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Employment

USDA Hiring Reform, Hiring Excellence

Presidential Memorandum "Improving the Federal Recruitment and Hiring Process" dated May 11, 2010, established hiring reform initiatives, streamlining hiring procedures for both internal and external applicants.

President Obama's Memorandum dated May 11, 2010, Improving the Federal Recruitment and Hiring Process was the first phase of the Administration's comprehensive initiative to address major, long-standing impediments to recruiting and hiring the best and the brightest into the Federal civilian workforce. The President's initiative established hiring reform initiatives, streamlining hiring procedures for both internal and external applicants, making it easier for Americans to apply for Federal jobs, raising the bar on candidate quality, and providing a commonsense approach to the overall hiring process. The requirements of the initiative include:

  1. Eliminate written essay-style questions (KSAs) at the initial stage of the application process;
  2. Allow individuals to apply with resume and cover letter;
  3. Use category rating;
  4. Hiring manager accountability and involvement;
  5. Improve the quality and speed of hiring;
  6. Notify applicants about their status

Hiring Excellence is a confluence of the Federal government attracting applicants and hiring highly qualified and diverse talent, achieved through engaged and empowered hiring managers, and supported by highly skilled HR staff.

A chart showing three groups of Hiring Excellence

Related Hiring Reform, Hiring Excellence Links:

The President's Hiring Reform Initiative

OPM Hiring Reform

OPM Hiring Elements End-to-End Hiring Roadmap

USDA Hiring Timeline Agreement

Merit Promotion & Internal Placement Policy

It is U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy to recruit qualified, diverse individuals to ensure bringing the best qualified candidates to the attention of management; to give employees an opportunity to receive fair, equitable, and appropriate consideration for higher level jobs; to provide an incentive for employees to improve their performance and develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities; and to provide career opportunities for employees.

The USDA Merit Promotion & Internal Placement Departmental Regulation establishes and provides a general understanding of the staffing human resources (HR) authorities and required operation. It is to be used with support and advice from the servicing Human Resources offices.

Delegated Examining Policy

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) established provisions for agencies in the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government to govern competitive procedures used in filling competitive service positions. OPM delegated authority to USDA to conduct competitive examinations for positions in the competitive service, except for administrative law judges. This delegation authorizes USDA to fill competitive civil service positions with applicants from outside the federal workforce; federal employees who do not have competitive status and/or federal employees with competitive service status.

Department Regulation for Delegated Examining can be found at: DR4030-337-004

Departmental Regulation for Category Rating can be found at: DR4030-337-002

Priority Consideration - CTAP, RPL & ICTAP

The Special Selection Priority Programs Departmental Regulation sets forth guidelines for managing the special selection priority programs within the United States Department of Agriculture. The special selection priority programs include the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), the Reemployment Priority List (RPL), and the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP). This policy is intended to provide a general understanding of the special selection authorities and required placement processes.

Career Transition Assistance Plan

A CTAP eligible is a current career or career-conditional employee (tenure I or II) in the competitive service who is "displaced" or "surplus" and who has a current performance rating of record of at least fully successful (Level 3) or equivalent.

To view more information, please visit the Career Transition Assistance Plan site.

Reemployment Priority List

RPL assists current and former competitive service employees who will be or were separated by RIF under 5 CFR 351, or who have recovered from a compensable work related injury after more than one year, as required by 5 CFR 353. In filling vacancies, mission areas, agencies and staff offices must give USDA's RPL registrants placement priority for most competitive service positions before hiring an individual outside the USDA workforce.

USDA maintains an RPL for career and career conditional competitive service employees facing Reduction in Force (RIF) separation, former employees who have already been separated by RIF and employees recovered from work related compensable injuries. Individuals are required to register for RPL through their HR or former HR office.

RPL Related Links:

To view more information, please visit the Reemployment Priority List (RPL) site.

Registration Sheet (PDF, 439 KB)

Current and Most Recent Listings

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan

The ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal employees with inter-departmental selection priority for vacancies in agencies which are being filled from outside of the USDA permanent competitive service workforce; it does not prohibit movement of competitive service employees within a department.

