
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 38USC516]

 
                      TITLE 38--VETERANS' BENEFITS
 
                       PART I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
 
            CHAPTER 5--AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY
 
                    SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL AUTHORITIES
 
Sec. 516. Equal employment responsibilities

    (a) The Secretary shall provide that the employment discrimination 
complaint resolution system within the Department be established and 
administered so as to encourage timely and fair resolution of concerns 
and complaints. The Secretary shall take steps to ensure that the system 
is administered in an objective, fair, and effective manner and in a 
manner that is perceived by employees and other interested parties as 
being objective, fair, and effective.
    (b) The Secretary shall provide--
        (1) that employees responsible for counseling functions 
    associated with employment discrimination and for receiving, 
    investigating, and processing complaints of employment 
    discrimination shall be supervised in those functions by, and report 
    to, an Assistant Secretary or a Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
    complaint resolution management; and
        (2) that employees performing employment discrimination 
    complaint resolution functions at a facility of the Department shall 
    not be subject to the authority, direction, and control of the 
    Director of the facility with respect to those functions.

    (c) The Secretary shall ensure that all employees of the Department 
receive adequate education and training for the purposes of this section 
and section 319 of this title.
    (d) The Secretary shall, when appropriate, impose disciplinary 
measures, as authorized by law, in the case of employees of the 
Department who engage in unlawful employment discrimination, including 
retaliation against an employee asserting rights under an equal 
employment opportunity law.
    (e)(1)(A) Not later than 30 days after the end of each calendar 
quarter, the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration 
shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and 
House of Representatives a report summarizing the employment 
discrimination complaints filed against the individuals referred to in 
paragraph (2) during such quarter.
    (B) Subparagraph (A) shall apply in the case of complaints filed 
against individuals on the basis of such individuals' personal conduct 
and shall not apply in the case of complaints filed solely on the basis 
of such individuals' positions as officials of the Department.
    (2) Paragraph (1) applies to the following officers and employees of 
the Department:
        (A) The Secretary.
        (B) The Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
        (C) The Under Secretary for Health and the Under Secretary for 
    Benefits.
        (D) Each Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs and each Deputy 
    Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
        (E) The Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Memorial 
    Affairs.
        (F) The General Counsel of the Department.
        (G) The Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals.
        (H) The Chairman of the Board of Contract Appeals of the 
    Department.
        (I) The director and the chief of staff of each medical center 
    of the Department.
        (J) The director of each Veterans Integrated Services Network.
        (K) The director of each regional office of the Department.
        (L) Each program director of the Central Office of the 
    Department.

    (3) Each report under this subsection--
        (A) may not disclose information which identifies the 
    individuals filing, or the individuals who are the subject of, the 
    complaints concerned or the facilities at which the discrimination 
    identified in such complaints is alleged to have occurred;
        (B) shall summarize such complaints by type and by equal 
    employment opportunity field office area in which filed; and
        (C) shall include copies of such complaints, with the 
    information described in subparagraph (A) redacted.

    (4) Not later than April 1 each year, the Assistant Secretary shall 
submit to the committees referred to in paragraph (1)(A) a report on the 
complaints covered by paragraph (1) during the preceding year, including 
the number of such complaints filed during that year and the status and 
resolution of the investigation of such complaints.
    (f) The Secretary shall ensure that an employee of the Department 
who seeks counseling relating to employment discrimination may elect to 
receive such counseling from an employee of the Department who carries 
out equal employment opportunity counseling functions on a full-time 
basis rather than from an employee of the Department who carries out 
such functions on a part-time basis.
    (g) The number of employees of the Department whose duties include 
equal employment opportunity counseling functions as well as other, 
unrelated functions may not exceed 40 full-time equivalent employees. 
Any such employee may be assigned equal employment opportunity 
counseling functions only at Department facilities in remote geographic 
locations (as determined by the Secretary). The Secretary may waive the 
limitation in the preceding sentence in specific cases.
    (h) The provisions of this section shall be implemented in a manner 
consistent with procedures applicable under regulations prescribed by 
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

(Added Pub. L. 105-114, title I, Sec. 101(a)(1), Nov. 21, 1997, 111 
Stat. 2278; amended Pub. L. 105-368, title IV, Sec. 403(d)(2), Nov. 11, 
1998, 112 Stat. 3339.)


                               Amendments

    1998--Subsec. (e)(2)(E). Pub. L. 105-368 substituted ``Under 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Memorial Affairs'' for ``Director of 
the National Cemetery System''.


                             Effective Date

    Section 101(c) of Pub. L. 105-114 provided that: ``Section 516 of 
title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take 
effect 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 21, 1997]. 
Subsection (e) of that section shall take effect with respect to the 
first quarter of calendar year 1998.''


Reports on Implementation and Operation of Equal Employment Opportunity 
                                 System

    Section 101(b) of Pub. L. 105-114 provided that:
    ``(1) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress 
reports on the implementation and operation of the equal employment 
opportunity system within the Department of Veterans Affairs. The first 
such report shall be submitted not later than April 1, 1998, and 
subsequent reports shall be submitted not later than January 1, 1999, 
and January 1, 2000.
    ``(2) The first report under paragraph (1) shall set forth the 
actions taken by the Secretary to implement section 516 of title 38, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), and other actions taken 
by the Secretary in relation to the equal employment opportunity system 
within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
    ``(3) The subsequent reports under paragraph (1) shall set forth, 
for each equal employment opportunity field office of the Department and 
for the Department as a whole, the following:
        ``(A) Any information to supplement the information submitted in 
    the report under paragraph (2) that the Secretary considers 
    appropriate.
        ``(B) The number of requests for counseling relating to 
    employment discrimination received during the one-year period ending 
    on the date of the report concerned.
        ``(C) The number of employment discrimination complaints 
    received during such period.
        ``(D) The status of each complaint described in subparagraph 
    (C), including whether or not the complaint was resolved and, if 
    resolved, whether the employee concerned sought review of the 
    resolution by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or by 
    Federal court.
        ``(E) The number of employment discrimination complaints that 
    were settled during such period, including--
            ``(i) the type of such complaints; and
            ``(ii) the terms of settlement (including any settlement 
        amount) of each such complaint.''


Assessment and Review of Employment Discrimination Complaint Resolution 
                                 System

    Section 103 of Pub. L. 105-114 provided that:
    ``(a) Agreement for Assessment and Review.--(1) The Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall seek to enter into an agreement with a qualified 
private entity under which agreement the entity shall carry out the 
assessment described in subsection (b) and the review described in 
subsection (c).
    ``(2) The Secretary shall include in the agreement provisions 
necessary to ensure that the entity carries out its responsibilities 
under the agreement (including the exercise of its judgments concerning 
the assessment and review) in a manner free of influence from any 
source, including the officials and employees of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.
    ``(3) The Secretary may not enter into the agreement until 15 days 
after the date on which the Secretary notifies the Committees on 
Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
entity with which the Secretary proposes to enter into the agreement.
    ``(b) Initial Assessment of System.--(1) Under the agreement under 
subsection (a), the entity shall conduct an assessment of the employment 
discrimination complaint resolution system administered within the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, including the extent to which the system 
meets the objectives set forth in section 516(a) of title 38, United 
States Code, as added by section 101. The assessment shall include a 
comprehensive description of the system as of the time of the 
assessment.
    ``(2) Under the agreement, the entity shall submit the assessment to 
the committees referred to in subsection (a)(3) and to the Secretary not 
later than June 1, 1998.
    ``(c) Review of Administration of System.--(1) Under the agreement 
under subsection (a), the entity shall monitor and review the 
administration by the Secretary of the employment discrimination 
complaint resolution system administered within the Department.
    ``(2) Under the agreement, the entity shall submit to the committees 
referred to in subsection (a)(3) and to the Secretary a report on the 
results of the review under paragraph (1) not later than June 1, 1999. 
The report shall include an assessment of the administration of the 
system, including the extent to which the system meets the objectives 
referred to in subsection (b)(1), and the effectiveness of the 
following:
        ``(A) Programs to train and maintain a cadre of individuals who 
    are competent to investigate claims relating to employment 
    discrimination.
        ``(B) Programs to train and maintain a cadre of individuals who 
    are competent to provide counseling to individuals who submit such 
    claims.
        ``(C) Programs to provide education and training to Department 
    employees regarding their rights and obligations under the equal 
    employment opportunity laws.
        ``(D) Programs to oversee the administration of the system.
        ``(E) Programs to evaluate the effectiveness of the system in 
    meeting its objectives.
        ``(F) Other programs, procedures, or activities of the 
    Department relating to the equal employment opportunity laws, 
    including any alternative dispute resolution procedures and informal 
    dispute resolution and settlement procedures.
        ``(G) Any disciplinary measures imposed by the Secretary on 
    employees determined to have violated the equal employment 
    opportunity laws in preventing or deterring violations of such laws 
    by other employees of the Department.''
