[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3943 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3943

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the reemployment 
     rights of members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 9, 2023

Mr. C. Scott Franklin of Florida (for himself and Mr. Bost) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the reemployment 
     rights of members of the Armed Forces, 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 ``Servicemember Employment Protection 
Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 
              FORCES.

    (a) Expansion of Injunctive Relief.--Subsection (e) of section 4323 
of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The court shall use'' and inserting ``(1) 
        The court shall use''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
    ``(2) A person bringing an action to enforce a provision of this 
chapter pursuant to subsection (a) shall be entitled to an injunction 
under paragraph (1) if such person demonstrates--
    ``(A) a violation--
            ``(i) of the provisions of this chapter; or
            ``(ii) of the provisions of this chapter is threatened or 
        is imminent; and
    ``(B) a likelihood of success on the merits of such action.
    ``(3) The court may not deny a motion for injunctive relief on the 
basis that a party bringing an action to enforce a provision of this 
chapter may be awarded wages unearned due to an unlawful termination of 
employment at the conclusion of such action.''.
    (b) Expansion of Liquidated Damages.--
            (1) Damages against a state or private employer.--Such 
        section is further amended in paragraph (1) of subsection (d), 
        by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the following new 
        subparagraphs:
            ``(C) The court may require the employer to pay the person 
        the amount referred to in subparagraph (B) and interest on such 
        amount, calculated at a rate of 3 percent per year.
            ``(D) The court may require the employer to pay the person 
        the greater of $50,000 or the amount equal to the amounts 
        referred to in subparagraphs (B) and (C) as liquidated damages, 
        if the court determines that the employer knowingly failed to 
        comply with the provisions of this chapter.''.
            (2) Damages against federal executive agencies.--Subsection 
        (c) of section 4324 of such title is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 
                paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following 
                new paragraph:
    ``(3) If the Board determines that a Federal executive agency or 
the Office of Personnel Management has violated the requirement under 
subsection (a) of section 4334 of this title, such violation shall 
constitute prima facie evidence that such Federal executive agency or 
the Office of Personnel Management knowingly failed to comply with the 
provisions of this chapter.''.
    (c) Mandatory Attorney Fees Award in Successful Actions for 
Reemployment.--
            (1) MSPB actions.--Paragraph (5) of subsection (c) of such 
        section (as redesignated by subsection (b)(2)) is amended by 
        striking ``the Board may, in its discretion, award such person 
        reasonable attorney fees'' and inserting ``the Board shall 
        award such person reasonable attorney fees''.
            (2) Federal circuit actions.--Subsection (d) of such 
        section is amended by adding at the end the following new 
        paragraph:
    ``(3) In such Federal Circuit proceeding, the court shall award 
such person reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees, and other 
litigation expenses if such person--
            ``(A) prevails in such Federal Circuit proceeding; and
            ``(B) is not represented by the Special Counsel in such 
        Federal Circuit proceeding.''.
            (3) Actions against a state or private employer.--Paragraph 
        (2) of section 4323(h) of such title is amended by striking 
        ``the court may award any such person who prevails in such 
        action or proceeding reasonable attorney fees'' and inserting 
        ``the court shall award any such person who prevails in such 
        action or proceeding reasonable attorney fees''.
    (d) Repeal of Immunity for Certain Federal Intelligence Agencies.--
            (1) USERRA immunity repealed.--Sections 4315 and 4325 of 
        such title are repealed.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 4313(a) of such title is 
        amended by striking ``sections 4314 and 4315'' and inserting 
        ``section 4314''.
    (e) Maintenance of Performance Review Ratings.--Section 4312 of 
such title is amended--
            (1) by resdesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 
        subsections (h) and (i); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(g) On any performance review that an employer administers while 
an employee is absent from a position of employment by reason of 
service in the uniformed services, such employer shall give such 
employee a performance score that is equal to the average of the sum of 
each performance score such employee received on any performance review 
such employer administered during the period beginning on the date that 
is three years before the date the absence of such employee began and 
ending on the date the absence of such employee began.''.
    (f) Expansion of Eligible Time Away From Civilian Employment.--
Section 4303(13) of such title is amended by inserting ``, a period for 
which a person is absent from a position of employment for the purpose 
of medical or dental treatment for a condition, illness, or injury 
sustained or aggravated during any such duty'' after ``any such duty''.
    (g) Limitation on USERRA Purposes.--Section 4301(a)(1) of such 
title is amended by striking ``encourage noncareer service in the 
uniformed services'' and inserting ``encourage service in the uniformed 
services''.
    (h) Review and Report.--
            (1) Review.--The Comptroller General of the United States 
        shall review the methods through which the Secretary of Labor, 
        acting through the Veterans' Employment and Training Service, 
        processes actions for relief under chapter 43 of title 38, 
        United States Code.
            (2) Elements.--Not later than one year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit 
        to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives and the Senate a report that includes--
                    (A) the findings of the review required under 
                paragraph (1);
                    (B) an identification of the number of actions for 
                relief under chapter 43 of title 38, United States 
                Code, initiated during the period covered by the 
                report, disaggregated by size of employer and 
                geographic region;
                    (C) an identification of the number of such actions 
                for relief that were erroneously dismissed, as 
                determined by the Comptroller General;
                    (D) an identification of the number of such actions 
                for relief that were referred to the Department of 
                Justice; and
                    (E) an assessment of trends, if any, in such 
                actions for relief initiated during such period.

SEC. 3. REVIEW OF INVESTIGATIONS MANUAL OF VETERANS' EMPLOYMENT AND 
              TRAINING SERVICE.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and biennially thereafter, the Secretary of 
Labor, shall review the manual of the Department of Labor titled 
``Veterans' Employment and Training Service Investigations Manual: 
USERRA, VEOA, and VP'' (or a successor manual) and make such revisions 
to such manual as the Secretary determines appropriate.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after any date on which the 
Secretary completes a review required under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the 
House of Representatives and the Senate--
            (1) a report that includes a description of any revision to 
        such manual made pursuant to such review; and
            (2) a copy of such manual, in unredacted form.
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