 practices; 2 (3) not less frequently than once every 4 years 3 beginning after the date on which the diversity plan 4 is issued under paragraph (2), update the diversity 5 plan; 6 (4) not later than 90 days after the date of en- 7 actment of this Act— 8 (A) review any agency directives relating to 9 the development or submission of— 10 (i) the human capital operating plan; 11 and 12 (ii) other workforce plans and reports 13 relating to employment practices; 14 (B) develop a strategy for consolidating 15 the plans and reports described in subpara- 16 graph (A), if the consolidation is appropriate 17 and permitted by law; and 18 (C) provide guidance to agencies for devel- 19 oping agency plans; 20 (5) identify appropriate practices to improve 21 the effectiveness of the efforts of each agency to for- 22 mulate employment practices that are consistent 23 with merit system principles; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4374.IS S4374 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4374 IS (6) establish a system for regular reporting on 1 the progress of agencies in implementing the agency 2 plans of the agencies. 3 (b) RECRUITMENT.—The coordinated initiative es- 4 tablished under subsection (a)(1) shall— 5 (1) include a plan to recruit qualified individ- 6 uals for employment at agencies; and 7 (2) endeavor to— 8 (A) achieve a workforce from all segments 9 of society; and 10 (B) avoid discrimination for or against any 11 employee or applicant on the basis of race, 12 color, religion, sex (including pregnancy or gen- 13 der identity), national origin, age, disability, 14 sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other 15 prohibited basis. 16 SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES OF AGENCIES. 17 (a) AGENCY REPORT.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency 19 shall— 20 (A) not later than 120 days after the date 21 on which the diversity plan is issued under sec- 22 tion 3(a)(2) or updated under section 3(a)(3), 23 develop or update a plan for the agency to cre- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4374.IS S4374 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4374 IS ate employment practices that maintain a di- 1 verse workforce, consistent with— 2 (i) merit system principles; 3 (ii) the overall strategic plan of the 4 agency; 5 (iii) the human capital operating plan 6 of the agency; and 7 (iv) any other applicable workforce 8 planning strategies and initiatives; 9 (B) designate the Chief Human Capital 10 Officer, the Director of Equal Employment Op- 11 portunity, and the Chief Diversity Officer of the 12 agency, if applicable, to— 13 (i) be responsible for enhancing em- 14 ployment and promotion opportunities 15 within the agency; and 16 (ii) develop and implement the agency 17 plan; and 18 (C) incorporate the agency plan into the 19 human capital operating plan of the agency. 20 (2) REVIEW.—The head of each agency shall 21 submit the agency plan of the agency to the Director 22 and the Deputy Director for review. 23 (b) ANNUAL UPDATES.—Not later than 90 days after 24 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4374.IS S4374 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4374 IS the head of each agency, in consultation with the Director 1 and the Deputy Director, shall publish a report on the 2 public website of the agency that includes— 3 (1) disaggregated demographic data sorted by 4 race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran 5 status, and disability relating to the workforce of the 6 agency; 7 (2) information on the status of diversity and 8 inclusion efforts of the agency; 9 (3) an analysis of available data relating to the 10 number of applications for employment received by 11 the agency sorted by the race, color, national origin, 12 religion, sex, age, veteran status, and disability of 13 the applicant; 14 (4) disaggregated demographic data relating to 15 each participating employee in professional develop- 16 ment programs offered or sponsored by the agency; 17 (5) the rate of the placement of each partici- 18 pating employee described in paragraph (4) into sen- 19 ior positions in the agency; 20 (6) data relating to the employment of tradi- 21 tionally underrepresented groups at the agency; 22 (7) the information reported under the system 23 established under section 3(a)(6); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4374.IS S4374 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4374 IS (8) disaggregated salary data sorted by race, 1 color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran sta- 2 tus, and disability relating to the workforce of the 3 agency. 4 (c) RETENTION AND EXIT INTERVIEWS OR SUR- 5 VEYS.— 6 (1) DEPARTING EMPLOYEES.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agen- 8 cy shall provide each employee who leaves em- 9 ployment at the agency an opportunity to com- 10 plete an exit interview or survey. 11 (B) PURPOSE.