38 U.S.C. § 7423 — Personnel administration: full-time em-

Page 1232 TITLE 38—VETERANS’ BENEFITS § 7423 (b) Such collective bargaining (and any griev- ance procedures provided under a collective bar- gaining agreement) in the case of employees de- scribed in section 7421(b) of this title may not cover, or have any applicability to, any matter or question concerning or arising out of (1) pro- fessional conduct or competence, (2) peer review, or (3) the establishment, determination, or ad- justment of employee compensation under this title. (c) For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘pro- fessional conduct or competence’’ means any of the following: (1) Direct patient care. (2) Clinical competence. (d) An issue of whether a matter or question concerns or arises out of (1) professional conduct or competence, (2) peer review, or (3) the estab- lishment, determination, or adjustment of em- ployee compensation under this title shall be de- cided by the Secretary and is not itself subject to collective bargaining and may not be re- viewed by any other agency. (e) A petition for judicial review or petition for enforcement under section 7123 of title 5 in any case involving employees described in sec- tion 7421(b) of this title or arising out of the ap- plicability of chapter 71 of title 5 to employees in those positions, shall be taken only in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (Added Pub. L. 102–40, title II, § 202, May 7, 1991, 105 Stat. 200.) § 7423. Personnel administration: full-time em- ployees (a)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the hours of employment in carrying out respon- sibilities under this title of any employee who is appointed in the Administration under any pro- vision of this chapter on a full-time basis in a position listed in section 7421(b) of this title (other than an intern or resident appointed pur- suant to section 7406 of this title) and who ac- cepts responsibilities for carrying out profes- sional services for remuneration other than those assigned under this title shall consist of not less than 80 hours in a biweekly pay period (as that term is used in section 5504 of title 5). (2)(A) Upon the advance written request of a covered physician, the Secretary may modify the hours of employment for a physician ap- pointed in the Administration under any provi- sion of this chapter on a full-time basis to be more or less than 80 hours in a biweekly pay pe- riod, subject to the requirements in subpara- graph (B). For the purpose of determining pay, such a physician shall be deemed to have a bi- weekly schedule of 80 hours of employment. (B) A physician with an irregular work sched- ule established under subparagraph (A) shall be obligated to account for at least 2,080 hours of employment (through performance of work or use of leave or paid time off) in a calendar year. (C) The Secretary may prescribe regulations to implement this paragraph, including regula- tions making adjustments to address the annual hours requirement for physicians who are cov- ered by this paragraph for only a portion of a calendar year. (D) The Secretary may exclude from the re- quirements of paragraph (1) employees hired under section 7306 or 7401(4) of this title or for a position described in section 7401(1) of this title that the Secretary has determined is of equiva- lent rank to a Senior Executive Service position (as such term is defined in section 3132(a) of title 5). (b) A person covered by subsection (a) may not do any of the following: (1) Teach or provide consultative services at any affiliated institution if such teaching or consultation will, because of its nature or du- ration, conflict with such person’s responsibil- ities under this title. (2) Accept payment under any insurance or assistance program established under title XVIII or XIX of the Social Security Act or under chapter 55 of title 10 for professional services rendered by such person while car- rying out such person’s responsibilities under this title. (3) Accept from any source, with respect to any travel performed by such person in the course of carrying out such person’s respon- sibilities under this title, any payment or per diem for such travel, other than as provided for in section 4111 of title 5. (4) Request or permit any individual or orga- nization to pay, on such person’s behalf for in- surance insuring such person against mal- practice claims arising in the course of car- rying out such person’s responsibilities under this title or for such person’s dues or similar fees for membership in medical or dental soci- eties or related professional associations, ex- cept where such payments constitute a part of such person’s remuneration for the perform- ance of professional responsibilities permitted under this section, other than those carried out under this title. (5) Perform, in the course of carrying out such person’s responsibilities under this title, professional services for the purpose of gener- ating money for any fund or account which is maintained by an affiliated institution for the benefit of such institution, or for such person’s personal benefit, or both. (c) In the case of any fund or account de- scribed in subsection (b)(5) that was established before September 1, 1973— (1) the affiliated institution shall submit semiannually an accounting to the Secretary and to the Comptroller General of the United States with respect to such fund or account and shall maintain such fund or account sub- ject to full public disclosure and audit by the Secretary and the Comptroller General for a period of three years or for such longer period as the Secretary shall prescribe, and (2) no person in a position specified in para- graph (1)(B) may receive any cash from amounts deposited in such fund or account de- rived from services performed before that date. (d) As used in this section: (1) The term ‘‘affiliated institution’’ means a medical school or other institution of higher learning with which the Secretary has a con- tract or agreement as referred to in section Page 1233 TITLE 38—VETERANS’ BENEFITS § 7424 7313 of this title for the training or education of health personnel. (2) The term ‘‘remuneration’’ means the re- ceipt of any amount of monetary benefit from any non-Department source in payment for carrying out any professional responsibilities. (e)(1) The Secretary