TSA Officers Get Title 5 Federal Employee Rights: Pay Protected During 2025 Conversion

If you’ve ever had to take off your shoes at an airport, you’ve interacted with a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer. For years, these essential federal employees have operated under a special, separate personnel system—a system that often left them without the standard job protections, benefits, and collective bargaining rights that most other federal workers enjoy. This bill, the Rights for the TSA Workforce Act, is the legislative equivalent of saying, “Enough is enough, it’s time to join the club.”

The core of this legislation is a mandate to convert all TSA employees—from the folks screening your bags to Federal Air Marshals—out of the TSA’s unique system and into the standard federal employee framework found in Title 5 of the U.S. Code. This conversion must be completed by December 31, 2025. This is a huge deal because it means TSA employees will finally be governed by the same rules regarding pay, leave, and grievance procedures as employees at agencies like the IRS or the Social Security Administration.

The Freeze and the Conversion Deadline

To prevent the TSA from making any last-minute changes, the bill immediately freezes the agency’s existing personnel policies. No new rules can be issued under the old authorities. Think of it like putting a hold on your old phone plan before switching carriers—you don't want any surprise charges or policy changes while you’re moving over. The bill makes it clear that once the conversion date hits, all the old, special TSA rules—including the 2022 Determination on collective bargaining—are gone, replaced entirely by Title 5.

For the average TSA officer, this is a massive upgrade in job security. The bill explicitly guarantees that no covered employee will see their current basic pay or service time recognition drop because of the switch (Sec. 4). If you’ve worked for the TSA for eight years in a certain pay band, that time will count as eight years toward the equivalent General Schedule (GS) grade and step in the new system. This protects your retirement benefits and future pay progression.

Labor Rights and Union Power

One of the biggest changes involves labor relations. The bill immediately applies the standard federal labor relations rules (Chapter 71 of Title 5) to TSA screening agents. This means they get the full rights of federal employees to organize and bargain collectively, something that was previously restricted under the TSA’s special system. The bill is careful to preserve the existing union’s position as the initial representative, but it also confirms that the employees can still choose a different union later (Sec. 5).

If you are a screening agent, this provision means that grievances and disputes that used to be handled internally by the TSA can now go through the standard, independent federal labor process. It’s a shift from an internal HR process to a system with external oversight, which generally provides stronger protections for employees.

Special Protections for Air Marshals

The bill also includes specific provisions for Federal Air Marshals (FAMs), recognizing their unique work demands. It ensures that FAMs continue to receive Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP) and that their overtime pay calculation is done in a way that guarantees they don't earn less than they would have under the Fair Labor Standards Act (Sec. 4). This is critical because for specialized law enforcement roles, maintaining premium pay is essential for retention and ensuring compensation matches the demanding nature of the job.

Oversight and Accountability

This bill isn't just about switching systems; it's about making sure the TSA is run fairly moving forward. It tasks the Comptroller General (CG)—the government's watchdog—with conducting several key reviews within the first year (Sec. 8). These aren't just administrative checks; they dig into real-world issues:

• Recruitment: How well the TSA is recruiting veterans and military families.
• Diversity and Promotions: Whether the senior leadership team reflects the broader U.S. workforce, and how promotion policies can be improved.
• Workplace Safety: A deep dive into the policies for protecting employees from harassment and assault by the public, including giving employees and unions a chance to provide anonymous feedback.

The bill also requires the TSA Administrator to brief Congress on all assaults and threats against screening agents since 2019 (Sec. 11). This focus on workplace safety and accountability is a direct response to the high-stress, high-confrontation environment TSA officers often face.

For the TSA Administration, this bill means giving up a lot of control and discretion over personnel matters. For the 60,000+ TSA employees, it means finally achieving parity with their federal colleagues, gaining access to standardized benefits, and securing stronger labor rights, all while ensuring their current paychecks are protected during the transition.