[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 986 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 986

   To amend chapter 71 of title 5, United States Code, to establish 
  certain limitations relating to the use of official time by Federal 
                   employees, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 6, 1997

Mr. Miller of Florida (for himself, Mr. Ganske, Mr. Canady of Florida, 
 Mr. Wicker, Mr. Istook, Mr. Dickey, Mr. Graham, Mr. Bonilla, and Mr. 
  Kingston) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend chapter 71 of title 5, United States Code, to establish 
  certain limitations relating to the use of official time by Federal 
                   employees, 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 ``Workplace Integrity Act''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS RELATING TO THE USE OF OFFICIAL TIME BY FEDERAL 
              EMPLOYEES.

    Section 7131 of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as 
follows:
``Sec. 7131. Official time
    ``(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, an employee may 
not be granted official time in connection with any matter covered by 
this chapter.
    ``(b)(1) Subject to subsection (c), official time may be granted--
            ``(A) to an employee representing an exclusive 
        representative, but only for a purpose allowable under 
        paragraph (2); or
            ``(B) to an employee in a unit represented by an exclusive 
        representative (in a circumstance not covered by subparagraph 
        (A)), but only for a purpose allowable under paragraph (3).
    ``(2) Official time may not be granted under paragraph (1)(A) to 
any employee, except--
            ``(A) to allow such employee--
                    ``(i) to present or process a grievance on behalf 
                of an employee in a unit represented by the exclusive 
                representative; or
                    ``(ii) to be present during a grievance proceeding 
                involving an employee in a unit represented by the 
                exclusive representative; or
            ``(B) in connection with any consultation or meeting with 
        management officials officially requested or approved by the 
        agency.
    ``(3) Official time may not be granted under paragraph (1)(B) to 
any employee, except--
            ``(A) to allow such employee to present a grievance on the 
        employee's own behalf under a negotiated grievance procedure; 
        or
            ``(B) in connection with any consultation or meeting with 
        management officials officially requested or approved by the 
        agency.
    ``(c)(1) Official time under subsection (b) may be granted in any 
amount that the agency and the exclusive representative involved agree 
to be reasonable, necessary, and in the public interest, but only to 
the extent that, with respect to any employee, it would not cause the 
ratio of--
            ``(A) the total amount of official time granted to such 
        employee under subsection (b) for use during any period 
        (specified under paragraph (2)), over
            ``(B) the total amount of time such employee would 
        otherwise normally be in duty status during that same period 
        (determined as if no official time had been granted for use 
        during such period),
to exceed 50 percent.
    ``(2) In order to carry out this subsection, the Authority shall by 
regulation specify an appropriate period of time, which--
            ``(A) shall not exceed 12 months in duration; and
            ``(B) shall be uniformly applied by all agencies.
    ``(d) The Authority shall determine whether any employee 
participating for, or on behalf of, a labor organization in any phase 
of proceedings before the Authority shall be authorized official time 
for such purpose during the time the employee otherwise would be in a 
duty status.
    ``(e) Nothing in this section shall be considered to constitute 
authority for any official time to be granted to an employee for 
purposes of allowing such employee--
            ``(1) to represent an exclusive representative in the 
        negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement under this 
        chapter, including to attend an impasse proceeding; or
            ``(2) to engage in any activity relating to the internal 
        business of a labor organization, including the solicitation of 
        membership, elections of labor organization officials, and 
        collection of dues.
Any activities described in paragraph (1) or (2) shall be performed 
during the time the employee is in a non-duty status.
    ``(f)(1) The Office of Personnel Management shall submit to the 
President and each House of the Congress, before March 1st of each 
calendar year, a report on the use of official time under this section. 
Each such report shall include, in the aggregate and by agency, with 
respect to the fiscal year last ending before the start of such 
calendar year--
            ``(A) the total number of employees to whom official time 
        was granted under this section;
            ``(B) the total number of employee-hours of official time 
        granted under this section; and
            ``(C) the total costs attributable to official time granted 
        under this section.
    ``(2) Agencies shall submit to the Office such data as the Office 
may by regulation require in connection with any report under this 
subsection.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendment made by this Act shall take effect as of 
the first day of the first fiscal year beginning at least 6 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, except that, whether or 
not this Act is enacted earlier than 6 months before the first day of a 
fiscal year--
            (1) reports shall be required, in accordance with the 
        provisions of section 7131(f) of title 5, United States Code 
        (as set forth in section 2), beginning with the report next due 
        under such provisions before the March 1st next occurring at 
        least 5 months after the date of the enactment of this Act; and
            (2) for purposes of any report under paragraph (1) covering 
        a fiscal year preceding the first fiscal year covered by 
        subsections (a) through (e) of section 7131 of such title 5 (as 
        amended by this Act)--
                    (A) section 7131(f) of such title (as set forth in 
                section 2) shall be treated as if in effect as of the 
                date of the enactment of this Act; and
                    (B) any reference in such section 7131(f) to ``this 
                section'' shall be treated as a reference to section 
                7131 of such title, as in effect before the effective 
                date of this Act.
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