TSA Misconduct Accountability Act of 2017

“44947. Requirements for addressing employee misconduct

“(a) In general—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) shall—

“(1) revise TSA’s employee code of conduct policy to include—

“(A) a process for disciplining an employee who, as determined by the Administrator, has received within a certain timeframe a certain number of disciplinary or adverse actions in response to violations of such policy; and

“(B) guidance on how employees should report misconduct;

“(2) identify methods for addressing employee misconduct, including revising agency-wide, baseline “table of offenses and penalties” used for both non-disciplinary and disciplinary actions regarding misconduct, including all acceptable non-disciplinary, disciplinary, and adverse actions that may be administered for misconduct;

“(3) submit to the Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department of Homeland Security such code of conduct policy and such table of offenses and penalties for review by such Officer in consideration of Department policies and regulations, in accordance with subsection (e); and

“(4) identify a senior TSA official responsible for overseeing TSA’s employee code of conduct policy and table of offenses and penalties.

“(b) Implementation—Not later than 120 days after carrying out subsection (a), the Administrator of the TSA shall instruct TSA managers how to appropriately administer discipline related to employee misconduct.

“(c) Identification—Not later than 120 days after carrying out subsection (a), the Administrator of the TSA shall identify and address causes of employee misconduct by—

“(1) monitoring misconduct trends through a quarterly review and analysis of misconduct data; and

“(2) establishing specific outcome measures to assess performance.

“(d) Initiatives—Not later than 120 days after carrying out subsection (a), the Administrator of the TSA shall, in consultation with the Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, implement human capital initiatives to address TSA employee misconduct by—

“(1) modifying the annual or periodic performance plans of Federal Security Directors to include the extent to which such Directors ensure that disciplinary actions administered at the airport for which they are responsible are consistent with TSA policy;

“(2) notifying applicants of disqualifying offenses in employment announcements for job descriptions or during the application process to ensure that appropriately qualified candidates apply and are hired for such positions; and

“(3) developing and delivering training and on-the-job resources for supervisors to address misconduct issues in accordance with TSA policy.

“(e) Chief Human Capital Officer

“(1) In general—Not later than 60 days after receipt of the TSA employee code of conduct policy and the table of offenses and penalties under subsection (a), the Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department of Homeland Security shall review such policy and such table to ensure that such policy and such table align, as appropriate, with the policies and tables developed by the Chief Human Capital Officer for the Department.

“(2) Monitoring—The Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department of Homeland Security shall, as part of existing working groups established by such Officer, monitor through fiscal year 2020 the implementation under subsection (b) of the TSA employee code of conduct.

“(f) Definitions—In this section:

“(1) Actions—The term “actions” means consequences for employee misconduct, up to and including removal from Federal service, established by TSA policy.

“(2) Misconduct—The term “misconduct” means the failure of a TSA employee to comply with a performance plan, rule, regulation, or law within the scope of such employee’s duties, responsibilities, or functions.”