Merit System Principles and Personnel Practices

Merit System Principles (MSP) and Prohibited Personnel Practices (PPP)

• All federal employees have the responsibility to uphold merit system principles and avoid prohibited personnel practices.
• MSPs ensure job qualification is based on ability, preventing discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, sex, political affiliation, or other non-merit factors.
• Recruitment, selection, and advancement must be based on merit after fair and open competition.

Agency Leaders, Supervisors, Managers & HR Staff

• Agency leaders are decision-makers and role models for MSP and PPP values.
• Supervisors, managers, and executives directly impact hiring, working conditions, utilization, and retention of federal employees.
• HR staff advise management on personnel authorities and how to exercise them, ensuring awareness of MSP, PPP, and EEO.

Key Agencies responsible for MSP and PPP Oversight

• Office of Personnel Management (OPM): Oversees and administers merit system principles.
• U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC): Protects federal employees from prohibited personnel practices.
• U.S. Merit System Protection Board (MSPB): Addresses appeals from federal workers alleging MSP and PPP violations.
• U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO): Provides oversight and investigates government agencies.
• Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC): Enforces federal laws prohibiting discrimination in the workplace.

Goals of MSP/PPP

• Clarifying expectations.
• Balancing system flexibility with system integrity.
• Promoting efficiency and effectiveness within federal agencies.
• Establishing accountability for avoiding prohibited personnel practices.

Nine Basic Standards of MSP

• Recruit, select, and advance on merit after fair and open competition.
• Treat employees and applicants fairly and equitably.
• Provide equal pay for equal work and reward excellent performance.
• Maintain high standards of integrity, conduct, and concern for the public interest.
• Manage employees efficiently and effectively.
• Retain or separate employees on the basis of their performance.
• Educate and train employees if it will result in better organizational or individual performance.
• Protect employees from improper political influence.
• Protect employees against reprisal for the lawful disclosure of information in "whistleblower" situations.

Prohibited Personnel Practices and Intent

• The act itself may not be a violation; intent behind the action must be considered.
• Improper purpose behind a decision, preselection, or illegal advantage granted can constitute a prohibited personnel practice.
• 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(6) must be proven to have an intentional or purposeful preference for a particular individual to violate MSP.

Special Hiring Authorities

• Section 1599c(a): Enhanced appointments and compensation for healthcare professionals caring for wounded or injured military personnel.
• Certain former overseas employees (EO 12721): Provides for noncompetitive appointment of certain former overseas employees.
• Noncompetitive appointment of certain military spouses (EO 13473/ now covered by 5 U.S.C.): Authorizes the noncompetitive hiring of military spouses.
• Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA): Allows agencies to appoint eligible veterans non-competitively to positions at any GS level up to GS 11.
• 30% Disabled Veterans Appointing Authority: Provides for noncompetitive appointment of veterans with at least a 30% disability rating.
• Interchange Agreements with other merit systems (5 CFR 6.7): Allows for the transfer of employees between different merit systems.
• Schedule Appointments:
  • Schedule A: Individuals with disabilities, chaplains, or attorneys.
  • Schedule B: Positions not suitable for a competitive exam.
  • Schedule C: SES and political appointees.
  • Schedule D: Pathways, interns, recent grads, and Presidential Management Fellows.

Probationary Period

• Purpose: Evaluates the individual's conduct and performance to determine if the appointment should become final.
• DoD Competitive Service: 2-year probationary period for new career or career conditional appointees.
• DoD Competitive Service Supervisors: 1-year probationary period, served concurrently with new hire's probationary period.

Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA)

• Provides opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions after initial excepted service appointment.
• Eligibility:
  • Veterans discharged honorably or under general conditions.
  • Completed 3 or more years of active service.
  • Preference-eligible veterans.
  • Meeting qualification requirements.

Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA)

• Excepted authority to appoint eligible veterans non-competitively to positions up to GS 11.
• 2 years of satisfactory performance required for competitive service conversion.
• Permanent, term, or temporary appointments available.
• Veteran's preference applies if more than one VRA candidate is preference-eligible.
• Eligible veterans:
  • All disabled veterans.
  • Veterans with a campaign badge or expeditionary medal.
  • Veterans who participated in a military operation for which an Armed Forces Service Medal was awarded.
  • Veterans recently separated with honorable or general discharge within the past 3 years.

Provisional Appointments

• Temporary appointments to continuing positions, with the intent to convert to non-temporary appointment.
• Commonly used for 30% disabled veteran appointments.

Delegated Examining (DE)

• OPM delegates to agencies to fill competitive civil service jobs through a competitive process.
• Open to all U.S. citizens, including current federal employees.
• Used for filling jobs that are not confidential or policy-determining and where it is impractical to apply qualification standards.

Schedule A

Positions that are not confidential or policy determining, and where it is impracticable to examine/apply qualification standards.

Schedule C

Positions designated for SES and political appointees.

Interchange Agreements

• Agreements between agencies that allow for the transfer of employees.
• Approved by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Schedule D

• Positions designated for Pathway programs, interns, recent grads, and Presidential Management Fellows.

Creditable Absence During Probationary Period

• 22 workdays: Period of absence in non-pay status (sick leave, annual leave, LWOP) may be counted toward probationary period completion.

Failure to Complete Probation

• An employee who fails to complete probation during the probationary period may be subject to removal.

Probationary Period Exceptions

• Transfers of employees who have not completed probation.
• Career or Career Conditional appointments.
• Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) appointments.
• Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA) appointments.

Creditable Time During Probationary Period

• Time spent in approved non-pay status while on the rolls is creditable towards completion of the probationary period.
• 22 workdays: Creditable towards probationary period completion.

Standard Form (SF) 50 Tenure Indicators

• Tenure 2: Indicates a temporary appointment in the competitive service.

Veterans' Preference Rules

• Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 335: Codifies Veterans’ Preference rules.

Campaign or Expeditionary Medals

• DD-214 Block 23: Provides information on the campaign or expeditionary medals of a service member.