US Codex
Pub. L.
Notes

Title II — Improving Operations of Office of Congressional Workplace Rights

115th Congress · Approved Dec 21, 2018 · 132 Stat. 5297 · Lineage

TITLE 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.—Subject to the rules issued by the applicable committee pursuant to paragraph (2):

“(A) Requirement.—The Office shall prepare and submit to Congress, and publish on the public website of the Office, an annual report regarding payments from the account described in section 415(a) that were the result of claims alleging a violation of part A of title II (referred to in this subsection as ‘covered payments’).

“(B) Reporting.—The reporting required under this paragraph shall—

“(i) for a covered payment, or the reimbursable portion of a covered payment, described in paragraph (2), conform to the requirements of the rules issued by the applicable committee under such paragraph; and

“(ii) for a covered payment, or the portion of a covered payment, not described in paragraph (2)—

“(I) include the amount of the covered payment or portion of the covered payment and information on the employing office involved; and

“(II) identify each provision of part A of title II that was the subject of a claim resulting in the covered payment or portion of the covered payment.

“(C) Reporting periods and dates.—The reporting required under this paragraph—

“(i) for 2019, shall be submitted by the 60th day after the date on which the committees described in paragraph (2) issue the rules described in paragraph (2) and shall reflect covered payments made in calendar year 2019; and

“(ii) for 2020 and each subsequent calendar year, shall be submitted by January 31 of that year and shall reflect covered payments made in the previous calendar year.

“(2) Rules regarding reporting of covered payments for employing offices of the house and employing offices of the senate.—

“(A) In general.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate shall each issue rules establishing the content, format, and other requirements for the reporting required under paragraph (1)(B)(i) with respect to—

“(i) any covered payment made for claims involving an employing office described in any of subparagraphs (A) through (C) of section 101(a)(9) of the House of Representatives or of the Senate, respectively; and

“(ii) the reimbursable portion of any such covered payment for which there is a finding requiring reimbursement under section 415(d)(1)(B) from a Member of the House of Representatives (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress) or a Senator, respectively.

“(B) Applicability.—The rules issued under subparagraph (A)—

“(i) by the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives shall apply to covered payments made for claims involving employing offices described in subparagraph (A)(i) of the House; and

“(ii) by the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate shall apply to covered payments made for claims involving employing offices described in subparagraph (A)(i) of the Senate.

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

“(4) Authority to protect the identity of a claimant.—

“(A) In general.—In carrying out paragraph (3), the Executive Director, in consultation with the Board, may make an appropriate redaction to the data included in the report described in paragraph (1) if the Executive Director, in consultation with the Board, 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 paragraph (1), without redactions.

“(5) 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, under part A of title II.”

(2)
Effective date.— The amendment made by paragraph (1)(B) shall take effect on January 1, 2019.
(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 (to include funds paid from the account described in section 415(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1415(a)), an account of the House of Representatives or Senate, or any other account of the Federal Government) 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.
(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.
(c)
Rulemaking Powers.— Section 501 (2 U.S.C. 1431) is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by inserting “ , section 301(l),” before “ and 304(c)”.

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:

“SEC. 307. WORKPLACE CLIMATE SURVEYS OF EMPLOYING OFFICES.

“(a) Requirement to Conduct Secure 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 secure survey of employing offices under this Act regarding the workplace environment of such offices. Employee responses to the survey shall be voluntary.

“(b) Special Inclusion of Information on Sexual Harassment.—In each survey conducted under this section, the Office shall survey respondents on attitudes regarding sexual harassment.

“(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 limit the use of any information 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 Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and 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 Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and 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. 307. Workplace climate surveys of employing offices.”.

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.—The Office shall establish and maintain a program for the permanent retention of its records, including the records of preliminary reviews, mediations, hearings, and other proceedings conducted under title IV.”

SEC. 204. Confidential Advisors.

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 Advisors.—

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

“(A) appoint, and fix the compensation of, and may remove, 1 or more confidential advisors to carry out the duties described in this subsection; or

“(B) designate 1 or more employees of the Office to serve as a confidential advisor.

“(2) Duties.—

“(A) Voluntary services.—A confidential advisor appointed or designated under paragraph (1) 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 been subject to 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 been subject to 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 for proceedings before the Office;

“(iii) advising and consulting with, on a privileged and confidential basis, a covered employee who has been subject to a practice that may be a violation of part A of title II regarding any claims the covered employee may have under title IV, the factual allegations that support each such claim, and the relative merits of the procedural options available to the employee for each such claim;

“(iv) 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 title IV, including—

“(I) assisting or consulting with the covered employee regarding the drafting of a claim to be filed under section 402(a); and

“(II) consulting with the covered employee regarding the procedural options available to the covered employee after a claim is filed, and the relative merits of each option; and

“(v) informing, on a privileged and confidential basis, a covered employee who has been subject to 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.

“(C) Continuity of service.—Once a covered employee has accepted and received any services offered under this section from a confidential advisor appointed or designated under paragraph (1), any other services requested under this subsection by the covered employee shall be provided, to the extent practicable, by the same confidential advisor.

“(3) Qualifications.—A confidential advisor appointed or designated under paragraph (1) 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 such former staff member)), 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(d).

“(5) Restrictions.—A confidential advisor appointed or designated under paragraph (1)—

“(A) shall not 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;

“(B) shall not offer or provide services described in paragraph (2)(B) to a covered employee if the covered employee has designated an attorney representative in connection with the covered employee’s participation in any proceeding under this Act, except that a confidential advisor may provide general assistance and information to such attorney representative regarding this Act and the role of the Office as the confidential advisor determines appropriate; and

“(C) shall not serve as a mediator in any mediation conducted pursuant to section 404.”

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.