View all text of Chapter 34 [§ 2501 - § 2523]
§ 2504. Peace Corps volunteers
(a) Persons eligible; terms and conditions of service; Federal employee status; racial, sex, religious, or color discrimination
(b) Living allowances, travel, leave and related items; transfers of supplies and equipment
(c) Readjustment allowances
(d) Repealed. Pub. L. 89–554, § 8(a), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 661
(e) Health care
(f) Prescription of medications
(g) Retirement and other credits based upon length of service
(1) Any period of satisfactory service of a volunteer under this chapter shall be credited in connection with subsequent employment in the same manner as a like period of civilian employment by the United States Government—
(A) for the purposes of section 816(a) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 [22 U.S.C. 4056(a)] and every other Act establishing a retirement system for civilian employees of any United States Government agency; and
(B) except as otherwise determined by the President, for the purposes of determining seniority, reduction in force, and layoff rights, leave entitlement, and other rights and privileges based upon length of service under the laws administered by the Office of Personnel Management, the Foreign Service Act of 1980 [22 U.S.C. 3901 et seq.], and every other Act establishing or governing terms and conditions of service of civilian employees of the United States Government: Provided, That service of a volunteer shall not be credited toward completion of any probationary or trial period or completion of any service requirement for career appointment.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection, volunteers and volunteer leaders shall be deemed to be receiving compensation during their service at the respective rates of readjustment allowances payable under subsection (c) and section 2505(1) of this title.
(h) Assignment to other entities
(i) Tort claims; absentee voting; general average contributions for transportation of baggage; check cashing and currency exchange; claims for overpayment of pay; passport fees
(j) Termination of service
(k) Oath of office
(l) Counseling programs for returned volunteers
(m) Legal expenses of defendant in judicial or administrative proceedings
(n) Allowances and expenses of minor childrenThe minor children of a volunteer living with the volunteer may receive—
(1) such living, travel, education, and leave allowances, such housing, transportation, subsistence, and essential special items of clothing as the President may determine;
(2) such health care, including health care following the volunteer’s service for illness or injury incurred during such service, and health and accident insurance, as the President may determine and upon such terms as he may determine, including health care in any facility referred to in subsection (e) of this section, subject to such conditions as the President may prescribe and subject to reimbursement of appropriations as provided in such subsection (e);
(3) such orientation, language, and other training necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter as the President may determine; and
(4) the benefits of subsection (l) 1
1 See References in Text note below.
of this section on the same basis as volunteers.(o) Moving expenses
(p) Independent review of volunteer death
(1) Not later than 10 days after receiving notification of the death of a volunteer, the President shall provide a briefing to the Inspector General of the Peace Corps that includes—
(A)
(i) the available facts and circumstances surrounding the death of the volunteer, including a preliminary timeline of the events immediately preceding the death of the volunteer, subsequent actions taken by the Peace Corps, and any information available to the Peace Corps reflecting on the cause or root cause of the death of the volunteer; and
(ii) a description of any steps the Peace Corps plans to take to inquire further into the cause or root cause of the death of the volunteer, including the anticipated date of the completion of such inquiry; or
(B) an explanation of why the Peace Corps has determined that no further inquiry into the cause or root cause of the death of the volunteer is necessary, including—
(i) a description of the steps the Peace Corps took to determine further inquiry was not necessary; and
(ii) the basis for such determination.
(2) If the Peace Corps has performed or engaged another entity to perform a root cause analysis or similar report that describes the cause or root cause of a volunteer death, the President shall provide the Inspector General of the Peace Corps with—
(A) a copy of all information provided to such entity at the time such information is provided to such entity or used by the Peace Corps to perform the analysis;
(B) a copy of any report or study received from the entity or used by the Peace Corps to perform the analysis; and
(C) any supporting documentation upon which the Peace Corps or such entity relied to make its determination, including the volunteer’s complete medical record, as soon as such information is available to the Peace Corps.
(3) If a volunteer dies, the Peace Corps shall take reasonable measures, in accordance with local laws, to preserve any information or material, in any medium or format, that may be relevant to determining the cause or root cause of the death of the volunteer, including personal effects, medication, and other tangible items belonging to the volunteer, as long as such measures do not interfere with the legal procedures of the host country if the government of the host country is exercising jurisdiction over the investigation of such death. The Inspector General of the Peace Corps shall be provided an opportunity to inspect such items before their final disposition.
(4) Consistent with the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.),1 the Inspector General of the Peace Corps may independently review the facts and circumstances surrounding the death of a volunteer and the actions taken by the Peace Corps in responding to such incident.
(5) For the purposes of undertaking a review under this section, an officer or employee of the United States or a member of the Armed Forces may be detailed to the Inspector General of the Peace Corps from another department of the United States Government on a nonreimbursable basis, as jointly agreed to by the Inspector General and the detailing department, for a period not to exceed 1 year. This paragraph may not be construed to limit or modify any other source of authority for reimbursable or nonreimbursable details. A nonreimbursable detail made under this section may not be considered an augmentation of the appropriations of the Peace Corps.
(6) Upon request, the Peace Corps may make available necessary funds to the Inspector General of the Peace Corps for reviews conducted by the Inspector General under this section. The request shall be limited to costs relating to hiring, procuring, or otherwise obtaining medical-related experts or expert services, and associated travel.
(7) The undertaking of a review under this section may not be considered a transfer of program operating responsibilities to the Inspector General of the Peace Corps.
(Pub. L. 87–293, title I, § 5, Sept. 22, 1961, 75 Stat. 613; Pub. L. 88–200, § 2, Dec. 13, 1963, 77 Stat. 359; Pub. L. 89–134, § 2, Aug. 24, 1965, 79 Stat. 549; Pub. L. 89–554, § 8(a), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 661, 662; Pub. L. 89–572, § 2(a), Sept. 13, 1966, 80 Stat. 765; Pub. L. 91–99, § 2, Oct. 29, 1969, 83 Stat. 166; Pub. L. 91–352, § 3, July 24, 1970, 84 Stat. 464; Pub. L. 94–130, §§ 4, 6, Nov. 14, 1975, 89 Stat. 684; Pub. L. 95–331, § 4, Aug. 2, 1978, 92 Stat. 414; Pub. L. 96–465, title II, § 2202(a), Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2157; Pub. L. 97–113, title VI, §§ 604(b), 606, Dec. 29, 1981, 95 Stat. 1543; Pub. L. 99–83, title XI, § 1105(b), Aug. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 276; Pub. L. 99–514, § 2, Oct. 22, 1986, 100 Stat. 2095; Pub. L. 105–12, § 9(j), Apr. 30, 1997, 111 Stat. 27; Pub. L. 106–30, § 2(b)(1)–(3), May 21, 1999, 113 Stat. 55; Pub. L. 112–57, §§ 3, 8(a)(1), (b), Nov. 21, 2011, 125 Stat. 744, 745; Pub. L. 115–256, title I, § 101(a)(1), title III, § 301, Oct. 9, 2018, 132 Stat. 3651, 3655.)