§3318 Competitive Service; Selections Using Numerical Ratings

Summary

An appointing authority must pick someone from the list of eligible candidates given under section 3317 unless the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (or an agency head the Director has allowed to decide) objects to one or more people for a good reason under the Director’s rules. For 240 days after a certificate is issued, another appointing authority can also pick someone from that same certificate if the job is in the same job series and at a similar grade. The original job notice must have said the list could be shared. The choosing must follow the same rules and usually does not need a new public posting, but the other appointing authority must tell its employees about the opening, give them up to 10 business days to apply, and check the applicants’ qualifications. If an appointing authority wants to pass over a preference eligible (a person with hiring preference) and hire someone who is not a preference eligible, the authority must give written reasons to the Director or agency head. The Director or agency head can ask for more information, decide if the reasons are enough, and send the decision to both parties; the appointing authority must follow that decision. For a preference eligible with a service-connected disability of 30 percent or more, the authority must also notify the Director and the person, give the reasons, and let the person reply within 15 days. If the same preference eligible was already lawfully passed over for the same job, the authority need not consider them again from the same list. If a reemployment list exists, only certain preference eligibles (those listed in section 2108(3)(C)–(G)) may be appointed from a register after examination. An appointing officer does not have to consider an eligible who has been considered for three separate appointments for the same job. The Director must make rules to run this process. The term “Director” means the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.