—The head of each agency 12 shall design the exit interview or survey de- 13 scribed in subparagraph (A) to help the agency 14 understand the reasoning for which an em- 15 ployee leaves employment at the agency. 16 (2) USE OF ANALYSIS FROM INTERVIEWS AND 17 SURVEYS.—The head of each agency shall analyze 18 the demographic data and other information ob- 19 tained through the interviews or surveys described in 20 paragraph (1) to determine— 21 (A) if and how the diversity of participants 22 in the interviews or surveys impacts the results 23 of the interviews or surveys; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4374.IS S4374 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4374 IS (B) whether to implement any policy 1 changes. 2 (3) TRACKING DATA.—The head of each agency 3 shall— 4 (A) track demographic data relating to— 5 (i) each participating employee in pro- 6 fessional development programs offered or 7 sponsored by the agency; and 8 (ii) the rate of the placement of each 9 participating employee described in clause 10 (i) into senior positions in the agency; 11 (B) annually evaluate the data described in 12 subparagraph (A)— 13 (i) to identify ways to improve out- 14 reach and recruitment for professional de- 15 velopment programs offered or sponsored 16 by the agency, consistent with merit sys- 17 tem principles; and 18 (ii) to understand how participation in 19 any professional development program of- 20 fered or sponsored by the agency under 21 subparagraph (A) differs among the demo- 22 graphic categories of the workforce of the 23 agency; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4374.IS S4374 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4374 IS (C) actively encourage participation in pro- 1 fessional development programs offered and 2 sponsored by the agency from a range of demo- 3 graphic categories of the workforce of the agen- 4 cy, especially from demographic categories with 5 consistently low participation. 6 SEC. 5. LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES. 7 (a) LEGISLATIVE BRANCH.—Each office treated as 8 an employing office under the Congressional Account- 9 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) shall, to the 10 greatest extent practicable, carry out the requirements of 11 sections 3 and 4 with respect to the legislative branch of 12 Government. 13 (b) JUDICIAL BRANCH.—The Director of the Admin- 14 istrative Office of the United States Courts shall, to the 15 greatest extent practicable, carry out the requirements of 16 sections 3 and 4 with respect to the judicial branch of 17 Government. 18 SEC. 6. DIVERSITY IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT AND 19 GRANTMAKING. 20 (a) REPORTS ON CONTRACTING.— 21 (1) PRIME CONTRACTOR REPORTS.—Not later 22 than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 23 Act, and annually thereafter, each prime contractor 24 that has a contract with an agency shall submit to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4374.IS S4374 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4374 IS the head of each agency with which the prime con- 1 tractor has a contract a report that includes— 2 (A) a list of subcontractors— 3 (i) with which the prime contractor 4 has a contract relating to the contract of 5 the prime contractor with the agency; and 6 (ii) that are economically and socially 7 disadvantaged businesses; and 8 (B) the amounts the subcontractors de- 9 scribed in paragraph (1) receive from the prime 10 contractor. 11 (2) AGENCY REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year 12 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 13 thereafter, the head of each agency shall submit to 14 the appropriate congressional committees a report 15 that includes— 16 (A) a list of prime contractors— 17 (i) with which the agency has a con- 18 tract; and 19 (ii) that are economically and socially 20 disadvantaged businesses; 21 (B) the amounts the prime contractors de- 22 scribed in subparagraph (A) receive from the 23 agency; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:11 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4374.IS S4374 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 4374 IS (C) the information contained in the prime 1 contractor reports received by the head of the 2 agency under paragraph (1). 3 (b) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 6 thereafter, the head of each agency shall submit to 7 the appropriate congressional committees a com- 8 prehensive report on activities the agency is imple- 9 menting to increase procurement from, and grant 10 making to, economically and socially disadvantaged 11 businesses. 12 (2) CONTENT.—The report required under 13 paragraph (1) shall include a description of the ef- 14 forts of the agency to— 15 (A) list, describe, and evaluate the activi- 16 ties the agency is implementing to increase the 17 capacity of minority-led small [Text truncated for display. 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