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Title 5, Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-102

§3311 Preference Eligibles; Examinations; Crediting Experience

Title 5 › PART III — EMPLOYEES › Subpart B — Employment and Retention › CHAPTER 33 — EXAMINATION, SELECTION, AND PLACEMENT › SUBCHAPTER I — EXAMINATION, CERTIFICATION, AND APPOINTMENT › § 3311

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

When people who are "preference eligible" take competitive federal job exams that count experience, they must get credit for time they served in the military if that service interrupted work in a similar job. They also must get credit for any job-related experience, including work done in religious, civic, welfare, service, or other organizations, even if they were not paid.

Full Legal Text

Title 5, §3311

Government Organization and Employees, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

In examinations for the competitive service in which experience is an element of qualification, a preference eligible is entitled to credit—
(1)for service in the armed forces when his employment in a similar vocation to that for which examined was interrupted by the service; and
(2)for all experience material to the position for which examined, including experience gained in religious, civic, welfare, service, and organizational activities, regardless of whether he received pay therefor.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large 5 U.S.C. 853.
June 27, 1944, ch. 287, § 4, 58 Stat. 388. The words “for the competitive service” are added after “examinations” for clarity. Application of this section to the excepted service in the executive branch and to the government of the District of Columbia, as provided in former section 858, is carried into section 3320. In paragraph (1), the words “service in the armed forces” are substituted for “in the military or naval service of the United States” on authority of the Act of
July 26, 1947, ch. 343, § 305(a), 61 Stat. 508. The word “actual” is omitted as surplusage. In paragraph (2), the words “material to the position for which examined” are substituted for “valuable” for clarity. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

5 U.S.C. § 3311

Title 5, Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102