MANAGER Act
- Bill Number
- H.R. 242
- Origin Chamber
- House
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 1
- Policy Area
- Government Operations and Politics
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2025-01-09: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
- Last Updated
- 2025-05-21T17:10:12Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose
The MANAGER Act aims to improve oversight of federal workforce management by requiring annual surveys specifically targeting federal managers. These surveys focus on managers' confidence in disciplinary processes, leadership support, and related workplace issues, building on existing federal employee surveys to gather targeted feedback that could inform policy improvements in employee accountability and morale.
Key Provisions
- Annual Manager Surveys: Each executive agency must conduct yearly surveys of its managers, in addition to general employee surveys required under existing law. Managers are defined as federal employees at GS-13 level or higher who serve as supervisors or management officials (per 5 U.S.C. § 7103).
- Specific Survey Questions: The surveys must include the following yes/no or scaled questions, plus an option for narrative (open-ended) responses:
- Confidence that agency leadership will support disciplining an employee.
- Confidence in the current employee discipline system.
- Feeling supported as a manager.
- Adequate training on disciplining employees.
- Sufficient time to observe and correct new employees' performance before their probationary period ends.
- Opting not to discipline an employee in the past year due to lack of confidence in the system.
- Input sought on labor negotiations affecting the work unit.
- Willingness to recommend becoming a manager to a colleague.
- Negative impact of inability to discipline poor performers on work unit morale.
- Good employees leaving due to issues with problematic coworkers.
- Implementation Timeline: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must update its regulations within 180 days of enactment to incorporate these requirements.
- Scope: Applies to executive agencies (as defined in 5 U.S.C. § 105), with survey results integrated into broader reporting under the amended law.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
This bill amends Section 1128 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Public Law 108-136), which previously required annual surveys of all federal employees on topics like leadership effectiveness and workplace satisfaction. Key changes include:
- Adding a dedicated subsection for manager-specific surveys with new, discipline-focused questions.
- Redesignating existing subsections and updating references to encompass both general employee and manager surveys.
- Expanding definitions to clarify "agency" and introduce "federal manager" for precision.
These amendments enhance the original law's scope without altering its core reporting or privacy protections for survey respondents.
Potential Impacts
- On Government Agencies: Agencies will need to allocate resources for conducting and analyzing these surveys, potentially leading to data-driven reforms in training, disciplinary processes, and labor policies. This could improve manager retention and overall workforce efficiency by addressing barriers to accountability.
- On Citizens: Indirect benefits may include a more effective federal government through better-managed employees, though no direct public access to survey results is mandated beyond existing reporting requirements.
- On International Relations: No apparent impact, as the bill focuses solely on domestic federal workforce management.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Federal Managers: Primary respondents, who may gain a formal channel to voice concerns about support and disciplinary challenges.
- Executive Agencies: Responsible for implementing surveys and using results to refine operations.
- Office of Personnel Management (OPM): Tasked with regulatory updates and oversight of survey standardization.
- Federal Employees and Unions: Indirectly affected, as survey insights could influence labor negotiations, morale, and retention; unions may engage more in related discussions.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- Legal: Strengthens existing statutory survey requirements under 5 U.S.C. without imposing new penalties or mandates beyond data collection. Ensures compliance with privacy laws (e.g., anonymous responses) inherent in the original NDAA provision.
- Constitutional: No direct challenges; aligns with Congress's authority over federal personnel under Article II and supports administrative efficiency without infringing on free speech or due process.
- Political: Could highlight systemic issues in federal employee discipline, potentially fueling debates on government accountability and reform. As a bipartisan tool for oversight, it may appeal to lawmakers seeking to address manager dissatisfaction without major overhauls to civil service laws.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Recent Actions
- 2025-01-09: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
- 2025-01-09: Introduced in House
- 2025-01-09: Introduced in House
Bill Versions
- Manager Attitudes and Notions According to Government Employee Responses Act — issued 2025-01-09 — PDF (4 pages)