Agencies Still Using Long-Term Temps

The government has been criticized for years for making extensive use of employees designated temporary for long periods of times. For the “temporary” employees themselves, the issue is largely one of job security and benefits-they have far less of either than tenured employees. For permanent employees, the issue is largely one of restricted potential for advancement because temporary employees are filling positions that otherwise could be filled by permanent employees. Those concerns led to rules in 1994 to generally limit temps to two-year assignments, but the General Accounting Office recently found that many agencies still are not following that policy. For the latest on this contentious practice, go to https://www.fedweek.com/HotFreeNews/default.asp for the full story in the hot free info section of our website.