Sec. 1111. Paid time off incentive for new hires in difficult-to-fill positions
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Subchapter II of chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: This section may be applied to an employee as defined in section 6301. An incentive may not be granted under this section to an individual who is appointed to— a position to which an individual is appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; a position in the Senior Executive Service as a noncareer appointee (as such term is defined under section 3132(a)); a position which has been excepted from the competitive service by reason of its confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character; or any other position that is determined to be political in character under regulations prescribed by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.
The head of an agency may grant time off, without loss of pay or charge to leave, as an incentive under this section, to an individual only if— the position to which such individual is appointed is likely to be difficult to fill in the absence of such an incentive or such an incentive in combination with an incentive under section 5753; and the individual is newly appointed as an employee. Grant of an incentive under this section shall be contingent upon the employee entering into a written service agreement to complete a period of employment with the agency, not longer than 4 years.
The Director of the Office of Personnel Management may, by regulation, prescribe a minimum service period for the purposes of this section. The agreement shall include— the commencement and termination dates of the required service period (or provisions for the determination thereof); the number of hours of time off; and other terms and conditions under which the time off incentive is granted, subject to the requirements of this section and regulations prescribed by the Director.
The terms and conditions for granting the incentive, as specified in the service agreement, shall include— the conditions under which the agreement may be terminated before the agreed-upon service period has been completed; and the effect of the termination. The required service period shall commence upon the commencement of service with the agency unless the service agreement provides for a later commencement date in circumstances and to the extent allowable under regulations prescribed by the Director, such as when there is an initial period of formal basic training.
If an employee fails to complete the terms and conditions of the agreement and is required to repay all or a portion of the value of the paid time off incentive granted and used, repayment shall be accomplished to the extent possible by applying the employee's positive balance of annual leave, time-off awards, credit hours under section 6122, or compensatory time off under section 5543 or 5550b to offset the debt of hours. Any remaining debt of hours shall be converted to a monetary debt.
The time off incentive granted under this section may not exceed 80 hours of paid time off from duty. An employee may be granted both a time off incentive under this section and a recruitment bonus under section 5753 in connection with a new appointment. An employee may not receive payment for unused hours of a time off incentive under this section under any circumstance. Entitlement to any unused time off under this section shall be permanently forfeited when an employee separates from Federal service, transfers to another agency, or, to the extent addressed in the service agreement, moves to a different position in the same agency.
The head of an agency shall establish a plan for the use of any time off incentives before granting any such incentives, subject to regulations prescribed by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. The head of an agency shall report on the granting and use of time off incentives as required by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management may prescribe regulations to carry out this section. . The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 6329 the following new item: 6329a.
Paid time off for new appointee. . The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.