Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Federal Human Capital Transparency Act”.
Federal Human Capital Transparency Act
A BILL
To amend title 5, United States Code, to require the Office of Personnel Management to annually collect data relating to the Federal workforce, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Blended Federal workforce
In general— Section 1103(c) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—
in paragraph (1)—
by striking “(c)(1)” and inserting “(c)(1)(A)”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(B)
“(i) The Office of Personnel Management shall collect from Executive agencies, other than elements of the intelligence community (as defined in section 3(4) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4))), on at least an annual basis the following:
“(I) The total number of persons employed directly by the Executive agency.
“(II) The total number of prime contractor employees and subcontractor employees, as those terms are defined in section 8701 of title 41, issued credentials allowing access to Executive agency property or computer systems.
“(III) The total number of employees of Federal grant and cooperative agreement recipients, as those legal instruments are described in sections 6304 and 6305 of title 31, respectively, who are issued credentials allowing access to Executive agency property or computer systems.
“(IV) A total count of the workforce of the Executive agency, including employees, prime contractor employees, subcontractor employees, grantee employees, and cooperative agreement employees.
“(ii) The Office of Personnel Management shall compile the data collected under clause (i) and issue, and post on its website, an annual report containing the data.”
in paragraph (2), by striking “paragraph (1)” and inserting “paragraph (1)(A)”.
Sense of Congress on effective and efficient management of the blended Federal workforce—
Definition— In this subsection, the term Executive agency has the meaning given the term in section 105 of title 5, United States Code.
Findings— Congress finds the following:
The implementation of Federal laws and the competent administration of Federal programs require skilled and capable personnel.
Executive agencies depend on a blended workforce that includes Federal employees, employees of prime contractors and subcontractors performing services to Executive agencies, and employees of State or local governments, nonprofit organizations, or institutions of higher education performing services to Executive agencies under the terms of grants and cooperative agreements (referred to in this subsection as “grantees”), all of whom make essential contributions to achieving the missions of the Federal Government in service to the people of the United States.
Approximately 2,000,000 Federal employees help to execute the laws of the United States, supplemented by an unknown number, estimated to exceed 5,000,000, of employees of prime contractors, subcontractors, and grantees providing services to Executive agencies.
Policymakers, Executive agencies, and observers have often focused on individual components of the blended workforce, such as employees, without considering all components or considering the entire blended workforce and how all 3 components can work most effectively together.
Executive agencies inhibit their own workforce planning and risk making decisions that may reduce the overall efficiency and cost effectiveness of the blended workforce by focusing on only 1 component in isolation.
Establishing artificial limits on headcounts or full-time equivalent positions for Federal employees, administrators, and managerial employees of Executive agencies may discourage the employment of interns or entry-level employees to build a balanced employment pipeline and may inadvertently encourage managers to shift work to contractors and grantees for the purpose of complying with such numerical limits, even if those decisions are not justified by an approach to improve the efficiency or cost effectiveness of the Executive agency’s work.
The Government Accountability Office has identified strategic human capital management as a high-risk area for the Federal Government, adding that critical skills gaps “impede the government from cost-effectively serving the public and achieving results”.
Sense of Congress— It is the sense of Congress that Executive agencies should—
manage the entire Federal blended workforce, including employees, contractors, and grantees, using a comprehensive and holistic approach to advance their missions as effectively and cost efficiently as possible, within appropriated budgets and without using artificial numerical limits on headcounts or full-time-equivalent positions; and
conduct a holistic review of their blended workforce and develop a comprehensive plan to ensure an efficient and cost-effective blended workforce.