42 U.S.C. § 19321 — Special hiring authority for scientific, engineering, and project management personnel

submitted 4 years ago by Pub. L. 117-167 to r/title-42-THE-PUBLIC-HEALTH-AND-WELFARE · 231 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

The Under Secretary for Science can hire up to 60 special science and project staff. These hires skip normal civil service rules for pay and appointment. Extra pay is capped, and jobs last up to 3 years unless the law says otherwise.

(a) In general. The Under Secretary for Science can appoint up to 60 scientific, engineering, and professional staff without following the usual civil service hiring laws, to help the Department meet specific project or research needs; can set each hired employee's base pay, without following civil service pay laws, at a rate up to "Level II of the Executive Schedule" — a high government pay rate set in a separate law; and can pay these employees extra on top of base pay, but the total extra pay in any 12-month period can't be more than the smallest of: $25,000; 25 percent of the employee's yearly base pay; or the yearly cap set under a separate federal pay law. (b) Term. An employee hired this way normally serves no more than 3 years, unless another law allows longer. The Under Secretary for Science can fire any employee hired this way at any time, based on their performance or the Department's changing project or research needs.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) In general

The Under Secretary for Science shall have the authority to—

(1)

make appointments of not more than 60 scientific, engineering, and professional personnel, without regard to civil service laws, to assist the Department in meeting specific project or research needs;

(2)

fix the basic pay of any employee appointed under this section at a rate to be determined by the Under Secretary at rates not in excess of Level II of the Executive Schedule (EX–II) under section 5311 of title 5 without regard to the civil service laws; and

(3)

pay any employee appointed under this section payments in addition to basic pay, except that the total amount of additional payments paid to an employee under this subsection for any 12-month period shall not exceed the lesser of the following amounts:

(A)

$25,000.

(B)

The amount equal to 25 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of that employee.

(C)

The amount of the limitation that is applicable for a calendar year under section 5307(a)(1) of title 5.

(b) Term

(1) In general

The term of any employee appointed under this section shall not exceed 3 years unless otherwise authorized in law.

(2) Termination

The Under Secretary for Science shall have the authority to terminate any employee appointed under this section at any time based on performance or changing project or research needs of the Department.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 117–167, div. B, title VI, § 10726, Aug. 9, 2022, 136 Stat. 1710.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

2022Enacted · Pub. L. 117-167 · 136 Stat. 1710

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 117-167 on 2022-08-09.

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