[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 736 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 736

  To provide for improvements in the Federal hiring process, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 30, 2009

  Mr. Akaka (for himself and Mr. Voinovich) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for improvements in the Federal hiring process, 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 ``Federal Hiring Process Improvement 
Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION.

    In this Act, the term ``agency''--
            (1) means an Executive agency as defined under section 105 
        of title 5, United States Code; and
            (2) shall not include the Government Accountability Office.

SEC. 3. STRATEGIC WORKFORCE PLAN.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Development of plan.--Not later than 180 days after the 
        date of enactment of this Act and in every subsequent year, the 
        head of each agency, in consultation with the Chief Human 
        Capital Officers Council, shall develop a strategic workforce 
        plan as part of the agency performance plan required under 
        section 1115 of title 31, United States Code, to include--
                    (A) hiring projections, including occupation and 
                grade level;
                    (B) long-term and short-term strategic human 
                capital planning to address critical skills 
                deficiencies;
                    (C) recruitment strategies to attract highly 
                qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds; and
                    (D) streamlining the hiring process to conform with 
                the provisions in this Act.
            (2) Inclusion in performance plan.--Section 1115(a) of 
        title 31, United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ``and'' after the 
                semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) include the strategic workforce plan developed under 
        section 3 of the Federal Hiring Process Improvement Act of 
        2009.''.
    (b) Hiring Projections.--Agencies shall make hiring projections 
made under strategic workforce plans available to the public.
    (c) Submission to the Office of Personnel Management.--Each agency 
strategic workforce plan shall be submitted to the Office of Personnel 
Management.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL JOB VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENTS.

    (a) Targeted Announcements.--In consultation with the Chief Human 
Capital Officers Council, the head of each agency shall--
            (1) take steps necessary to target highly qualified 
        applicant pools with diverse backgrounds before posting job 
        announcements;
            (2) clearly and prominently display job announcements in 
        strategic locations convenient to such targeted applicant 
        pools; and
            (3) seek to develop relationships with targeted applicant 
        pools to develop regular pipelines for high-quality applicants.
    (b) Public Notice Requirements.--The requirements of subsection (a) 
shall not supersede public notice requirements.
    (c) Plain Writing Requirement.--
            (1) Definition.--In this subsection, the term ``plain 
        writing'' means writing that the intended audience can readily 
        understand and use because that writing is clear, concise, 
        well-organized, and follows other best practices of plain 
        writing.
            (2) Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, all Federal job announcements for 
        competitive positions shall be written in plain writing.

SEC. 5. APPLICATION PROCESS AND NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Application Process.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act and in consultation with the Chief Human Capital 
Officers Council, the head of each agency shall develop processes to--
            (1) ensure that vacancy announcements are open for a 
        reasonable period of time as determined by the head of the 
        agency to allow targeted, highly qualified applicants from 
        diverse backgrounds time to submit an application;
            (2) ensure that vacancy announcements include contact 
        information for applicants who seek further information about 
        the announcement;
            (3) review and revise the hiring process of the agency to 
        create a streamlined and timely system for hiring decisions;
            (4) allow applicants to submit a cover letter, resume, and 
        answers to brief questions, such as questions relating to 
        United States citizenship and veterans status, to complete an 
        application;
            (5) allow applicants to submit application materials in a 
        variety of formats, including word processing documents and 
        portable document format;
            (6) not require any applicant to provide a Social Security 
        number or any other personal identifying information 
        unnecessary for the initial review of an applicant for a 
        position;
            (7) not require lengthy writing requirements such as 
        knowledge, skills, and ability essays as part of an initial 
        application;
            (8) not require the submission of additional material in 
        support of an application, such as educational transcript, 
        proof of veterans status, and professional certifications, 
        unless necessary to complete the application process;
            (9) ensure that applicants are given a reasonable amount of 
        time after the closing date of the job announcement to provide 
        additional necessary information; and
            (10) include the hiring manager in all parts of the 
        application process, including--
                    (A) targeted recruitment;
                    (B) drafting the job announcement;
                    (C) review of the initial applications;
                    (D) interviewing the applicants; and
                    (E) the final decisionmaking process.
    (b) Notification Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--In consultation with the Chief Human 
        Capital Officers Council, the head of each agency shall develop 
        mechanisms under which each applicant for a Federal job vacancy 
        shall receive timely notification of the status of their 
        applications or provide the applicant the ability to check on 
        the status of their applications.
            (2) Contents of notification.--A notification to an 
        applicant under this subsection shall include--
                    (A) notice of receipt of an application not later 
                than 5 business days after the application was received 
                by the employing agency;
                    (B) an explanation of the hiring process and an 
                estimated timeline of the next actions in the process;
                    (C) notice the qualification and status of an 
                applicant after all applications for the applicable 
                position have been initially reviewed and ranked;
                    (D) notice of the qualifications and status of the 
                applicant after all interviews for the applicable 
                position are completed;
                    (E) for all applicants selected for an interview, 
                notice of the ongoing process if selected, including 
                the process for any needed security clearance or 
                suitability review, not later than the date of the 
                interview; and
                    (F) notice to nonaccepted applicants that the 
                applicable position is not open not later than 10 
                business days after the date on which--
                            (i) the selected candidate has accepted an 
                        offer of employment; or
                            (ii) the job announcement has been 
                        cancelled.