shall establish a leave transfer program for the benefit of health-care professionals in positions listed in section 7421(b) of this title. The Secretary may also es- tablish a leave bank program for the benefit of such health-care professionals. (2) To the maximum extent feasible— (A) the leave transfer program shall provide the same or similar requirements and condi- tions as are provided for the program estab- lished by the Director of the Office of Per- sonnel Management under subchapter III of chapter 63 of title 5; and (B) any leave bank program established pur- suant to paragraph (1) shall be consistent with the requirements and conditions provided for agency leave bank programs in subchapter IV of such chapter. (3) Participation by a health-care professional in the leave transfer program established pursu- ant to paragraph (1), and in any leave bank pro- gram established pursuant to such paragraph, shall be voluntary. The Secretary may not re- quire any health-care professional to participate in such a program. (4)(A) The Secretary and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management may enter into an agreement that permits health-care profes- sionals referred to in paragraph (1) to partici- pate in the leave transfer program established by the Director of the Office of Personnel Man- agement under subchapter III of chapter 63 of title 5 or in any leave bank program established for other employees of the Department pursuant to subchapter IV of chapter 63 of title 5, or both. (B) Participation of such health-care profes- sionals in a leave transfer program or a leave bank program pursuant to an agreement entered into under subparagraph (A) shall be subject to such requirements and conditions as may be pre- scribed in such agreement. (5) The Secretary is not required to establish a leave transfer program for any personnel per- mitted to participate in a leave transfer pro- gram pursuant to an agreement referred to in paragraph (4). (f) The Secretary may purchase promotional items of nominal value for use in the recruit- ment of individuals for employment under this chapter. The Secretary shall prescribe guide- lines for the administration of the preceding sentence. (Added and amended Pub. L. 102–40, title II, § 202, title IV, § 401(b)(3)(A), May 7, 1991, 105 Stat. 201, 230; Pub. L. 102–405, title II, § 203, title III, § 302(c)(1), Oct. 9, 1992, 106 Stat. 1983, 1984; Pub. L. 104–262, title III, § 347, Oct. 9, 1996, 110 Stat. 3208; Pub. L. 114–315, title VI, § 614, Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1577; Pub. L. 117–168, title IX, § 906(c)(2), Aug. 10, 2022, 136 Stat. 1812.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Social Security Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(2), is act Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531, 49 Stat. 620. Titles XVIII and XIX of the Act are classified generally to subchapters XVIII (§ 1395 et seq.) and XIX (§ 1396 et seq.), respec- tively, of chapter 7 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 1305 of Title 42 and Tables. PRIOR PROVISIONS Provisions similar to those in this section were con- tained in section 4108(a), (c), and (e) of this title prior to the repeal of that section as part of the complete re- vision of chapter 73 of this title by Pub. L. 102–40. AMENDMENTS 2022—Subsec. (a)(2)(D). Pub. L. 117–168, § 906(c)(2)(A), added subpar. (D). Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 117–168, § 906(c)(2)(B), sub- stituted ‘‘7421(b)’’ for ‘‘7401(1)’’. 2016—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–315 designated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (2), the hours’’ for ‘‘The hours’’, and added par. (2). 1996—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–262, § 347(a), redesig- nated pars. (2) to (6) as (1) to (5), respectively, and struck out former par. (1) which read as follows: ‘‘As- sume responsibility for the medical care of any patient other than a patient admitted for treatment at a De- partment facility, except in those cases where the per- son, upon request and with the approval of the Under Secretary for Health, assumes such responsibilities to assist communities or medical practice groups to meet medical needs which would not otherwise be available for a period not to exceed 180 calendar days, which may be extended by the Under Secretary for Health for addi- tional periods not to exceed 180 calendar days each.’’ Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–262, § 347(b), substituted ‘‘sub- section (b)(5)’’ for ‘‘subsection (b)(6)’’ in introductory provisions. 1992—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 102–405, § 302(c)(1), sub- stituted ‘‘Under Secretary for Health’’ for ‘‘Chief Med- ical Director’’ in two places. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 102–405, § 203, added subsec. (f). 1991—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 102–40, § 401(b)(3)(A), added subsec. (e). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries ESTABLISHMENT OF LEAVE BANK PROGRAM For provision authorizing the establishment of a leave bank program for health-care professional cov- ered under subsec. (e) of former section 4108 of this title [now covered by subsec. (e) of this section] similar to the leave bank program for Federal civilian employees in reserves who were activated during Persian Gulf War, see section 361 of Pub. L. 102–25, set out as a Leave Bank for Federal Civilian Employees in Reserves Who Were Activated During Persian Gulf War note under section 6361 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. § 7424. Travel expenses of certain employees (a) The Secretary may pay the expenses (other than membership fees) of persons described in sections 7306 and 7401(1) of this title (including persons in positions described in section 7401(1) of this title who are appointed on a temporary full-time basis or a part-time basis under sec- tion 7405 of this title) who are detailed by the Under Secretary for Health to attend meetings of associations for the promotion of medical and related science. (b)(1) The Secretary may prescribe regulations establishing conditions under which officers and employees of the Administration who are na- tionally recognized principal investigators in medical research may be permitted to accept payment, in cash or in kind, from non-Federal