Modern benefits pilot program

(a) Definitions In this section: (1) Civil service The term civil service has the meaning given the term in section 2101 of title 5, United States Code. (2) Director The term Director means the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. (3) Eligible employee The term eligible employee means an employee in the civil service, other than a public safety employee, who has completed less than 5 years of civilian service creditable under section 8411 of title 5, United States Code. (4) Pilot program The term pilot program means the pilot program established by the Director under subsection (b)(1). (5) Public safety employee The term public safety employee means an employee serving an Executive agency as a law enforcement officer, air traffic controller, firefighter, nuclear materials courier, or customs and border protection officer, as those terms are defined in section 8401 of title 5, United States Code. (b) Pilot program authorized (1) In general The Director shall establish a pilot program in 3 Executive agencies to offer eligible employees a benefits package described in subsection (d). (2) Consultations With respect to the pilot program, the Director— (A) shall, in establishing the pilot program, consult with benefits experts, actuaries, labor unions, and the participating Executive agencies; and (B) may carry out the pilot program without regard to any requirement or limitation under section 4703 of title 5, United States Code (as amended by this Act), except that the pilot program shall be considered to be a demonstration project for purposes of subsection (a) of such section 4703. (c) Election of benefits package by employees (1) New employees An eligible employee who is appointed to a position in an Executive agency after the date on which the pilot program is established may elect to be covered by the benefits package in the pilot program or the benefits package otherwise applicable to civil service employees in the Executive agency. (2) Recent hires An eligible employee who is appointed to a position in an Executive agency during the 5-year period ending on the date on which the pilot program is established may elect to switch coverage to the benefits package in the pilot program. (3) Applicability An employee who elects the benefits package in the pilot program shall not be eligible for an annuity or annuitant health care benefits under chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code. (d) Program details The Director shall ensure that the benefits package authorized under this section is of equivalent value to the benefits package otherwise applicable to employees in the civil service in the applicable Executive agencies and offers the following: (1) An enhanced Thrift Savings Plan benefit, including eligibility for a total agency contribution of not less than 10 percent of pay, vested immediately. (2) Not less than 12 weeks of paid leave for a purpose described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 6382(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, which shall be in addition to any accrued or accumulated annual or sick leave. (3) Immediate eligibility for agency-paid short-term and long-term disability-income insurance that replaces not less than 60 percent of the employee’s current salary. (4) Not less than 5 weeks of flexible paid time off accrued each year, in lieu of annual and sick leave. (5) Such other benefits as the Director may authorize. (e) Reports Not later than 6 years after the date on which the pilot program under this section is established, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Comptroller General of the United States shall each submit to the Director and to Congress a report on the pilot program that includes— (1) evaluations of the pilot program; and (2) recommendations on whether to modify, continue, expand, or terminate the pilot program, or to make the program permanent for all Executive agencies. (f) Additional report Not later than 1 year after the date on which the pilot program under this section is established, the Director shall contract with the National Academy of Public Administration— (1) to conduct a study of the pilot program; and (2) to submit to the Director, not later than 6 years after the date on which the pilot program is established, a report on the pilot program that includes the elements set forth in subsection (e). (g) Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for the Director to carry out this section.