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By: FEDweek StaffThe House has passed two bills related to VA personnel policies, including HR-3500, to bar the department from rehiring any individual it had previously employed but who was removed for misconduct or otherwise involuntarily separated “for cause.”
The measure is a reaction to a 2015 IG report finding that the agency “was repeatedly rehiring former employees with well-documented conduct or performance issues,” according to the House report on the bill. A 2017 follow-up report found that the IRS “was still rehiring employees with significant conduct issues, such as unauthorized access of taxpayer accounts and falsification of official documents. Both reports identified hundreds of former employees who were rehired by the IRS despite past misconduct,” it said.
“Rehiring employees who were fired for misconduct puts taxpayers and the IRS at increased risk for future problems,” it says.
The House also passed HR- 5938, to establish a vacancy and recruitment database to facilitate the recruitment of separating military personnel to fill certain positions at the VA and to establish a training and certification program for intermediate care.
