[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 147 (Tuesday, August 1, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 39101]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-18709]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 147 / Tuesday, August 1, 1995 / Rules 
and Regulations  


[[Page 39101]]


OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 316

RIN 3206-AG 62


Bringing Nonpermanent Excepted Positions Into the Competitive 
Service

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Final regulations.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is revising its 
regulations governing retention of employees whose excepted positions 
are brought into the competitive service to permit the employees to 
receive term appointments if their excepted appointments had time 
limits longer than 1 year. This will avoid hardship to the employees, 
who could otherwise be retained only as temporary employees without 
benefits.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 31, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tracy E. Spencer, (202) 606-0830, or fax (202) 606-0390.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Civil Service Rule III (5 CFR 3.1) 
authorizes OPM to prescribe conditions under which ``a person who 
occupies a permanent position when it is placed in the competitive 
service * * * or is otherwise made subject to competitive examination'' 
may acquire a competitive status. OPM's regulations implementing this 
authority are found in 5 CFR 315.701, 316.701, and 316.702.
    Currently, those regulations permit nonpermanent employees whose 
positions are brought into the competitive service to be retained only 
under temporary appointments limited to 1 year or less. However, some 
nonpermanent excepted appointments are more comparable to term 
appointments, i.e., they are made for periods longer than 1 year and 
confer eligibility for within-grade increases, promotions and 
reassignments, and retirement and insurance benefits.
    On April 7, 1995 (60 FR 17655), we proposed regulations to permit 
employees holding such appointments to receive noncompetitive term 
appointments if their positions are brought into the competitive 
service. We received no substantive comments on the proposed 
regulations and are adopting them as final regulations with no change. 
The regulations also make editorial changes and remove obsolete 
references to the Federal Personnel Manual.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    I certify that these regulations will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities (including 
small businesses, small organizational units, and small governmental 
jurisdictions) because they apply only to Federal employees.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 316

    Government employees.

Office of Personnel Management.
James B. King,
 Director.

    Accordingly, OPM is amending 5 CFR part 316 as follows:

PART 316--TEMPORARY AND TERM EMPLOYMENT

    1. The authority citation for part 316 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 3301, 3302, and E.O. 10577 (3 CFR 1954-1958 
Comp., p. 218); Sec. 316.302 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 3304(c), 38 
U.S.C. 2014, and E.O. 12362, as revised by E.O. 12585; Sec. 316.402 
also issued under 5 U.S.C. 3304(c) and 3312, 22 U.S.C. 2506 (93 
Stat. 371), E.O. 12137, 38 U.S.C. 2014, and E.O. 12362, as revised 
by E.O. 12585 and E.O. 12721.

    2. In Sec. 316.701, paragraph (c) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 316.701  Public or private enterprise taken over by the 
Government.

* * * * *
    (c) An agency may retain an employee under paragraph (a) of this 
section in a position that it determines is noncontinuing under a 
temporary appointment. That appointment may be made for a period not to 
exceed 1 year and will be subject to the time limits set out in 
Sec. 316.402.
    3. In Sec. 316.702, paragraphs (b)(1) and (c) are revised and a new 
paragraph (d) is added to read as follows:


Sec. 316.702  Excepted positions brought into the competitive service.

* * * * *
    (b)(1) When an agency retains an employee under paragraph (a) of 
this section who was serving in an excepted position under an 
indefinite appointment or an appointment without time limit, the agency 
may convert that employee's appointment to career or career-conditional 
under Sec. 315-701.
* * * * *
    (c) An employee who was serving under an excepted appointment 
limited to 1 year or less may be retained as a temporary employee under 
paragraph (a) of this section until the scheduled expiration date of 
the employee's excepted appointment. Extension of the employee's 
temporary appointment beyond that date will be subject to the 
provisions of Sec. 316.402.
    (d) An employee who was serving under an excepted appointment with 
a definite time limit longer than 1 year may be retained under a term 
appointment. The appointment will be subject to all conditions 
generally applicable to term appointments and may be extended up to the 
maximum limit for term appointments established under Sec. 316.301. 
Service under the employee's excepted appointment counts against the 
maximum limit for the term appointment.

[FR Doc. 95-18709 Filed 7-31-95; 8:45 am]
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