Homeland Security: Human Resources Management

Publication Date: August 2003

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

Type:

Abstract:

P.L. 107-296, Homeland Security Act of 2002 (H.R. 5005), authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish, and from time to time adjust, a human resources management (HRM) system for some or all of the organizational units of the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The law states specific requirements for the HRM system. Federal workforce improvements to be applied governmentwide also are authorized by P.L. 107-296. On April 1, 2003, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and OPM Director Kay Coles James announced that they were launching the process for designing a new human resources management system for the Department of Homeland Security. A design team and a senior review committee will work to create the new system and will advise the secretary and the director. Implementation of the new system is targeted to begin by the end of 2003, according to a DHS fact sheet.

Key issues to be considered in establishing an HRM system for the new department might include staffing requirements and hiring and pay systems. Other issues likely to be considered would include the kind of automated human resources and payroll systems the various agencies proposed for transfer to the new department currently have and how those systems might be merged if a consolidation of HRM services were to occur.

This report discusses the provisions of P.L. 107-296 as they relate to human resources management. It does not discuss provisions of the law which relate to labor management relations and collective bargaining.