For

United States federal law The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as va ...

, the GAO Human Capital Reform Act of 2004 () provides new

human capital Human capital is a concept used by social scientists to designate personal attributes considered useful in the production process. It encompasses employee knowledge, skills, know-how, good health, and education. Human capital has a substantial ...

flexibilities with respect to the

Government Accountability Office The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...

, and for other purposes. The most visible provision of the law was to change the name of the organization from the General Accounting Office, which it had been known as since its founding in 1921, to the Government Accountability Office. Besides the name change, the law: * Decouples GAO from the federal employee pay system, * Establishes a compensation system that places greater emphasis on job performance while protecting the purchasing power of employees who are performing acceptably, * Gives GAO permanent authority to offer voluntary early retirement opportunities and voluntary separation payments (buy-outs), * Provides greater flexibility for reimbursing employees for relocation benefits, * Allows certain employees and officers with less than three years of federal service to earn increased amounts of annual leave, and * Authorizes an exchange program with private sector organizations.

References

Human Capital Reform Act United States federal government administration legislation Acts of the 108th United States Congress United States federal legislation articles without infoboxes {{US-fed-statute-stub