Title II — Improving Operations of Office of Congressional Workplace Rights

S. 2872 · 115th Congress · May 21, 2018 · Lineage

II Improving Operations of Office of Congressional Workplace Rights

Sec. 201 Reports on claims, awards, and settlements

(a)

Semiannual reports on claims, awards, and settlements—

(1)

Requiring submission and publication of reports— Section 301 (2 U.S.C. 1381) is amended—

(A)

in subsection (h)(3), by striking “complaint” each place it appears and inserting “claim”; and

(B)

by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(l) Semiannual reports on claims, awards, and settlements

“(1) In general—Not later than 45 days after the first 6-month period of each calendar year, and not later than 45 days after the next 6-month period of each calendar year, the Office shall submit to Congress and publish on the Office’s public website a report listing each award or settlement which was paid during the previous 2 6-month periods from the account described in section 415(a) as the result of a claim alleging a violation of part A of title II, including the employing office involved, the amount of the award or settlement, the provision of part A of title II which was the subject of the claim, and (in the case of an award or settlement resulting from covered discrimination or covered harassment committed personally by a Member of Congress, as defined in section 415(e)(4)), whether the Member or former Member is in compliance with the requirement of section 415(e) to reimburse the account for the amount of the award or settlement.

“(2) Protection of identity of individuals receiving awards and settlements—In preparing and submitting the reports required under paragraph (1), the Office shall ensure that the identity or position of any claimant is not disclosed.

“(3) Authority to protect the identity of a claimant

“(A) In general—In carrying out paragraph (2), the Executive Director may make an appropriate redaction to the data included in the report described in paragraph (1) if the Executive Director determines that including the data considered for redaction may lead to the identity or position of a claimant unintentionally being disclosed. The report shall note each redaction and include a statement that the redaction was made solely for the purpose of avoiding such an unintentional disclosure of the identity or position of a claimant.

“(B) Record-keeping—the Executive Director shall retain a copy of the report described in subparagraph (A), without redactions.

“(4) Definition—In this subsection, the term claimant means an individual who received an award or settlement, or who made an allegation of a violation against an employing office.”

(2)

Effective date— The amendments made by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to 2018 and each succeeding year.

(b)

Report on amounts previously paid—

(1)

In general— Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights shall submit to Congress and make available to the public on the Office’s public website a report on all payments made with public funds prior to the date of the enactment of this Act for awards and settlements in connection with violations of section 201(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1311(a)), or related retaliation, as defined in section 101 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1301), and shall include in the report the following information:

(A)

The amount paid for each such award or settlement.

(B)

The source of the public funds used for the award or settlement, without regard to whether the funds were paid from the account described in section 415(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1415(a)), an account of the House of Representatives or Senate, or any other account of the Federal Government.

(2)

Rule of construction regarding identification of House and Senate accounts— Nothing in paragraph (1)(B) may be construed to require or permit the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to report the account of any specific office of the House of Representatives or Senate as the source of funds used for an award or settlement.

Sec. 202 Record retention

Section 301 (2 U.S.C. 1381), as amended by section 201(a), is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(m) Record retention—The Office shall establish and maintain a program for the permanent retention of its records, including the redacted and unredacted records described in section 301(l)(3) and the records of investigations, mediations, hearings, and other proceedings conducted under this Act.”

Sec. 203 Workplace climate surveys of employing offices

(a)

Requiring surveys— Title III (2 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

“307. Workplace climate surveys of employing offices

“(a) Requirement to conduct surveys—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, and every 2 years thereafter, the Office shall conduct a survey of employees of employing offices described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of section 101(9), regarding the workplace environment of such office.

“(b) Special inclusion of information on sexual harassment and discrimination—In each survey conducted under this section, the Office shall survey respondents on attitudes regarding sexual harassment and discrimination.

“(c) Methodology

“(1) In general—The Office shall conduct each survey under this section in accordance with methodologies established by the Office.

“(2) Confidentiality—Under the methodologies established under paragraph (1), all responses to all portions of the survey shall be anonymous and confidential, and each respondent shall be told throughout the survey that all responses shall be anonymous and confidential.

“(d) Use of results of surveys—The Office shall furnish the information obtained from the surveys conducted under this section to the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Committee on Rules and Administration, of the Senate.

“(e) Consultation with Committees—The Office shall carry out this section, including establishment of methodologies and procedures under subsection (c), in consultation with the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Committee on Rules and Administration, of the Senate.

“(f) Inclusion of Library of Congress—For purposes of this section, the Library of Congress shall be considered an employing office subject to subsection (a).”

