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Title II — Improving Operations of Office of Congressional Workplace Rights

S. 2952 · 115th Congress · May 24, 2018 · Lineage

II Improving Operations of Office of Congressional Workplace Rights

Sec. 201 Reports on awards and settlements

(a)
Annual reports on 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) Annual reports on awards and settlements

“(1) In general—Not later than 45 days after the beginning of each calendar year, the Office shall submit to Congress and publish on the Office’s public website a report listing each award that is the result of a violation of part A of title II or settlement that is attributable to a finding described in section 415(d)(1)(B) and that was paid during the previous calendar year from the account described in section 415(a). The report shall include information on the employing office involved, the amount of the award or settlement, the provision that was the subject of the claim, and (in the case of an award or settlement resulting from a finding described in section 415(d)(1)(B)), whether the Member or former Member is in compliance with the requirement of section 415(d) to reimburse the account for the reimbursable portion 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) Recordkeeping—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 section 207 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1317) 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 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), (C), and (E) of section 101(9), regarding the workplace environment of such office. The Office shall make the survey available (which may include making the survey available electronically) to all such employees. Employee responses to the survey shall be voluntary.

“(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.

“(3) Survey form—The Office shall not include any code or information on the survey form that makes a respondent to the survey, or the respondent's employing office, individually identifiable.

“(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.”

(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. 203 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—Not later than 180 days following the date of enactment of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 Reform Act, the Office, in consultation with the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, shall create a program to be enforced by the Office for the proper and timely disposition of confidential documents and data created or obtained by mediators or hearing officers in connection with their service in confidential proceedings under this Act.”

Sec. 204 Confidential Advisor

Section 302 (2 U.S.C. 1382) is amended—
(1)
by redesignating subsections (d) through (f) as subsections (e) through (g), respectively; and
(2)
by inserting after subsection (c) the following:

“(d) Confidential advisor

“(1) In general—The Executive Director shall—

“(A) appoint, and fix the compensation of, and may remove, a Confidential Advisor; or

“(B) designate an employee of the Office to serve as a Confidential Advisor.

“(2) Duties

“(A) Voluntary services—The Confidential Advisor shall offer to provide to covered employees described in paragraph (4) the services described in subparagraph (B), which a covered employee may accept or decline.

“(B) Services—The services referred to in subparagraph (A) are—

“(i) informing, on a privileged and confidential basis, a covered employee who has experienced a practice that may be a violation of part A of title II about the employee's rights under this Act;

“(ii) consulting, on a privileged and confidential basis, with a covered employee who has experienced a practice that may be a violation of part A of title II regarding—

“(I) the roles, responsibilities, and authority of the Office; and

“(II) the relative merits of securing private counsel, designating a non-attorney representative, or proceeding without representation during proceedings before the Office;

“(iii) assisting, on a privileged and confidential basis, a covered employee who seeks consideration under title IV of an allegation of a violation of part A of title II in understanding the procedures, and the significance of the procedures, described in that title IV; and

“(iv) informing, on a privileged and confidential basis, a covered employee who has experienced a practice that may be a violation of part A of title II about the option of pursuing, in appropriate circumstances, a complaint with the Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives or the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate.

“(3) Qualifications—The Confidential Advisor shall be a lawyer who—

“(A) is admitted to practice before, and is in good standing with, the bar of a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, or a territory of the United States; and

“(B) has experience representing clients in cases involving the workplace laws incorporated by part A of title II.

“(4) Individuals covered—The services described in paragraph (2) are available to any covered employee (which, for purposes of this subsection, shall include any staff member described in section 201(d) and any former covered employee (including any former staff member described in that section)), except that—

“(A) a former covered employee may only request such services if the practice that may be a violation of part A of title II occurred during the employment or service of the employee; and

“(B) a covered employee described in this paragraph may only request such services before the expiration of the 180-day period described in section 402(e).

“(5) Restrictions—The Confidential Advisor—

“(A) shall not provide legal advice to, or act as the designated representative for, any covered employee in connection with the covered employee’s participation in any proceeding, including any proceeding under this Act, any judicial proceeding, or any proceeding before any committee of Congress; and

“(B) shall not serve as a mediator in any mediation conducted pursuant to section 403.”

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.