24 U.S.C. § 225d — Transition provisions for employees of Hospital

(a) Retirement opportunity: Hospital employees whose jobs are directly affected by the District's takeover of programs, and who already qualify for immediate retirement under 5 U.S.C. § 8336(d), get a chance to retire during the 30 days right before the District takes over. (b) Specific number and types of positions; transfer to District employment: (1) The system implementation plan must state exactly how many District jobs will exist, and what kinds, once the service coordination period ends. (2) Even though a different federal law (5 U.S.C. § 3503) normally governs employee transfers, Hospital employees can only move into District jobs under the rules in this section. (c) Retention list; reemployment priority list; right-of-first-refusal; retention registers; employee appeals: (1) While an employee's name is on the retention list or a reemployment priority list, that employee gets first right of refusal for District jobs they qualify for — jobs created under the plan in the District's mental health system, jobs at the D.C. Department of Human Services, and jobs at the D.C. General Hospital. (2) The Secretary must set up "retention registers" ranking Hospital employees and give them to the District government. The District must offer jobs under subsection (b) based on each employee's ranking on these registers. (3) An employee's appeal about the retention registers follows federal regulations. (4) An employee's appeal about a District job offer follows the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978. (d) Federal agency reemployment priority list; right-of-first-refusal; Department of Health and Human Services; separation; maintenance of lists; District agency reemployment priority list; refusal of employment offer; acceptance of nontemporary employment: (1) Hospital employees on the Federal agency reemployment priority list get first right of refusal for comparable jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services in the Washington metropolitan area. (2) If Hospital employees must be separated from federal jobs, that can only happen through the normal federal reduction-in-force process. (3) The Secretary and the Office of Personnel Management must maintain a Federal agency reemployment priority list and a displaced-employees program for these workers, following federal regulations. (4) The Mayor, working with the Secretary, must create a District agency reemployment priority list of Hospital employees on the retention registers who were not offered jobs under subsection (c). An employee who refuses a job offer under subsection (c) cannot be placed on this District list. This list is administered under the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978. (5) If an employee accepts a permanent job through referral from any of these lists, that automatically ends the employee's severance pay as of the day the job starts. (e) Contracts; mental health services; preferences: If the District contracts out mental health services the Hospital used to provide, the contract must require the contractor, when filling new positions, to give preference to qualified people on the District agency reemployment priority list created under subsection (d). If someone accepts a permanent job with a contractor this way, their name stays on that priority list for up to 24 months from the date they accepted the job.