REDUCTION-IN-FORCE NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.

SEC. 4433. REDUCTION-IN-FORCE NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. (a) In General.— (1) Section 3502 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: “(d) (1) Except as provided under subsection (e), an employee may not be released, due to a reduction in force, unless— “(A) such employee and such employee’s exclusive representative for collective-bargaining purposes (if any) are given written notice, in conformance with the requirements of paragraph (2), at least 60 days before such employee is so released; and “(B) if the reduction in force would involve the separation of a significant number of employees, the requirements of paragraph (3) are met at least 60 days before any employee is so released. “(2) Any notice under paragraph (1)(A) shall include— “(A) the personnel action to be taken with respect to tile employee involved; “(B) the effective date of the action; “(C) a description of the procedures applicable in identifying employees for release; “(D) the employee’s ranking relative to other competing employees, and how that ranking was determined; and “(E) a description of any appeal or other rights which may be available. “(3) Notice under paragraph (1)(B)— “(A) shall be given to— “(i) the appropriate State dislocated worker unit or units (referred to in section 311(b)(2) of the Job Training Partnership Act); and “(ii) the chief elected official of such unit or each of such units of local government as may be appropriate; and “(B) shall consist of written notification as to— “(i) the number of employees to be separated from service due to the reduction in force (broken down by geographic area or on such other basis as may be required under paragraph (4)); “(ii) when those separations will occur; and “(iii) any other matter which might facilitate the delivery of rapid response assistance or other services under the Job Training Partnership Act. “(4) The Office shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this subsection. The Office shall consult with the Secretary of Labor on matters relating to the Job Training Partnership Act. “(e) (1) Subject to paragraph (3), upon request submitted under paragraph (2), the President may, in writing, shorten the period of advance notice required under subsection (d)(1)(A) and (B), with respect to a particular reduction in force, if necessary because of circumstances not reasonably foreseeable. “(2) A request to shorten notice periods shall be submitted to the President by the head of the agency involved, and shall indicate the reduction in force to which the request pertains, the number of days by which the agency head requests that the periods be shortened, and the reasons why the request is necessary. “(3) No notice period may be shortened to less than 30 days under this subsection.”. 106 STAT. 2722 (2) The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to any personnel action taking effect on or after the last day of the 90-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act. (b) Special Rule.— (1) The provisions of section 3502(d) and (e) of title 5, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)) shall apply to employees of the Department of Defense according to their terms, except that, with respect to any reduction in force within that agency that would involve the separation of a significant number of employees (as determined under paragraph (1)(B) of such section 3502(d)), any reference in such section 3502(d) to “60 days” shall, in the case of the employees described in paragraph (2), be deemed to read “120 days”. (2) The employees described in this paragraph are those employees of the Department of Defense who are to be separated, due to a reduction in force described in paragraph (1), effective on or after the last day of the 90-day period referred to in subsection (a)(2) and before February 1, 1998. (3) Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the application of the amendment made by subsection (a) with respect to an employee if— (A) the preceding paragraphs of this subsection do not apply with respect to such employee; and (B) the amendment made by subsection (a) would otherwise apply with respect to such employee. (4) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this subsection.