[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 18, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3947-S3948]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FEDERAL HIRING PROCESS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2010

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 373, S. 736.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 736) to provide for improvements in the Federal 
     hiring process and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, 
which had been reported from the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, with an amendment to strike all after the 
enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Hiring Process 
     Improvement Act of 2010''.

     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 Office of 
     Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget, 
     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;
       (D) streamlining the hiring process to conform with the 
     provisions in this Act; and
       (E) a specific analysis of the contractor workforce, 
     whether the balance between work being performed by the 
     Federal workforce and the contractor workforce should be 
     adjusted, and the capacity of the agency to manage employees 
     who are not Federal employees and are doing the work of the 
     Government.
       (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 
     2010.''.
       (b) Hiring Projections.--Agencies shall make hiring 
     projections made under strategic workforce plans available to 
     the public, including on agency websites.
       (c) Submission to the Office of Personnel Management.--Each 
     agency strategic workforce plan shall be submitted to the 
     Office of Personnel Management.
       (d) Governmentwide Strategic Workforce Plan.--Based on the 
     agency plans submitted under subsection (a), the Office of 
     Personnel Management shall--
       (1) develop a governmentwide strategic workforce plan 
     updated at least annually to include the contents described 
     under subsection (a)(1) on a governmentwide basis; and
       (2) make such plan available to the President, Congress, 
     and the public.

     SEC. 4. FEDERAL JOB 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 post job announcements in 
     strategic locations convenient to, and accessible by, such 
     targeted applicant pools;
       (3) seek to develop relationships with targeted and diverse 
     applicant pools to develop regular pipelines for high-quality 
     applicants; and
       (4) post job announcements for a reasonable period of time.
       (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 job announcements for Federal 
     positions shall be in plain writing in accordance with 
     guidance provided by the Office of Management and Budget.
       (d) Contact Information.--Job announcements shall include 
     contact information for applicants to seek further 
     information.

     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 
     Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management 
     and Budget, the head of each agency shall develop processes 
     to--
       (1) ensure that job announcements are open for a reasonable 
     period of time as determined by the head of the agency to 
     allow applicants from diverse backgrounds time to submit an 
     application;
       (2) review and revise the hiring process of the agency to 
     create a streamlined and timely system for hiring decisions;
       (3) 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;
       (4) allow applicants to submit application materials in a 
     variety of formats, including word processing documents and 
     portable document format;
       (5) 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;
       (6) not require lengthy writing requirements such as 
     knowledge, skills, and ability essays as part of an initial 
     application;
       (7) 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 hiring process;
       (8) provide for a valid, job-related assessment process to 
     help identify the best candidates for the position to be 
     filled and which does not place an unreasonable burden upon 
     applicants;
       (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 hiring 
     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 each application or provide the applicant the ability to 
     check on the status of each application.
       (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 of 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, qualifications, and 
     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.

[[Page S3948]]

     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 Office of 
     Management and Budget, the head of each agency shall develop 
     a plan to reduce the length of the hiring process, which 
     shall include an analysis of the current hiring process 
     performed in accordance with standards established by the 
     Office of Personnel Management.
       (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 average period of time required to fill each 
     job, and whether such jobs 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 highly qualified talent 
     from diverse talent pools.
       (B) Use and impact of each hiring authority and flexibility 
     to recruit most qualified applicants, including the use of 
     student internships and scholarship programs as a talent pool 
     for permanent hires.
       (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.
       (H) Number of positions filled compared to the specific 
     number in the annual workforce plan of the agency, with 
     specific reference to mission-critical occupations or areas 
     of critical shortage deficiencies.
       (I) Number of offers accepted compared to the number of 
     offers made for permanent positions.
       (2) Hiring manager assessment.--
       (A) Manager satisfaction with the quality of the applicants 
     interviewed and 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.
       (E) Manager satisfaction with the length of time to fill a 
     position.
       (3) Applicant assessment.--Applicant satisfaction with the 
     hiring process (including clarity of job announcement, 
     reasons for withdrawal of any application, 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 on an annual 
     basis and in accordance with regulations prescribed under 
     subsection (c) 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 submitted under paragraph (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 not later than 
     90 days after the submission of the information under 
     paragraph (1).
       (c) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Director of 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.

  Mr. LEVIN. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported 
substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a 
third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be 
printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee amendment in the nature of a substitute was agreed to.
  The bill (S. 736), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.

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