3. Reduce the number of competitive service appointment types to three.(20) By fall 1994, the director of OPM should forward draft legislation to Congress to streamline and redefine appointments in the competitive service and redefine the length of the initial probationary period. By fall 1994, OPM should revise its regulations to redefine the length of the probationary period for initial appointment to a supervisory or managerial position. Appointments to positions in the competitive service should fall into one of the following categories: --- Permanent: appointment leads to career status, employees receive full benefits; --- Temporary indefinite: appointments are temporary, but without time limitation; employees receive full benefits; or --- Temporary not to exceed (NTE): appointments are made not to exceed one year, with option to renew for one additional year; benefits are limited. Temporary NTE appointments are used to meet short-term staffing needs. Temporary indefinite appointments are not permanent but will be made without time limitation to permit agencies to more easily adjust staffing levels to meet fluctuations in workload that may extend beyond the two-year time limit on temporary NTE appointments. Employees serving under temporary NTE or temporary indefinite appointments are not subject to governmentwide rules on reduction in force.(21) Agencies will involve employee representatives in determining the length of temporary indefinite appointments through collective bargaining. Agency flexibility to design merit-based hiring systems will substantially reduce the need for the majority of excepted service appointments currently established under Schedules A and B.(22) Excepted appointments will continue to be used for positions of a confidential or policy-determining character (Schedule C), or positions for which eligibility depends upon factors other than education and experience, for example, family income (such as student aid), local residence, or acceptability to foreign officials. To provide an adequate period of time in which to make retention decisions, the duration of the initial probationary period upon permanent appointment without time limitation to a position in the competitive service and the probationary period upon initial appointment to a supervisory or managerial position will be extended from one to a maximum of three years. Agencies would be permitted to determine an appropriate length of time for specific occupations or positions, which will be announced to candidates in advance. Agencies will involve employee representatives in determining the length of the initial probationary period upon permanent appointment without time limitation through collective bargaining. Endnotes 20. Executive Order 10577; Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, Administrative Personnel (January 1, 1993), Part 315. 21. Title 5, United States Code, Chapter 35, and Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 351. 22. Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 213.
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