Federal Manager's Daily Report

The House could vote at any time on a committee-approved bill, HR-2283, seeking to improve employee morale and internal communications in DHS, a department that consistently scores toward the bottom of rankings of agencies in those areas.

The bill would create a department-wide “employee engagement steering committee” consisting of a cross-section of the workforce and including union representatives to “identify factors that have a negative impact on employee engagement, morale, and communications within the department.” These would include for example perceptions of limits on career progression, mobility, or development opportunities and perceived unfairness in discipline.

The committees would then make recommendations to the departmental leadership and monitor the response; individual components also would follow a similar process.

The bill also would require the GAO to investigate and assess the consistency and fairness of disciplinary actions imposed on DHS employees.