SEC. 6. APPLICANT INVENTORY.

    (a) In General.--Section 3330 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as subsections 
        (f) and (g), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e)(1) The Office of Personnel Management shall establish and 
keep current a comprehensive inventory of individuals seeking 
employment in the Federal Government.
    ``(2) The inventory under this subsection shall--
            ``(A) be made available to agencies for use in filling 
        vacancies;
            ``(B) contain information voluntarily provided by 
        applicants for employment, including--
                    ``(i) the resume and contact information provided 
                by the applicant; and
                    ``(ii) any other information which the Office 
                considers appropriate;
            ``(C) retain information for no longer than 1 calendar 
        year;
            ``(D) not include information relating to--
                    ``(i) the application of the applicant for a 
                specific vacancy announcement; or
                    ``(ii) any other information relating to vacancy 
                announcements; and
            ``(E) shall provide for a mechanism to allow--
                    ``(i) applicants to update resume contact 
                information; and
                    ``(ii) agency officials to search information in 
                the inventory by agency and job classification.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 7. TRAINING.

    Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act--
            (1) in consultation with the Chief Human Capital Officers 
        Council, the Office of Personnel Management shall develop and 
        notify agencies of a training program for human resources 
        professionals to implement the requirements of this Act; and
            (2) each agency shall develop and submit to the Office of 
        Personnel Management a plan to implement the training program.

SEC. 8. REDUCTION IN THE LENGTH OF THE HIRING PROCESS.

    (a) Agency Plans.--In consultation with the Chief Human Capital 
Officers Council, the head of each agency shall develop a plan to 
reduce the length of the hiring process.
    (b) Requirements.--To the extent practical, the plan shall require 
that each agency fill identified vacancies not later than an average of 
80 calendar days after the date of identification of the vacancy.
    (c) Reports.--Each agency shall submit an annual report to Congress 
on the period of time required to fill each vacancy, and whether 
vacancies are cancelled or reopened.

SEC. 9. MEASURES OF FEDERAL HIRING EFFECTIVENESS.

    (a) In General.--Each agency shall measure and collect information 
on indicators of hiring effectiveness with respect to the following:
            (1) Recruiting and hiring.--
                    (A) Ability to reach and recruit well-qualified 
                talent from diverse talent pools.
                    (B) Use and impact of special hiring authorities 
                and flexibilities to recruit most qualified applicants.
                    (C) Use and impact of special hiring authorities 
                and flexibilities to recruit diverse candidates, 
                including veteran, minority, and disabled candidates.
                    (D) The age, educational level, and source of 
                applicants.
                    (E) Length of time between the time a position is 
                advertised and the time a first offer of employment is 
                made.
                    (F) Length of time between the time a first offer 
                of employment for a position is made and the time a new 
                hire starts in that position.
                    (G) Number of internal and external applicants for 
                Federal positions.
            (2) Hiring manager assessment.--
                    (A) Manager satisfaction with the quality of new 
                hires.
                    (B) Manager satisfaction with the match between the 
                skills of newly hired individuals and the needs of the 
                agency.
                    (C) Manager satisfaction with the hiring process 
                and hiring outcomes.
                    (D) Mission-critical deficiencies closed by new 
                hires and the connection between mission-critical 
                deficiencies and annual agency performance.
            (3) Applicant assessment.--Applicant satisfaction with the 
        hiring process (including clarity of job announcement, reasons 
        for withdrawal of application should that apply, user-
        friendliness of the application process, communication 
        regarding status of application, and timeliness of hiring 
        decision).
            (4) New hire assessment.--
                    (A) New hire satisfaction with the hiring process 
                (including clarity of job announcement, user-
                friendliness of the application process, communication 
                regarding status of application, and timeliness of 
                hiring decision).
                    (B) Satisfaction with the onboarding experience 
                (including timeliness of onboarding after the hiring 
                decision, welcoming and orientation processes, and 
                being provided with timely and useful new employee 
                information and assistance).
                    (C) New hire attrition.
                    (D) Investment in training and development for 
                employees during their first year of employment.
                    (E) Other indicators and measures as required by 
                the Office of Personnel Management.
    (b) Reports.--
            (1) In general.--Each agency shall submit an annual report 
        of the information collected under subsection (a) to the Office 
        of Personnel Management.
            (2) Availability of recruiting and hiring information.--
        Each year the Office of Personnel Management shall provide the 
        information under subsection (c)(1) in a consistent format to 
        allow for a comparison of hiring effectiveness and experience 
        across demographic groups and agencies to--
                    (A) Congress before that information is made 
                publicly available; and
                    (B) the public on the website of the Office.
    (c) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days of the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe 
regulations directing the methodology, timing, and reporting of the 
data described in subsection (a).

SEC. 10. REGULATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided under section 9(c), not later 
than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of 
the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe regulations as 
necessary to carry out this Act.
    (b) Consultation.--The Director of the Office of Personnel 
Management shall consult the Chief Human Capital Officers Council in 
the development of regulations under this section.

SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary for the Office of Personnel Management to carry out this Act 
for fiscal year 2009 and for each subsequent fiscal year.
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