§9510 General Workforce Staffing

Summary

Allows certain IRS workers on competitive term appointments to be moved into permanent competitive jobs if they meet rules. To convert, an employee must have 2 years of continuous competitive term service, have been hired under competitive procedures for permanent jobs, have met performance standards, and have been told in the original job announcement that conversion might be possible. Any permanent job must be in the same line of work as the term appointment. The Treasury Secretary can use category ratings to group qualified applicants by quality instead of giving each a numeric score. Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are placed in categories based on their skills. Within each category, preference eligibles are listed before others. For most jobs (except scientific or professional jobs at GS‑9 or higher), veterans with a service‑connected disability of 10 percent or more who meet the minimum standards must be placed in the highest category. Hiring managers may pick from the highest category, or if fewer than three people are in that category, from a combined top-two category, but they may not skip a preference eligible in the same or higher category unless sections 3317(b) or 3318(c) allow it. The Secretary may move IRS staff between offices without the usual 120‑day limit, set probation up to 3 years for some IRS jobs, and must still follow presidential placement priorities for surplus workers and any court orders about employment practices.