Federal Hiring: Reconciling Managerial Flexibility with Veterans' Preference
GGD-95-102
Published: Jun 16, 1995. Publicly Released: Jun 16, 1995.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed federal hiring procedures, focusing on whether: (1) those procedures are working; and (2) hiring reform efforts address the needs of agencies and applicants.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Office of Personnel Management | The Director, OPM, under OPM personnel demonstration project authority, should actively recruit agencies and assist them in carrying out demonstration projects that would test improved methods of implementing veterans' preference procedures. Such procedures should attempt to better reconcile managers' desire for greater discretion in the selection process with the legal requirement to provide veterans with preference in hiring. These procedures should be developed in consultation with representatives of veterans' groups, labor unions, and other affected parties, and could include, for example, such actions as developing alternatives to the Rule of Three, adding a new noncompetitive hiring authority for veterans, and establishing an affirmative veteran employment program similar to that maintained by the Department of Veterans Affairs. To ensure that increased flexibility does not come at the expense of accountability, any alternative tested should hold managers responsible for enhancing veteran employment opportunities, as required by law. On the basis of evaluations of these agency demonstration projects, OPM, in consultation with affected parties, may then be in a position to propose statutory changes to the hiring process that would implement successful innovations nationwide. |
Closed – Implemented
OPM discussed with agencies and affected constituencies the possibility of testing alternative methods of meeting the legal requirements of veterans' preference so that "managers would have greater discretion in the selection process." OPM found essentially no support for such personnel demonstration projects. USDA conducted an 8-year demonstration project that successfully used category rating to increase managers' discretion while maintaining or improving the rates at which preference-eligible veterans were hired. Veteran Servicing Organizations were kept apprised of this effort and have been pleased with election outcomes and supportive of extending permanently. The demonstration project ended in 1998 and USDA no longer has the authority to conduct category rating. Congress granted the Internal Revenue Service such authority, and OPM has included such a proposal among the HRM initiatives it is discussing with stakeholders.
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Topics
Employment discriminationEmployment opportunitiesFair employment programsFederal agenciesVeterans' preferenceFederal employeesHiring policiesPersonnel managementPersonnel recruitingVeterans employment programs