Intergovernmental Personnel Act Mobility Program

The Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) of 1970 allows for the temporary assignment of employees between Federal Government agencies and State and local governments, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, institutions of higher education and other organizations. Assignments are for the specific work benefit of both the State and local government, Indian tribe or tribal organization, institution of higher education, other organization and the federal agency concerned.

The purpose of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) mobility program is to allow temporary assignment of employees between Federal agencies and State, local and Indian tribal governments, institutions of higher education and other eligible organizations.

All USDA employees who meet the definition of "employee" in 5 CFR 2105 are eligible for an IPA assignment.

The goal of the IPA mobility program is to facilitate the movement of employees, for short periods of time, when this movement serves a sound public purpose. Mobility assignments may be used to achieve the following objectives:

  • strengthening the management capabilities of Federal agencies, State, local and Indian tribal governments, and other eligible organizations;
  • assisting the transfer and use of new technologies and approaches to solving governmental problems;
  • facilitating an effective means of involving state and local officials in developing and implementing Federal policies and programs; and
  • providing program and developmental experience which will enhance the assignee's performance in his or her regular job.

Assignments are intended to facilitate cooperation between the Federal Government and non-Federal entities through the temporary assignment of skilled personnel. These assignments enable Federal employees to serve with eligible non-Federal organizations for a limited period of time without loss of employee rights and benefits. Employees of State and local governments, Indian tribal governments, institutions of higher education and other eligible organizations may serve in Federal agencies for similar periods of time. The legal authority for assignments under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act is 5 United States Code sections 3371 through 3375. The regulations can be found in 5 CFR 334.101-334.108.

Each assignment should be made for purposes which the Federal agency head, or his or her designee, determines are of mutual concern and benefit to the Federal agency and to the non-Federal organization. Each proposed assignment should be carefully examined to ensure that it is for sound public purposes and furthers the goals and objectives of participating organizations. Assignments arranged to meet the personal interests of employees, to circumvent personnel ceilings, or to avoid unpleasant personnel decisions are contrary to the spirit and intent of the mobility program.

Arranging an Assignment

Assignments under the IPA are management-initiated. Development of the proposed assignment should be controlled by management. Benefits to the Federal agency and the non-Federal organization are primary considerations in initiating assignments; not the desires or personal needs of the employee. The assignment is voluntary and must be agreed to by the employee. Regulations require that an assignment must be implemented by a written agreement. Agencies should use form OF-69, Assignment Agreement when arranging an IPA.

When an assignment involves the movement of a non-Federal employee to a Federal agency, the agreement should specify that the employee can return to the non-Federal position occupied prior to the assignment or to one of comparable pay, duties and seniority and that the employee's rights and benefits will be fully protected.

It must be made clear that if an employee is paid allowable travel, relocation, and per diem expenses, he or she must complete the entire period of the assignment or one year, whichever is shorter, or reimburse the Government for those expenses.

For Federal employees, the agreement should assure that the assignee knows of his or her obligation to return to the Federal service for a time equal to the length of the assignment, or be liable for all expenses (exclusive of salary and benefits) associated with the assignment.

Cost-sharing arrangements involved in mobility assignments are worked out between the participating organizations. A Federal agency may agree to pay all, some, or none of the costs of an assignment. Such costs may include employee pay, fringe benefits, relocation costs, and travel and per diem expenses. A justification should be submitted for USDA agreements that propose the agency pays more than 50 percent of the cost for an assignment.

Length of Assignment

Assignment agreements can be made for up to two years, and may be intermittent, part-time, or full-time. The agency head, or his or her designee, may extend an assignment for an additional two years if the extension will benefit both organizations.

5 CFR 334.104 states that an employee who has served for four continuous years on a single assignment may not be sent on another assignment without at least a 12-month return to duty with his or her regular employer. Successive assignments without a break of at least 60 calendar days will be regarded as continuous service under the mobility authority.

The regulations prohibit a Federal agency from sending on assignment an employee who has served on mobility assignments for more than a total of six years. The Director of the Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM) may waive this provision upon written request.

In the case of assignments made to Indian tribes or tribal organizations, the agency head or designee, may extend the period of assignment to any length of time where it is determined that the assignment will continue to benefit both the Federal agency and the Indian tribe or tribal organization.

