Bringing Nonpermanent Excepted Positions Into the Competitive Service

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is revising its

regulations governing retention of employees whose excepted positions

are brought into the competitive service to permit the employees to

receive term appointments if their excepted appointments had time

limits longer than 1 year. This will avoid hardship to the employees,

who could otherwise be retained only as temporary employees without

benefits.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 31, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Tracy E. Spencer, (202) 606-0830, or fax (202) 606-0390.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Civil Service Rule III (5 CFR 3.1)

authorizes OPM to prescribe conditions under which ``a person who

occupies a permanent position when it is placed in the competitive

service * * * or is otherwise made subject to competitive examination''

may acquire a competitive status. OPM's regulations implementing this

authority are found in 5 CFR 315.701, 316.701, and 316.702.

Currently, those regulations permit nonpermanent employees whose

positions are brought into the competitive service to be retained only

under temporary appointments limited to 1 year or less. However, some

nonpermanent excepted appointments are more comparable to term

appointments, i.e., they are made for periods longer than 1 year and

confer eligibility for within-grade increases, promotions and

reassignments, and retirement and insurance benefits.

On April 7, 1995 (60 FR 17655), we proposed regulations to permit

employees holding such appointments to receive noncompetitive term

appointments if their positions are brought into the competitive

service. We received no substantive comments on the proposed

regulations and are adopting them as final regulations with no change.

The regulations also make editorial changes and remove obsolete

references to the Federal Personnel Manual.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

I certify that these regulations will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities (including

small businesses, small organizational units, and small governmental

jurisdictions) because they apply only to Federal employees.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 316

Government employees.

Office of Personnel Management.

James B. King,

Director.

Accordingly, OPM is amending 5 CFR part 316 as follows:

PART 316--TEMPORARY AND TERM EMPLOYMENT

1. The authority citation for part 316 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 3301, 3302, and E.O. 10577 (3 CFR 1954-1958

Comp., p. 218); Sec. 316.302 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 3304(c), 38

U.S.C. 2014, and E.O. 12362, as revised by E.O. 12585; Sec. 316.402

also issued under 5 U.S.C. 3304(c) and 3312, 22 U.S.C. 2506 (93

Stat. 371), E.O. 12137, 38 U.S.C. 2014, and E.O. 12362, as revised

by E.O. 12585 and E.O. 12721.

2. In Sec. 316.701, paragraph (c) is revised to read as follows:

Sec. 316.701 Public or private enterprise taken over by the

Government.

* * * * *

(c) An agency may retain an employee under paragraph (a) of this

section in a position that it determines is noncontinuing under a

temporary appointment. That appointment may be made for a period not to

exceed 1 year and will be subject to the time limits set out in

Sec. 316.402.

3. In Sec. 316.702, paragraphs (b)(1) and (c) are revised and a new

paragraph (d) is added to read as follows:

Sec. 316.702 Excepted positions brought into the competitive service.

* * * * *

(b)(1) When an agency retains an employee under paragraph (a) of

this section who was serving in an excepted position under an

indefinite appointment or an appointment without time limit, the agency

may convert that employee's appointment to career or career-conditional

under Sec. 315-701.

* * * * *

(c) An employee who was serving under an excepted appointment

limited to 1 year or less may be retained as a temporary employee under

paragraph (a) of this section until the scheduled expiration date of

the employee's excepted appointment. Extension of the employee's

temporary appointment beyond that date will be subject to the

provisions of Sec. 316.402.

(d) An employee who was serving under an excepted appointment with

a definite time limit longer than 1 year may be retained under a term

appointment. The appointment will be subject to all conditions

generally applicable to term appointments and may be extended up to the

maximum limit for term appointments established under Sec. 316.301.

Service under the employee's excepted appointment counts against the

maximum limit for the term appointment.

[FR Doc. 95-18709 Filed 7-31-95; 8:45 am]

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