PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

§1314 Rights and Protections Under Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988

Title 2 › CHAPTER 24 — CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY › SUBCHAPTER II — EXTENSION OF RIGHTS AND PROTECTIONS › Part A — Employment Discrimination, Family and Medical Leave, Fair Labor Standards, Employee Polygraph Protection, Worker Adjustment and Retraining, Employment and Reemployment of Veterans, and Intimidation › § 1314

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Employing offices must not require covered employees to take lie detector tests when those tests are banned for employers under section 3, paragraphs (1), (2), or (3) of the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (29 U.S.C. 2002(1), (2), or (3)). The waiver rules in section 6(d) of that Act (29 U.S.C. 2005(d)) also apply. "Covered employee" includes employees of the Government Accountability Office, and "employing office" includes the Government Accountability Office. The Capitol Police may use polygraph tests only if they follow the specific rules set under subsection (c). If someone breaks these rules, the remedy is the same as under section 6(c)(1) of the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 2005(c)(1)). The Board must make implementing regulations under section 1384, using the Secretary of Labor’s rules as the base unless the Board states good cause for a change. Subsections (a) and (b) take effect one year after January 23, 1995, except for the Government Accountability Office and the Library of Congress, where they start one year after Congress receives the study under section 1371.

Title 2, §1314

The Congress, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Polygraph practices prohibited

(1)In general

No employing office, irrespective of whether a covered employee works in that employing office, may require a covered employee to take a lie detector test where such a test would be prohibited if required by an employer under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 3 of the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (29 U.S.C. 2002(1), (2), or (3)). In addition, the waiver provisions of section 6(d) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2005(d)) shall apply to covered employees.

(2)Definitions

For purposes of this section, the term “covered employee” shall include employees of the Government Accountability Office and the term “employing office” shall include the Government Accountability Office.

(3)Capitol Police

Nothing in this section shall preclude the Capitol Police from using lie detector tests in accordance with regulations under subsection (c).

(b)Remedy

The remedy for a violation of subsection (a) shall be such remedy as would be appropriate if awarded under section 6(c)(1) of the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (29 U.S.C. 2005(c)(1)).

(c)Regulations to implement section (d) Effective date

(1)In general

The Board shall, pursuant to section 1384 of this title, issue regulations to implement this section.

(2)Agency regulations

The regulations issued under paragraph (1) shall be the same as substantive regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Labor to implement the statutory provisions referred to in subsections (a) and (b) except insofar as the Board may determine, for good cause shown and stated together with the regulation, that a modification of such regulations would be more effective for the implementation of the rights and protections under this section.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 115–141 struck out “and the Library of Congress” after “the Government Accountability Office” in two places. 2004—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 108–271 substituted “Government Accountability Office” for “General Accounting Office” in two places. Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 108–271 substituted “Government Accountability Office” for “General Accounting Office” in heading and text.