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

<DOC>





                                                 Union Calendar No. 193
118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3943

                          [Report No. 118-241]

  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

                            October 2, 2023

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 9, 
                                 2023]


_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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) USERRA Purposes.--Section 4301(a)(1) of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended by striking ``encourage noncareer service in the 
uniformed services'' and inserting ``encourage service in the uniformed 
services''.
    (b) Prohibition of Retaliation.--Subsection (b) of section 4311 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting ``or other 
retaliatory action'' after ``employment action''.
    (c) Expansion of Injunctive Relief.--Subsection (e) of section 4323 
of such title 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;
            ``(B) the harm to the person outweighs the injury to the 
        employer;
            ``(C) a likelihood of success on the merits of such action; 
        and
            ``(D) awarding such relief is in the public interest.
    ``(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 or 
denial of employment at the conclusion of such action.''.
    (d) Damages Against a State or Private Employer.--Section 4323 of 
such title 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.''.
    (e) Mandatory Attorney Fees Award in Successful Actions for 
Reemployment.--
            (1) MSPB actions.--Paragraph (4) of subsection (c) of 
        section 4324 of such title is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``may, in its discretion,'' and 
                inserting ``shall''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                sentence: ``The Board may, in its discretion, award 
                reasonable attorney fees in a case settled before the 
                issuance of an order if the person can demonstrate that 
                significant attorney fees were incurred and that 
                justice requires such an award.''.
            (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--
                    (A) by striking ``subsection (a)(2)'' and inserting 
                ``subsection (a)(3)''; and
                    (B) 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''.
    (f) GAO Review and Report on USERRA.--
            (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 two years 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 employer characteristics, 
                including size and geographic region;
                    (C) an identification of the number of such actions 
                for relief that were dismissed, including the 
                characteristics of such actions and reasons for 
                dismissal;
                    (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.
    (g) GAO Review of Protections for Members of the Uniformed Services 
by Federal Intelligence Agencies.--
            (1) Briefing.--Not later than one year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
        United States shall provide to the appropriate congressional 
        committees a briefing on the processes and procedures adopted 
        and used by the intelligence community to provide the 
        protections for members of the uniformed services otherwise 
        established under chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall provide to 
        such committees a report on such processes and procedures.
            (3) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    (A) The term ``appropriate congressional 
                committees'' means the Committees on Veterans' Affairs 
                of the House of Representatives and Senate, the 
                Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House 
                of Representatives, and the Select Committee on 
                Intelligence of the Senate.
                    (B) The term ``intelligence community'' has the 
                meaning given such term in section 3(4) of the National 
                Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)).

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 once every two years thereafter for the 
period of five years beginning on such date, 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 the entire such manual which--
                    (A) shall be provided to the Chairman and Ranking 
                Member of each such committee; and
                    (B) may contain a separate addendum for portions of 
                the manual that contain law enforcement sensitive 
                materials.
                                                 Union Calendar No. 193

118th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 3943

                          [Report No. 118-241]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                            October 2, 2023

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed