Federal Hiring Flexibilities for Emergency Situations: Fact Sheet

Federal Hiring Flexibilities for Emergency Situations: Fact Sheet

Order Code RS21045
October 11, 2001
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Federal Hiring Flexibilities for
Emergency Situations: Fact Sheet
Barbara L. Schwemle
Analyst in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), in a September 13, 2001
memorandum to executive branch agencies, identified various hiring flexibilities that can
be used to meet staffing needs in emergency situations. Table 1, below, provides
information on each of the flexibilities. Terms used in the table can be defined as follows.
! Competitive Service positions require applicants to compete against one
another in open competition based on job-related criteria to obtain
employment. The positions are subject to the civil service laws codified
at Title 5 of the United States Code and to oversight by the Office of
Personnel Management. Employees are to be selected from among the
best-qualified and without discrimination.
! Excepted Service positions are not covered by the procedures governing
the competitive service. Qualification standards and requirements for
these positions are established by the individual agencies. The Title 5
rules on appointment (except for veterans preference), pay, and
classification do not apply. Excepted service agencies include the Central
Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, and the National Security Agency.
! Senior Executive Service (SES) positions are classified above grade 15
of the General Schedule or in level IV or V of the Executive Schedule, or
an equivalent position, and are not filled by presidential appointment by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Members of the SES,
among other duties, direct the work of an organizational unit and exercise
important policy-making, policy-determining, or other executive
functions.
! Reemployment Priority List (RPL) is the mechanism agencies use to
give reemployment consideration to their former competitive service
employees separated by reduction in force (RIF) or fully recovered from
a compensable injury after more than one year.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

CRS-2
Table 1. Hiring Flexibilities for Emergency Situations
Flexibility and Authority
Brief Description
Excepted Service Appointment — 30-Day Critical Hiring Need
Agencies can appoint individuals for 30 days and may extend the
[5 CFR 213.3102(i)(2)]
appointment for up to an additional 30 days if continued employment
is essential to the agency’s operations. The same individual may not
be employed for more than 60 days in a 12-month period. (For both
senior-level and lower-level positions.)
Excepted Service Appointment — Temporary Emergency Need
OPM has authorized agencies to appoint individuals for up to 1 year
[5 CFR 213.3102(i)(3)]
to fill positions affected by or needed because of the September 11
attacks. (For both senior-level and lower level positions.)
Use of Private Sector Temporary Help Service Firms
Agencies can contract for up to 120 workdays with private sector
[5 CFR Part 300, Subpart E]
temporary help service firms to quickly provide specific services (but
(Conditions for using private sector temporaries are at 5 CFR
not for the SES, managerial, or supervisory positions). A contract
300.503.)
may be extended for an additional 120 workdays. The firm is the
legally responsible employer for all aspects of employment.
Senior Executive Service (SES) — Limited Emergency
Agencies can appoint career employees to the SES for up to 18
Appointments
months to meet a bona-fide, unanticipated, urgent need. The
[5 CFR Part 317, Subpart F]
appointment cannot be renewed. OPM will immediately process
agency requests to appoint non-career employees.
Reemployment Priority List (RPL)
Agencies can use the RPL as a source of qualified individuals who are
[5 CFR Part 330, Subpart B]
available for temporary appointments (generally, one year with up to
one additional year), term appointments (more than one year but not
more than four years), or permanent appointments in the competitive
service. An exception to choosing someone from the RPL may be
granted when an individual on the RPL or with a higher ranking
cannot assume duties without undue interruption to the agency.
Competitive Service Appointment — 120-Day
Agencies can make appointments of 120 days or less without first
[5 CFR Part 330, Subparts F and G]
selecting a surplus or displaced employee who is eligible for
appointment under an Agency Career Transition Assistance Plan
(CTAP) or an Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan
(ICTAP). For appointments of longer duration, the CTAP and the
ICTAP may be used to identify well-qualified federal employees
available for immediate employment.
Reemploying Annuitants and Waiving Dual Compensation
Agencies can reemploy retirees. OPM, upon request, will grant
Restrictions
agency heads the authority to waive the restrictions that prohibit
[5 U.S.C. 5532(g), 8344(i), 8468(f)]
federal retirees from getting the full combined value of their salary
and annuity upon reemployment.
Reemploying Recipients of Voluntary Separation Incentives
Agencies can rehire federal employees who retired or separated with
(commonly referred to as buyouts)
buyouts. Laws authorizing buyouts may have included a requirement
[Various statutes authorized buyouts; general authority was
that the buyout be repaid upon government reemployment. Agencies
provided through December 30, 1997 in Sec. 663 of the
may request that OPM grant a repayment waiver for “truly unusual
Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government
circumstances” where individuals “being considered for waivers [are]
Appropriations Act, 1997, enacted as P.L. 104-208, Sept. 30,
the only qualified applicants available for the positions and possess
1996, 110 Stat. 3009-383, 5 U.S.C. 5597 note. This law
expertise and special qualifications to replace persons lost in the
required full repayment if reemployment occurred within five
tragedies or to provide direct support in the rescue, recovery,
years after leaving the government.]
investigatory, and other phases related to the tragedies.”
Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Office of the Director, Emergency Situation
Hiring Flexibilities and Information, Sept. 13, 2001, and Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations.