Sec. 3. Defining the term “examination” for purposes of hiring in the competitive service
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Section 3304 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— by redesignating subsections
(c)through
(f)as subsections
(d)through (g), respectively; and by inserting after subsection
(b)the following: In this chapter, the term examination — means an opportunity to directly demonstrate knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies, through a passing score assessment; includes a résumé review that is— conducted by a subject matter expert; and based upon indicators that— are derived from a job analysis; and bear a rational relationship to performance in the position for which the examining agency is hiring; and on and after the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of the Chance to Compete Act of 2023 does not include a self-assessment from an automated examination, a résumé review (except as provided in subclause (II)), or any other method of determining the experience or level of educational attainment of an individual, alone. An agency’s Chief Human Capital Officer may waive clause (i)(III) when needed to enable the filling of a position or class of positions. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Chance to Compete Act of 2023 , the Director shall provide agencies guidance and instruction on the data, evidence, and circumstances that Chief Human Capital Officers of agencies should consider in determining whether to grant a waiver under subclause (I). An agency shall post any waiver granted under subclause
(I)on a public website within 30 days of the granting of the waiver. A waiver shall not be considered in effect until it is posted on the public website pursuant to item (aa). Each agency shall submit to the Director on a semiannual basis a report summarizing the number of waivers granted by the Chief Human Capital Officer of the agency under subclause
(I)during the preceding 6-month period and the reasons therefor. The Director shall submit annually to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives a report summarizing the number of waivers granted by the Chief Human Capital Officers of all agencies under subclause
(I)during the preceding year and the reasons therefor provided by the agencies. Not more than 10 percent of an agency’s positions filled through competitive hiring procedures during a fiscal year may be filled under the authority of a waiver granted under clause (I), and an agency shall obtain the Director’s approval to fill more than 5 percent of such positions under such authority. In this subsection— the term agency means an agency described in section 901(b) of title 31; the term Director means the Director of the Office; the term examining agency means— the Office; or an agency to which the Director has delegated examining authority under section 1104(a)(2) of this title; the term passing score assessment means an assessment that an individual can pass or fail; the term subject matter expert means an employee or selecting official— who possesses understanding of the duties of, and knowledge, skills, and abilities required for, the position for which the employee or selecting official is developing or administering an assessment; and whom the agency that employs the employee or selecting official designates to assist in the development and administration of technical assessments under paragraph (2); and the term technical assessment means an assessment developed under paragraph (2)(A)(i) that— allows for the demonstration of job-related technical skills, abilities, and knowledge; is based upon a job analysis; and is relevant to the position for which the assessment is developed; and may include— a structured interview; a work-related exercise; a custom or generic procedure used to measure an individual’s employment or career-related qualifications and interests; or another assessment that meets the criteria under subclauses
(I)and (II). For the purpose of conducting an examination for a position in the competitive service, an individual or individuals whom an agency determines to have an expertise in the subject and job field of the position, as affirmed and audited by the Chief Human Capital Officer or Human Resources Director (as applicable) of that agency, may— develop, in partnership with human resources employees of the examining agency, a position-specific assessment that is relevant to the position; and administer the assessment developed under clause
(i)to— determine whether an applicant for the position has a passing score to be qualified for the position; or rank applicants for the position for category rating purposes under section 3319. An examining agency may share a technical assessment with another examining agency if each agency maintains appropriate control over examination material. An examining agency with which a technical assessment is shared under clause
(i)may customize the assessment as appropriate, provided that the resulting assessment satisfies the requirements under part 300 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation). The Director shall establish and operate an online platform on which examining agencies can share and customize technical assessments under this subparagraph. The Director shall ensure that the online platform described in subclause
(I)includes the ability of its users to rate the utility of the content and technical assessments shared in the online platform to allow for a ranking of such contents. Not later than one year after the date of enactment of the Chance to Compete Act of 2023 , the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe regulations necessary for the administration of this subsection with respect to employees in each agency. . Section 3319(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: To be placed in a quality category under the preceding sentence, an applicant shall be required to have passed an examination in accordance with section 3304(b). . Section 3330a(a)(1)(B) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking section 3304(f)(1) and inserting section 3304(g)(1) . Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director and the head of any other examining agency shall eliminate the use of any examination for the competitive service that does not satisfy the definition of the term examination in subsection (c)(1)(A) of section 3304 of title 5, United States Code (as amended by subsection (a)(1)(B)). One year following the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report examining agencies’ progress in implementing the requirement specified in paragraph (1), identifying any significant difficulties encountered in such implementation. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall maintain and periodically update a publicly available online tool that, with respect to each position in the competitive service for which an examining agency examined applicants during the applicable period, includes— the type of assessment used, such as— a behavioral off-the-shelf assessment; a résumé review conducted by a subject matter expert; an interview conducted by a subject matter expert; a technical off-the-shelf assessment; or a cognitive ability test; whether or not the agency selected a candidate for the position; and the hiring authority used to fill the position. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall update the online tool described in subparagraph
(A)with data for positions in the competitive service for which an examining agency examined applicants during the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on the date of submission of the report. Not later than October 1 of each fiscal year beginning after the date on which the online tool is initially updated under clause (i), the Director shall update the online tool described in subparagraph
(A)with data for positions in the competitive service for which an examining agency examined applicants during the preceding fiscal year. Each year, the Director, in accordance with subparagraphs
(B)and (C), shall make publicly available and submit to Congress an overall progress report that includes summary data from examinations that are closed, audited, and anonymous on the use of examinations (as defined in subsection (c)(1)(A) of section 3304 of title 5, United States Code, as added by subsection
(a)of this section) for the competitive service, including technical assessments. In carrying out subparagraph (A), the Director shall— break the data down by applicant demographic indicator, including veteran status, race, gender, disability, and any other measure the Director determines appropriate; and use the data available as of October 1, 2020, as a baseline. In carrying out subparagraph (A), the Director may only make publicly available and submit to Congress data relating to examinations for which— the related announcement is closed; certificates have been audited; and all hiring processes are completed. Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that— assesses the implementation of this section and the amendments made by this section; assesses the impact and modifications to the hiring process for the competitive service made by this section and the amendments made by this section; and makes recommendations for the improvement of the hiring process for the competitive service.