5 C.F.R. PART 332—RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION THROUGH COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION
Title 5 - Administrative Personnel
Title 5: Administrative Personnel
PART 332—RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION THROUGH COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION
Section Contents
§ 332.101 General policy of competition.
§ 332.102 Definitions.
§ 332.103 Filling certain postmaster positions.
General
§ 332.301 Termination of eligibility.
Acceptance of Applications After Closing Date of Examinations
§ 332.311 Quarterly examinations.
§ 332.312 Applicants in military or overseas service.
§ 332.313 Preference eligibles separated from competitive positions.
§ 332.314 [Reserved]
Restoration of Eligibility
§ 332.321 Preference eligibles who resigned from competitive positions.
§ 332.322 Persons who lost eligibility because of military service.
§ 332.323 Employees separated during probation.
§ 332.401 Order on registers.
§ 332.402 Referring candidates for appointment.
§ 332.403 Selective certification.
§ 332.404 Order of selection from certificates.
§ 332.405 Three considerations for appointment.
§ 332.406 Objections to eligibles.
§ 332.407 Restriction of consideration to one sex.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 1302, 3301, 3302; E.O. 10577, 3 CFR, 1954–1958 Comp., p. 218.
Source: 33 FR 12426, Sept. 4, 1968, unless otherwise noted.
Subpart A—General Provisions
top
§ 332.101 General policy of competition.
top
(a) Examinations for entrance into the competitive service shall be open competitive, except that OPM may authorize noncompetitive examinations when sufficient competent persons do not compete.
(b) An examination for promotion, demotion, reassignment, transfer, or reinstatement may be a noncompetitive examination.
§ 332.102 Definitions.
topIn this part:
(a) Certificate means a list of eligibles from a register submitted to an appointing officer so that he may consider the eligibles for appointment.
(b) Active military duty means active duty in full pay status in the Armed Forces of the United States, including an initial period of active duty for training.
§ 332.103 Filling certain postmaster positions.
top(a) When a vacancy occurs or is about to occur in a postmaster position in a fourth-class post office and the position involves fewer than 7 daily hours of service, a representative of the U.S. Postal Service shall visit the locality and, after due public notice has been given, accept applications from interested persons. The representative shall establish a register based on the qualifications and suitability of each applicant and on his ability to provide proper facilities for transacting the business of the office. The U.S. Postal Service shall submit to OPM for postaudit one copy of the representative's report showing the qualifications of all applicants, the basis for ranking the eligibles, and the selection of an eligible from the register. The report shall be accompanied by the applications of all applicants. A person selected for appointment from such a register may be appointed after the date the postmaster position is determined to involve 7 or more daily hours of service only with the prior approval of OPM.
(b) When making an appointment from a register established under paragraph (a) of this section, the appointing officer shall select an eligible in accordance with §§332.404 through 332.407.
(c) When OPM, after holding two examinations, is unable to secure a complete certificate of three eligibles for a postmaster position involving 7 or more daily hours of service, it may authorize the establishment of a register and selection therefrom in accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section.
[34 FR 19748, Dec. 17, 1969]
Subpart B [Reserved]
topSubpart C—Period of Competition and Eligibility
topGeneral
top§ 332.301 Termination of eligibility.
top(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, a person's eligibility on a register is terminated when:
(1) He accepts a career or career-conditional appointment from the register; or
(2) OPM terminates the eligibility of all persons on the register.
(b) OPM may determine that in particular types of cases eligibility may not be terminated in less than 1 year. OPM shall publish the conditions under which eligibility may not be terminated in less than 1 year.
[33 FR 12426, Sept. 4, 1968, as amended at 66 FR 66710, Dec. 27, 2001]
Acceptance of Applications After Closing Date of Examinations
top§ 332.311 Quarterly examinations.
top(a) A 10-point preference eligible is entitled to file an application at any time for an examination for any position for which OPM maintains a register, for which a register is about to be established, or for which a nontemporary appointment was made in the preceding three years. For the purposes of this paragraph OPM shall hold an examination not later than the quarterly period succeeding that in which the application is filed.
(b) When there is no appropriate existing register, OPM may establish special registers containing the names of eligibles from the quarterly examinations authorized by paragraph (a) of this section, together with the names of eligibles described in §332.322, and use these registers for certification to fill appropriate vacancies.
[35 FR 414, Jan. 13, 1970, as amended at 41 FR 22549, June 4, 1976]
§ 332.312 Applicants in military or overseas service.
topSubject to the time limits and other conditions published by OPM in its operating manuals, the following persons are entitled to file applications for open competitive examinations after the closing date for receipt of applications when there is an existing register or a register about to be established:
(a) A person who could not file an application during the filing period, or appear for an assembled examination, because of military service, or hospitalization continuing for 1 year or less following discharge from military service;
(b) An employee of the Federal Government who, as a member of a reserve unit of the military service, could not file an application during the filing period, or appear for an assembled examination, because of active duty beyond 15 days with the military service even though the duty is designated for training purposes; and
(c) A United States citizen who could not file an application during the filing period, or appear for an assembled examination, because of overseas service with a Federal agency or with an international organization in which the United States Government participates.
[33 FR 12426, Sept. 4, 1968, as amended at 66 FR 66710, Dec. 27, 2001]
§ 332.313 Preference eligibles separated from competitive positions.
topThe following persons are entitled to have their names entered on an appropriate existing register in the order prescribed by §332.401 if they were last employed under career or career-conditional appointments:
(a) A preference eligible who is declared eligible therefor after appeal from furlough or discharge; and
(b) A preference eligible who has been furloughed or separated without delinquency or misconduct and who applies within 90 days after furlough or separation.
