Reduce Competitive Service Appointment Types to

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.