Tracey Therit, VA’s chief human capital officer
WASHINGTON, DC — While VA is moving quickly to roll out new pay and hiring authorities, the impact might take time to trickle down to VA staff in non-supervisory roles or those whose salaries are not near the top of their profession’s pay cap. For others, it might not be felt at all without further legislation.
Last year’s RAISE Act increased existing pay limitations for registered nurses, advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants. The PACT Act, signed into law in August, expands VA’s ability to offer merit awards and other pay incentives while also giving VA leaders the ability under certain conditions to waive pay caps for some employees, such as those providing care to burn pit victims or those whose facility is closing and VA is looking to retain.
According to VA, has moved on the easiest provisions first, as well as those affecting supervisory employees.
“We are well on our way to completing 70% of the provisions in Title 9 of the PACT Act,” she told legislators at a House VA Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing last month. “We started with the ones that were easiest to implement by issuing policy quickly: removing restrictions related to housekeeping aids, increasing limits on recruitment, relocation and retention incentives, as well as student loan repayments and recruitment awards. We’re now implementing a lot of the additional pay authorities when it comes to increasing the limits on special salary rates, critical pay positions, as well as waivers for some of the work done in relation to the toxic exposure claims.”
As for the RAISE Act, Therit admitted that some nurses and support staff may be feeling left out.
“The act was targeted at increasing the pay limit of specific occupations. It did not touch every healthcare position in the department,” she said. “We prioritized those at the top of the pay limit–those within 10% of the cap–and then [moved on] to the remaining positions.”
The VA Clinicians Appreciation, Recruitment, Education, Expansion and Retention Support (CAREERS) Act, which would give the VA secretary approval to waive any physician pay limitation on a case-by-case basis, was still awaiting Senate action at press time.
The addition of the PACT Act authorities will expand the number of VA staff benefiting from increased pay, but Therit said that non-GS employees and non-healthcare employees will not be as affected.
The effect of the new authorities when it comes to recruitment and retention is already being felt, she said.
“In the first quarter of 2023, we’re seeing tremendous growth [in VHA and VBA] by use of [the PACT] authorities, as well as onboarding surge events and hiring events throughout the country, Therit told the subcommittee. “We’re also seeing lower rates of attrition in FY23 than we have in past years.”
“Employees need to feel valued and respected,” she added. “A key factor in all of that is making sure that we are conducting at a lot of facilities what we call Stay Interviews, getting feedback before somebody leaves the department.”
Neglect or Malfeasance
On the other side of the retention coin, legislators expressed concern that VA lacked the authority to remove employees guilty of malfeasance or negligence, which might impact the willingness of other employees to stay.
“In instances of employee neglect or malfeasance … VA takes a long time in removing them if they’re removed at all,” noted subcommittee Chair Jen Kiggans (R-VA). “Congress gave VA the authority to expeditiously remove employees for poor performance and misconduct. That authority … has been challenged in the legal system. As a result, VA has stopped using it for most, but not all employees. I’m concerned that exempting most of the VA workforce from swift accountability will not produce a better product for veterans.”
The authority she was referring to is a provision in the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017, commonly known as Section 714, which gave the agency an avenue to fast-track the suspension, demotion or removal of Title 5 employees. The use of that authority was challenged by the American Federal of Government Employees (AFGE), and in 2020 a decision was upheld that found the legislation did not supersede VA employee’s collective bargaining agreement. VA is currently in mediation with AFGE concerning approximately 4,000 employees who received an adverse action under Section 714 prior to that ruling.
VA has since stopped using Section 714 on Title 5 employees, as well as hybrid Title 38 employees, but can still use it for senior executives.
“Employees who are hardworking people, who want to serve veterans, are leaving VA because their supervisors are not being held accountable,” Kiggans told VA officials. “What would you say to these employees who are at the end of their rope? They’ve followed these right steps, but their complaints have gone unanswered. Why should they stay at VA?”
Therit assured Kiggans that VA is “committed to seeing senior leaders and supervisors held accountable for their poor performance and misconduct.”
“Those matters are taken seriously,” she declared. “They are investigated, either through fact findings and investigation boards or through the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. We strive to be a high-reliability organization. Those individuals need to feel safe bringing those issues to attention.”
As for why recommended disciplinary action is sometimes not taken, Therit said there are a number of reasons VA may decide to be lenient on an employee. Those include: outstanding performance between the incident and the recommendation; no prior disciplinary history; the individual seeking guidance from leadership prior to the incident; and a lengthy period of time between the incident and the recommendation.