§ 332.314 [Reserved]
topRestoration of Eligibility
top§ 332.321 Preference eligibles who resigned from competitive positions.
topA qualified preference eligible who resigned without delinquency or misconduct from career or career-conditional employment is entitled to have his name reentered on each register on which his name formerly appeared (or on a successor register) if he applies within 90 days after separation.
§ 332.322 Persons who lost eligibility because of military service.
top(a) A person who lost a period of eligibility on a register because he has served on active military duty since June 30, 1950, is entitled to have his name restored to that register or a successor register when he meets the following conditions:
(1) He has not served more than four years following the date of his entrance on active military duty, exclusive of any additional service imposed pursuant to law. The date of entrance on duty means the first date between June 30, 1950, and July 1, 1971, on which he began a new period of active military duty, whether it was by original entry, reentry or extension.
(2) He is honorably separated from active military duty.
(3) He applies for restoration of eligibility within 90 days after discharge from active military duty or from hospitalization continuing for 1 year or less following separation from active military duty.
(4) He is still qualified to perform the duties of the position for which the register is used.
(b) When a person is entitled to have his name restored to a register under paragraph (a) of this section, OPM shall enter his name at the top of the appropriate group on the register if another eligible standing lower on the register on which his name formerly appeared was given a career or career-conditional appointment from that register. For professional and scientific positions in GS–9 and above and in comparable pay levels under other pay-fixing authorities, all eligibles are in one group. For all other positions, preference eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more are in one group and all other eligibles in another.
(c) When there is no appropriate existing register, OPM may establish special registers containing the names of persons entitled to priority of certification under paragraph (b) of this section, together with the names of eligibles described in §332.311, and use these registers for certification to fill appropriate vacancies.
[33 FR 12426, Sept. 4, 1968, as amended at 35 FR 414, Jan. 13, 1970]
§ 332.323 Employees separated during probation.
topAn employee who is separated (voluntarily or involuntarily) without delinquency or misconduct during his probationary period is entitled to have his name restored to the register of eligibles from which he was appointed, if he applies for restoration while the register is still in use.
Subpart D—Consideration for Appointment
top§ 332.401 Order on registers.
topSubject to apportionment, residence, and other requirements of law and this chapter, OPM shall enter the names of eligibles on the appropriate register in accordance with their numerical ratings, except that the names of:
(a) Preference eligibles shall be entered in accordance with their augmented ratings and ahead of others having the same rating; and
(b) Preference eligibles who have a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more shall be entered at the top of the register in the order of their ratings unless the register is for professional or scientific positions in GS–9 and above and in comparable pay levels under other pay-fixing authorities.
§ 332.402 Referring candidates for appointment.
topOPM or a Delegated Examining Unit (DEU) will refer candidates for consideration by simultaneously listing a candidate on all certificates for which the candidate is interested, eligible, and within reach, except that, when it is deemed in the interest of good administration and candidates have been so notified, OPM or a DEU may choose to refer candidates for only one vacancy at a time. Selecting officials will receive sufficient names, when available, to allow them to consider at least 3 candidates for each vacancy.
[67 FR 7056, Feb. 15, 2002]
§ 332.403 Selective certification.
topWhen there is no register appropriate as a whole for the certification of eligibles for a particular position, OPM may prepare a certificate from the most nearly appropriate existing register by the selective certification of eligibles qualified for the particular position in the order of their ranking on the register. Special overseas selection factors may also be used as a basis for selective certification from a register used for filling overseas positions. When appropriate, OPM may rerate the eligibles on the register on the basis of the particular requirements of the position.
§ 332.404 Order of selection from certificates.
topAn appointing officer, with sole regard to merit and fitness, shall select an eligible for:
(a) The first vacancy from the highest three eligibles on the certificate who are available for appointment; and
(b) The second and each succeding vacancy from the highest three eligibles on the certificate who are unselected and available for appointment.
§ 332.405 Three considerations for appointment.
topAn appointing officer is not required to consider an eligible who has been considered by him for three separate appointments from the same or different certificates for the same position.
§ 332.406 Objections to eligibles.
top(a) An appointing officer is not required to consider an eligible to whose certification for the particular position he makes an objection that is sustained by OPM for any of the reasons stated in §339.101 or §731.201 of this chapter or for other reasons considered by OPM to be disqualifying for the particular position. OPM may also sustain an objection to certification of an otherwise qualified eligible for an overseas position on the basis of special overseas selection factors.
(b) An appointing officer may not pass over a preference eligible to select a non-preference eligible unless an objection to the preference eligible is sustained by OPM.
(c) Pending OPM action on an agency's objection to an eligible, the agency may not appoint an eligible who would be within reach only if the objection is sustained.
(d) Paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, do not apply if the agency has more than one position to fill from the same certificate and holds a position for the individual objected to in the event OPM does not sustain the objection
(e) Agencies shall follow the procedures for objecting to an eligible published by OPM in its operating manuals.
[42 FR 61240, Dec. 2, 1977, as amended at 66 FR 66710, Dec. 27, 2001]
§ 332.407 Restriction of consideration to one sex.
topAn appointing officer may not restrict his consideration of eligibles or employees for competitive appointment or appointment by noncompetitive action to a position in the competitive service to one sex, except in unusual circumstances when OPM finds the action justified.
[34 FR 5367, Mar. 19, 1969. Redesignated at 42 FR 61240, Dec. 2, 1977]
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