OPM has proposed a change to current regulations to enable more military spouses and widows/widowers to get non-competitive appointments under a special hiring authority for up to two years following the death of a spouse, or if a spouse becomes totally disabled.
According to OPM many spouses aren’t prepared to enter the workforce within that two-year window and it has proposed allowing spouses of deceased and 100 percent-disabled veterans unlimited time to use the hiring authority.
The hiring authority has been on the books since September 11, 2009, and as of October 2011 it had been used to hire 887 military spouses.
