Agencies may not pay incentive awards from June 1 through year’s end to noncareer SES members. Image: Nicole Glass Photography/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffOPM has issued a memo similar to what it traditionally has sent just before a Presidential election reminding agencies of restrictions against converting political appointees to career positions—“burrowing in.”
“During this Presidential election year, we would like to remind agency heads of the need to ensure all personnel actions remain free of political influence or other improprieties and meet all relevant civil service laws, rules, and regulations,” OPM said in a memo on chcoc.gov. “All official personnel records should clearly document continued adherence to federal merit principles and remain free of any prohibited personnel practices.”
“In particular, any appointments of political appointees, Schedule C employees, and Noncareer Senior Executive Service members to competitive or non-political excepted service positions or to career SES positions require careful attention to ensure they comply with merit principles regarding fair and open competition,” it said.
OPM stressed that its policy requires the pre-appointment review of all competitive and non-political excepted service appointment actions that involve the appointment or conversion of a current or former political appointee, Schedule C employee, or noncareer SES member.
“OPM will continue to conduct merit staffing reviews of proposed career SES selections of political, Schedule C, and noncareer SES appointees before those selections are presented to a Qualifications Review Board for certification of executive qualifications. As it has in the past, OPM will suspend the processing of QRB cases during agency head transitions,” it said.
The memo further reminds agencies that they may not pay incentive awards from June 1 through year’s end to noncareer SES members or any individual who serves in a position of a confidential or policy determining character as a Schedule C employee. In addition, all political appointees continue to be covered by a freeze on discretionary awards, bonuses and similar payments that began in 2010, it said.
While burrowing in is an ongoing issue in the federal workforce, especially around presidential elections, GAO reviews covering the 2005-2009 and 2010-2016 periods found only a small number of political-to-career conversions—69 in the former period and 117 in the latter—and said that in all but a few cases, the appointee was deemed qualified for the job.
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