(b)

Clerical amendment— The table of contents is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to title III the following new item:

Sec. 204 Office of Employee Advocacy

(a)

Establishment— There is established in the Office of the Secretary of the Senate the Office of Employee Advocacy (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Office”).

(b)

Covered employee of the Senate— In this section, the term covered employee of the Senate—

(1)

means a covered employee (as defined in section 101 of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301)) who is an employee of the Senate (as defined in such section); and

(2)

includes a staff member described in section 201(d)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1311(d)(1)), as amended by section 303(a), of an employing office of the Senate (including a former staff member described in such section 201(d)(1) who was such a staff member at the time of the alleged violation).

(c)

Functions—

(1)

Legal assistance, consultation, and representation— Subject to subsection (d), the Office shall carry out the following functions:

(A)

Providing legal assistance and consultation to covered employees of the Senate regarding the procedures of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) and the procedures applicable to civil actions arising under such Act, including—

(i)

the roles and responsibilities of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, the Office of the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment, and similar authorities;

(ii)

any proceedings conducted under such Act;

(iii)

the authority of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to compel cooperation and testimony under investigations and proceedings conducted under title IV of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.); and

(iv)

the employee’s duties relating to such proceedings, including the responsibility to testify.

(B)

Providing legal assistance and representation—

(i)

in personal civil legal matters related to a covered employee of the Senate's initiation of, or participation in, proceedings under title IV of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.) (other than a civil action filed under section 408 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1408)); and

(ii)

in any proceedings of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate, or any other administrative or judicial body related to the alleged violations of such Act which are the subject of the proceedings initiated by the covered employee of the Senate, or the proceedings in which the covered employee of the Senate participates, under title IV of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.).

(C)

Operating a hotline through which covered employees of the Senate may contact the Office.

(2)

Authority to provide assistance in any jurisdiction— Notwithstanding any law regarding the licensure of attorneys, an attorney who is employed by the Office and is authorized to provide legal assistance and representation under this section is authorized to provide that assistance and representation in any jurisdiction, subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by the Office.

(3)

Nature of relationship— The relationship between the Office and an employee to whom the Office provides legal assistance, consultation, and representation under this section shall be the relationship between an attorney and client.

(4)

Prohibiting acceptance of award of attorney fees or other costs— The Office may not accept any award of attorney fees or other litigation expenses and costs under any hearing or civil action brought under the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.).

(5)

Prohibiting assistance in other matters or proceedings— The Office may not provide any legal assistance, consultation, or representation with respect to any matter or proceeding which does not arise under the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.).

(d)

Prohibiting provision of assistance upon filing of civil action— If a covered employee of the Senate files a civil action with respect to an alleged violation of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.), as provided in section 408 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1408), the Office may not provide assistance under this section to the covered employee with respect to investigations or proceedings under such Act in connection with such alleged violation at any time after the employee files such action.

(e)

Director—

(1)

Appointment— The Office shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Senate.

(2)

Qualifications; nonpartisanship of position— The individual appointed as Director shall be a lawyer who is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and who has experience in representing employees in workplace discrimination cases.

(3)

Compensation— The Director shall be paid at an annual rate established by the Secretary of the Senate.

(4)

Removal— The Director may be removed by the Secretary of the Senate only for cause.

(f)

Other personnel— Subject to regulations of the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate and with the approval of the Secretary of the Senate, the Director may appoint and fix the compensation of such additional personnel as the Director determines to be necessary to carry out the functions of the Office.

(g)

Nonpartisanship of positions— The Director and the other personnel of the Office shall be appointed without regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of fitness to perform the duties of the position.

(h)

Exercise of rulemaking powers— Congress adopts the provisions of this section—

(1)

as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate, and as such they shall be considered as part of the rules of the Senate and such rules shall supersede other rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent with such other rules; and

(2)

with full recognition of the constitutional right of the Senate to change those rules at any time, in any manner, and to the same extent as is the case of any other rule of the Senate.

Sec. 205 GAO study of management practices

(a)

Study— The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study of the management practices of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights.

(b)

Report to Congress— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on the study conducted under subsection (a), and shall include in the report such recommendations as the Comptroller General considers appropriate for improvements to the management practices of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights.

Sec. 206 GAO audit of cybersecurity

(a)

Audit— The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct an audit of the cybersecurity systems and practices of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights.

(b)

Report to Congress— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on the audit conducted under subsection (a), and shall include in the report such recommendations as the Comptroller General considers appropriate for improvements to the cybersecurity systems and practices of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights.