16 U.S.C. § 460lll–47 — Personnel
submitted 28 years ago by Pub. L. 105-277 to r/title-16-CONSERVATION · 1,419 words · no verdicts yet
This law protects Tennessee Valley Authority employees when their jobs move to the Forest Service. It sets hiring rules, notice periods, and benefit protections for the transfer. Employees keep their retirement, health, and leave benefits, and get support if they lose their jobs.
(a) In general. (1) Hiring: Despite the usual limit in section 3503 of title 5, and subject to the rule below, the Secretary* may hire, appoint, and fire officers and employees to run the Recreation Area*, and pay them at levels similar to other National Forest System units. (2) Interim retention of eligible employees: (A) For at least 5 months after the Forest Service takes over, every eligible TVA employee stays employed by TVA. They count as "detailed" to the Secretary and take direction from the Secretary. The Secretary must repay TVA for their pay and other compensation. (B) The Secretary must give eligible employees written notice at least 60 days before ending their detail. (C) None of this stops a firing for cause during that period.
(b) Applications for transfer and appointment: An eligible employee* can apply to work for the Secretary using the normal federal rules for transferring employees between agencies (the same rules used for employees moving in from outside the Department of Agriculture).
(c) Hiring by Secretary. (1) In general: Subject to (b), the Secretary must follow all Department of Agriculture laws and policies when filling jobs in the Recreation Area. (2) Notification and hiring: But the Secretary must tell eligible employees about job openings before telling anyone else, and consider their applications first. Only after that can the Secretary notify other people about any openings still unfilled. (3) Noncompetitive appointments: The Secretary can hire eligible employees without a competition, regardless of other career-transition rules. (4) Period of service: An eligible employee's time working for TVA counts as time working for the Secretary — for things like probation, career tenure, time-in-grade, and leave — unless the employee is separately paid for that time.
(d) Transfer to positions in other units of Tennessee Valley Authority: TVA must tell eligible employees about job openings in other parts of TVA before telling anyone else, and consider their applications first. Only afterward can it tell other people about any openings still unfilled.
(e) Employee benefit transition. (1) Memorandum of understanding: (A) The Secretary, the Office of Personnel Management, TVA, and the TVA Retirement System must sign an agreement covering how eligible employees' TVA Retirement System benefits will transition. (B) In writing that agreement, they must meet with employees and their representatives and fully consider their views. (2) Employees who transfer to another TVA unit keep all their retirement, health, leave, and other benefits without interruption or reduction. (3) Employees hired by the Secretary: (A) Level of benefits: The Secretary must give them retirement and health benefits equal to what they would have gotten by staying at TVA. (B) Transfer of retirement benefits: (i) They join the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) Offset Plan, and within six months can choose to switch to the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) instead. At any time, they can choose to get credit in CSRS Offset or FERS for their TVA service, by making any required deposit; that deposit gets favorable tax treatment as a transfer to a qualified plan. (ii) Funding shortfall: (I) For employees who aren't in the Civil Service Retirement System, TVA must cover any funding gap created by moving their retirement benefits. (II) The Secretary must tell the TVA Board what that transfer costs. (III) TVA must pay the Secretary back in full for those costs. (IV) An employee eligible for Civil Service Retirement must not have any gap in retirement benefits. (C) No interruption: hired employees keep continuous health, leave, and other benefits, and can carry over their unused TVA leave. (D) Period of service: despite a different rule in section 8411(b)(3) of title 5, their TVA service counts as Department of Agriculture service for all federal-employment purposes, unless they're separately compensated for it under the memorandum of understanding. (4) Employees discharged not for cause: (A) Level of benefits: the parties to the memorandum of understanding can waive requirements, make payments, or take other steps to give a laid-off employee (who doesn't take a Secretary job offer) retirement and health benefits as good as those given in TVA's past layoffs. (B) Minimum benefits: at minimum, such an employee gets: (i) their choice of — (I) $1,000 per year of service, but never less than $15,000 or more than $25,000; (II) a lump sum equal to their last 26 weeks of pay; or (III) 5 extra years added to both their age and years of service; plus (ii) 15 months of health benefits at the pre-transfer level, for themselves and dependents; (iii) 1 week of TVA Retirement System pay per year of service; (iv) a lump-sum payout of all unused annual leave; (v) unemployment compensation under state* law; (vi) pension benefits from the TVA Retirement System; and (vii) retraining help from TVA. (C) Shortfall: if the TVA Retirement System's board decides these benefits would hurt the overall retirement system, TVA must cover any funding shortfall.
Notwithstanding section 3503 of title 5, and subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary* may—
appoint, hire, and discharge officers and employees to administer the Recreation Area*; and
pay the officers and employees at levels that are commensurate with levels at other units of the National Forest System.
For a period of not less than 5 months after the effective date of transfer to the Forest Service—
all eligible employees shall be retained in the employment of the Tennessee Valley Authority;
those eligible employees shall be considered to be placed on detail to the Secretary and shall be subject to the direction of the Secretary; and
the Secretary shall reimburse the Tennessee Valley Authority for the amount of the basic pay and all other compensation of those eligible employees.
The Secretary shall provide eligible employees a written notice of not less than 60 days before termination.
Subparagraph (A) does not preclude a termination for cause during the period described in subparagraph (A).
An eligible employee* shall have the right to apply for employment by the Secretary under procedures for transfer and appointment of Federal employees outside the Department of Agriculture.
Subject to subsection (b), in filling personnel positions within the Recreation Area, the Secretary shall follow all laws (including regulations) and policies applicable to the Department of Agriculture.
Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Secretary—
shall notify all eligible employees of all openings for positions with the Forest Service at the Recreation Area before notifying other individuals or considering applications by other individuals for the positions; and
after applications by eligible employees have received consideration, if any positions remain unfilled, shall notify other individuals of the openings.
Notwithstanding any other placement of career transition programs authorized by the Office of Personnel Management of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Secretary may noncompetitively appoint eligible employees to positions in the Recreation Area.
Except to the extent that an eligible employee that is appointed by the Secretary may be otherwise compensated for the period of service as an employee of the Tennessee Valley Authority, that period of service shall be treated as a period of service as an employee of the Secretary for the purposes of probation, career tenure, time-in-grade, and leave.
The Tennessee Valley Authority—
shall notify all eligible employees of all openings for positions in other units of the Tennessee Valley Authority before notifying other individuals or considering applications by other individuals for the positions; and
after applications by eligible employees have received consideration, if any positions remain unfilled, shall notify other individuals of the openings.
The Secretary and the heads of the Office of Personnel Management, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Valley Authority Retirement System shall enter into a memorandum of understanding providing for the transition for all eligible employees of compensation made available through the Tennessee Valley Authority Retirement System.
In deciding on the terms of the memorandum of understanding, the Secretary and the heads of the Office of Personnel Management, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Valley Authority Retirement System shall meet and consult with and give full consideration to the views of employees and representatives of the employees of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
An eligible employee that is transferred to another unit of the Tennessee Valley Authority shall experience no interruption in coverage for or reduction of any retirement, health, leave, or other employee benefit.
The Secretary shall provide to an eligible employee that is hired by the Forest Service a level of retirement and health benefits that is equivalent to the level to which the eligible employee would have been entitled if the eligible employee had remained an employee of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Eligible employees hired by the Forest Service shall become members of the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) Offset Plan and shall have the option to transfer into the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) within six months of their date of transfer. Such employees shall have the option at any time to receive credit in CSRS Offset or FERS for all of their TVA service in accordance with applicable procedures. Any deposits necessary to receive credit for such service shall be considered transfers to a qualified plan for purposes of favorable tax treatment of such amount under title 26.
For all eligible employees that are not part of the Civil Service Retirement System, the Tennessee Valley Authority shall meet any funding shortfall resulting from the transfer of retirement benefits.
The Secretary shall notify the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of the cost associated with the transfer of retirement benefits.
The Tennessee Valley Authority shall fully compensate the Secretary for the costs associated with the transfer of retirement benefits.
An eligible employee that is hired by the Forest Service and is eligible for Civil Service Retirement shall not experience any interruption in retirement benefits.
An eligible employee that is hired by the Secretary—
shall experience no interruption in coverage for any health, leave, or other employee benefit; and
shall be entitled to carry over any leave time accumulated during employment by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Notwithstanding section 8411(b)(3) of title 5, except to the extent that an eligible employee may be otherwise compensated (including the provision of retirement benefits in accordance with the memorandum of understanding) for the period of service as an employee of the Tennessee Valley Authority, that period of service shall be treated as a period of service as an employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for all purposes relating to the Federal employment of the eligible employee.
The parties to the memorandum of understanding shall have authority to deem any applicable requirement to be met, to make payments to an employee, or take any other action necessary to provide to an eligible employee that is discharged as being excess to the needs of the Tennessee Valley Authority or the Secretary and not for cause and that does not accept an offer of employment from the Secretary, an optimum level of retirement and health benefits that is equivalent to the level that has been afforded employees discharged in previous reductions in force by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
An eligible employee that is discharged as being excess to the needs of the Tennessee Valley Authority or the Secretary and not for cause shall, at a minimum be entitled to—
at the option of the eligible employee—
a lump-sum equal to $1,000, multiplied by the number of years of service of the eligible employee (but not less that $15,000 nor more than $25,000);
a lump-sum payment equal to the amount of pay earned by the eligible employee for the last 26 weeks of the eligible employee’s service; or
the deemed addition of 5 years to the age and the years of service of an eligible employee;
15 months of health benefits for employees and dependents at the same level provided as of the date of transfer pursuant to section 460lll–41 of this title;
1 week of pay per year of service as provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority Retirement System;
a lump-sum payment of all accumulated annual leave;
unemployment compensation in accordance with State* law;
eligible pension benefits as provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority Retirement System; and
retraining assistance provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
If the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority Retirement System determines that the cost of providing the benefits described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) would have a negative impact on the overall retirement system, the Tennessee Valley Authority shall be required to meet any funding shortfalls.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 105–277, div. A, § 101(e) [title V, § 547], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–231, 2681–321.)
- 1998Enacted · Pub. L. 105-277 · 112 Stat. 2681
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 105-277 on 1998-10-21.
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