(a) In general To commence a proceeding, a covered employee alleging a violation of a law made applicable under part A of subchapter II shall request counseling by the Office. The Office shall provide the employee with all relevant information with respect to the rights of the employee. A request for counseling shall be made not later than 180 days after the date of the alleged violation.
(b) Period of counseling The period for counseling shall be 30 days unless the employee and the Office agree to reduce the period. The period shall begin on the date the request for counseling is received.
(c) Notification of end of counseling period The Office shall notify the employee in writing when the counseling period has ended.
Part A of subchapter II, referred to in subsec. (a), was in the original “part A of title II”, meaning part A (§§ 201–207) of title II of Pub. L. 104–1, , 109 Stat. 7, which is classified principally to part A of subchapter II of this chapter. For complete classification of part A to the Code, see Tables.