DoD also now has permanent direct hire authority and can
determine when there is a severe shortage of candidates or
critical hiring need to use it, it has the authority to
conduct competitive examining under its own procedures, and
may establish the duration of probationary periods — and must
do so where career employees are moving into positions with
markedly different skills sets, noted MSPB.
It said new probationers will be separated and have limited
appeals rights if they are found unsuited for their positions,
while current career employees that fail to complete
probationary periods will be returned to comparable positions
and pay they held before.
Further, DoD may establish additional hiring authorities
tailored to its needs, though the breadth of other hiring
flexibilities that could be eventually expanded to other
agencies is as yet unclear.
MSPB recently called on Congress in another report to give
agencies the flexibility to set the length of the probationary
period, to clarify in law that probationary employees are
not entitled to full employee protections, and that in the
absence of certification that employment should terminate
upon the end of the probationary period — possibly through
the use of a “not-to-exceed date.”
