§ 3905. — Personnel actions.
[Laws in effect as of January 7, 2003]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 7, 2003 and December 19, 2003]
[CITE: 22USC3905]
TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
CHAPTER 52--FOREIGN SERVICE
SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 3905. Personnel actions
(a) Merit principles; ``personnel action'' defined
(1) All personnel actions with respect to career members and career
candidates in the Service (including applicants for career candidate
appointments) shall be made in accordance with merit principles.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ``personnel action''
means--
(A) any appointment, promotion, assignment (including assignment
to any position or salary class), award of performance pay or
special differential, within-class salary increase, separation, or
performance evaluation, and
(B) any decision, recommendation, examination, or ranking
provided for under this chapter which relates to any action referred
to in subparagraph (A).
(b) Rules and regulations; discrimination; reprisals for disclosure of
information; submission of reports, evaluations, or
recommendations; freedom from prohibited personnel practices
The Secretary shall administer the provisions of this chapter and
shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to ensure that
members of the Service, as well as applicants for appointments in the
Service--
(1) are free from discrimination on the basis of race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, age, handicapping condition, marital
status, geographic or educational affiliation within the United
States, or political affiliation, as prohibited under section
2302(b)(1) of title 5;
(2) are free from reprisal for--
(A) a disclosure of information by a member or applicant
which the member or applicant reasonably believes evidences--
(i) a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or
(ii) mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of
authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public
health or safety,
if such disclosure is not specifically prohibited by law and if
such information is not specifically required by Executive order
to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or the
conduct of foreign affairs; or
(B) a disclosure to the Special Counsel of the Merit Systems
Protection Board, or to the Inspector General of an agency
(including the Inspector General of the Department of State and
the Foreign Service) or another employee designated by the head
of the agency to receive such disclosures, of information which
the member or applicant reasonably believes evidences--
(i) a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or
(ii) mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of
authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public
health or safety;
(3) are free to submit to officials of the Service and the
Department any report, evaluation, or recommendation, including the
right to submit such report, evaluation, or recommendation through a
separate dissent channel, whether or not the views expressed therein
are in accord with approved policy, unless the report, evaluation,
or recommendation was submitted with the knowledge that it was false
or with willful disregard for its truth or falsity; and
(4) are free from any personnel practice prohibited by section
2302 of title 5.
(c) Withholding or disclosure of information to Congress
This section shall not be construed as authorizing the withholding
of information from the Congress or the taking of any action against a
member of the Service who discloses information to the Congress.
(d) Minority recruitment program
(1) The Secretary shall establish a minority recruitment program for
the Service consistent with section 7201 of title 5.
(2) Omitted.
(e) Applicability to other judicial or statutory rights or remedies
This section shall not be construed to extinguish or lessen any
effort to achieve equal employment opportunity through affirmative
action or any right or remedy available to any employee or applicant for
employment in the civil service under--
(1) section 2000e-16 of title 42, prohibiting discrimination on
the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;
(2) sections 631 and 633a of title 29, prohibiting
discrimination on the basis of age;
(3) section 206(d) of title 29, prohibiting discrimination on
the basis of sex;
(4) sections 791 and 794a of title 29, prohibiting
discrimination on the basis of handicapping condition; or
(5) any provision of law, rule, or regulation prohibiting
discrimination on the basis of marital status or political
affiliation.
(Pub. L. 96-465, title I, Sec. 105, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2077; Pub.
L. 100-204, title I, Sec. 185(a), Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1365; Pub. L.
101-246, title I, Sec. 153(d), Feb. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 43.)
Codification
Subsec. (d)(2) of this section, which required the Secretary to
transmit at least once annually to the Chairman of the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives the Department's reports on equal employment
opportunity, affirmative action, and minority recruitment programs,
which reports are required by law, regulation, or directive to be
submitted to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the
Office of Personnel Management (OPM), terminated, effective May 15,
2000, pursuant to section 3003 of Pub. L. 104-66, as amended, set out as
a note under section 1113 of Title 31, Money and Finance. See, also,
page 129 of House Document No. 103-7.
Amendments
1990--Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 101-246 inserted ``geographic or
educational affiliation within the United States,'' after ``marital
status,''.
1987--Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 100-204 amended par. (2) generally.
Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: ``Not later than January
31 of each year, the Secretary shall transmit to each House of the
Congress a report, signed by the Secretary, on the activities of the
Secretary under paragraph (1). Such report shall include any affirmative
action plans submitted by the Secretary under section 2000e-16 of title
42 and any data necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the program
under paragraph (1) for the preceding fiscal year, together with
recommendations for administrative or legislative action the Secretary
considers appropriate.''
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 2719, 3929, 4141b of this
title.