Certification of Other Organizations

The Intergovernmental Personnel Act regulations specify that "other organizations" are eligible to participate and define what an "other organization" is. Entities interested in participating in the mobility program as an "other organization" are required to have their eligibility certified by USDA. A certification is permanent and may apply throughout the Federal Government if an organization has already been certified by another agency. USDA can accept this certification or require an organization to submit the appropriate paperwork for review. Requests for certification must include a copy of:

  • the organization's articles of incorporation;
  • bylaws;
  • Internal Revenue Service (IRS) letter of nonprofit status; and
  • any other information describing the organization's activities as they relate to the public management concerns of governments or universities.

The list of organizations already approved for IPA agreements is in a link at the bottom of webpage.

Reimbursement for Assignment

Cost-sharing arrangements for mobility assignments are negotiated between the participating organizations. The Federal agency may agree to pay all, some, or none of the costs associated with an assignment. Costs may include basic pay, supplemental pay, fringe benefits, and travel and relocation expenses.

Agencies may consider the income from certain private consulting work as part of the academic pay of university employees. Specifically, when the regular tour of duty for a university employee includes an allotment of time for consulting, or when the employee is performing any job-related consulting that cannot be continued during the assignment, the income received from consulting may be regarded as part of the employee's academic pay.

Agencies should not authorize reimbursement for indirect or administrative costs associated with the assignment. This includes charges for preparing and maintaining payroll records, developing reports on the mobility assignment, and negotiating the agreement. Other prohibited costs include tuition credits, office space, furnishings, supplies, staff support, and computer time.

Cost-sharing arrangements should be based on the extent to which the participating organizations benefit from the assignment. The larger share of the costs should be absorbed by the organization which benefits most from the assignment. Exceptions might occur when an organization's resources do not permit costs to be shared on a relative benefit basis.

Changes to the Assignment Agreement

Any significant changes in an assignee's duties, responsibilities, salary, work assignment location or supervisory relationships should be duly recorded as a modification to the original agreement. The agreement for each assignee must always be accurate, complete and current. Minor changes (salary increases due to annual pay adjustments, changes in benefits due to revised coverage and very short-term changes in duties) do not require a modification to the original agreement.

Termination of an Assignment

An assignment may be terminated at any time at the option of the Federal or non-Federal organization. Where possible, the party terminating the agreement before the original completion date should give a 30-day notice to all parties involved. This notification should be in writing and include reasons for the termination. USDA may terminate an assignment or take other corrective actions when an assignment is found to violate IPA regulations. A mobility assignment must be terminated immediately whenever the assignee is no longer employed by his or her original employer, regardless of whether the assignment is a detail or an appointment.

Departmental Clearance

A request must contain the information as outlined above and must include the signature of the administrator or agency head on the OF-69. Agencies must consider workforce diversity when initiating assignments through their recruitment and selection process. OHRM requires that request be submitted one month prior to the employee's tentative report date to the organization. Failure to comply with this requirement may delay approval of the request.

Agencies must submit a written request to the Director, OHRM for approval when one or more of the following circumstances apply:

  1. The assignment involves a Senior Executive Service or Senior Level position;
  2. Initial agreement is anticipated to be more than two years; and/or
  3. An extension is needed beyond the two years of the initial agreement.

If none of the above circumstances apply, the agency's HR Director (or designee) is the approving official.

Reports Required

All IPAs must be reported to the Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM) on an annual basis. The annual report must include: participant's name, pay plan, occupation series, grade, step, salary, duty station, start and end dates, length of assignment, whether or not the assignment was extended, total travel costs throughout the duration of the agreement, any fringe benefits, if the goals/objectives of the assignment were met and if the participant received a favorable evaluation. Reporting officials are to use the provided reporting spreadsheet. OHRM will supply OPM with this information annually.

Requests and Inquiries should be directed to:

Director, Office of Human Resources Management
Attn: HR Policy Division
Room 320-W, Jamie L. Whitten Building
1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20250

OHRM, HR Policy Division Point of Contact: Zakee Gordon
Phone: 202-720-1057
Email: zakee.gordon@usda.gov

IPA Related Links: