Federal Times: Bill gives seasonal workers credit toward full-time jobs
Washington, DC,
July 13, 2015
Seasonal workers employed by certain federal agencies will be able to bank their experience for consideration for full-time employment under legislation that passed the House of Representatives Tuesday. Read more.
Seasonal employees at the Department of Agriculture and Department of Interior are often rehired every year to do important, sometimes dangerous jobs. However, agencies don't currently take that work experience into account when those employees apply for full-time positions with the federal government. The Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act looks to change that. "These employees are terminated each season and often rehired in subsequent seasons," said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., a principal sponsor of the bill. "Despite years of service, career advancement opportunities are severely limited for these long-term, temporary seasonal workers who are barred from even competing for many vacant permanent positions." The bill only applies to certain land management agencies within USDA and Interior, namely the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Parks Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Reclamation Legislators pointed out that the bill is revenue neutral, as it doesn't create any new positions, but merely gives credit to part-time workers applying for openings. They also hope the measure will make seasonal positions more attractive to prospective candidates. "This legislation would significantly reduce the costs associated with the high attrition rate in our nation's temporary seasonal workforce and enhance the pool of highly-qualified applicants that compete for permanent seasonal positions," said Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, a co-sponsor on the bill. "It's truly a win-win situation for our federal land management agencies." The bill had support from a number of federal employee groups, including the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, the National Treasury Employees Union, the National Association of Government Employees, the American Federation of Government Employees, the Association of National Park Ranger and the National Federation of Federal Employees. "Too many, including thousands of wildland firefighters, have been stuck for too long in dead-end jobs, not because of a lack of merit on their parts, but because of flawed regulations that do not recognize their years of service," NFFE President William Dougan said. "The Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act removes a nonsensical regulatory barrier to career-advancement opportunities for long-serving federal wildland firefighters and other temporary seasonal workers." The measure passed the House in a voice vote on July 7. Floor Statement of Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act, H.R. 1531 U.S. House of Representatives Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon in strong support of the bipartisan Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act. I want to take a moment to recognize Representative Don Young and Representative Rob Bishop, two of this Chamber’s most dedicated advocates for the men and women that comprise America’s hardworking temporary civil service, particularly our Nation’s courageous temporary seasonal wildland firefighters. It was an honor to join my esteemed colleagues, who have each served as Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, to develop and introduce this good government legislation. The spirit of bipartisanship that went into creating the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act is reflected in the equal number of Democratic and Republican Members that joined as cosponsors. I was pleased that the entire Committee on Oversight and Government Reform joined me in unanimously supporting this much-needed reform to remove arbitrary barriers that prevent talented, long-term temporary seasonal employees from competing for vacant permanent positions. As the Committee noted in favorably reporting H.R. 1531, our legislation will improve government effectiveness by enhancing the quality of the pool of applicants for Federal positions to include proven, experienced individuals serving under temporary appointments in land management agencies, which were obtained through open, competitive examination. Our commonsense legislation provides long-serving temporary seasonal wildland firefighters and other seasonal employees with the same career advancement opportunities that are available to other Federal employees. Specifically, the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act authorizes qualifying land management agency employees serving under time-limited appointments to compete for vacant permanent positions under internal merit promotion procedures; just as any permanent Federal employee is eligible to do under current law. Our bill is deficit neutral because it only strengthens the pool of individuals eligible to compete for vacant Federal permanent positions. As the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) noted in H.R. 1531’s cost-estimate, “CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have no significant effect on the Federal budget. Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues…” since our bipartisan bill would, “…not change the total number of Federal jobs available or the salaries paid to Federal employees.” As many of my colleagues understand, particularly those Members who represent Western constituencies, many Federal land management employees, including wildland firefighters, are often hired under temporary appointments that amount to less than 6 months or 1,040 hours. These individuals often have their so-called “temporary” appointments repeatedly extended on an annual basis. As Congressman Stephen Lynch, my friend and the former Chairman of the Federal Workforce Subcommittee observed at a 2010 hearing, “Oftentimes, seasonal temporary employees have worked in the same capacity year after year, decade after decade.” Yet, despite years of service, career advancement opportunities are severely limited for these long-term, temporary seasonal workers who are barred from even competing for many vacant permanent positions. It is difficult to overstate the adverse impact this unfair policy has on Americans serving under time-limited appointments, since many agencies utilize merit promotion procedures to competitively fill non-entry level jobs. Indeed, bipartisan concerns have been raised over a status quo where no matter how long an individual serves under a time-limited appointment, even one that was originally obtained under open, competitive examination, he or she never acquires the status that would enable them to compete for vacant permanent positions being filled under an agency’s internal merit promotion procedures. For example, a former Chairman of the House Civil Service Subcommittee addressed this illogical inequity at a 1993 oversight hearing, stating: “Furthermore, there needs to be better access for all temporary employees, not just term employees, to apply for permanent positions within the Federal Government. It is simply unfair that after years of employment, a temporary [employee] applying for a permanent position job is no better off than someone off of the street applying for a job. Agencies could save large sums of money on education and training by hiring more temporary employees for permanent positions.” At the same hearing, former Congressman Dan Burton submitted a statement for the record expressing the view that: “One of the best things we can do for temporary employees is to increase their opportunities to compete for permanent positions in the Federal workforce when these become available. I think that a temporary employee who has done a good job should be eligible to compete for permanent Federal positions that currently are open only to permanent Federal employees.” The current barrier to competition placed on our Nation’s temporary seasonal employees demoralizes the dedicated and courageous corps of temporary civil servants that serve in land management agencies, contributes to increased attrition, and ultimately leads to higher training costs and a less experienced and capable workforce. To be eligible to compete under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act, a land management agency employee must be serving under a temporary or term appointment that he or she was initially appointed to under open, competitive examination; have served with that land management agency under one or more time-limited appointments for a period or periods totaling more than 24 months of service, without an intervening break in service of two or more years; and achieve an acceptable level of performance for the duration of his or her service under the time-limited appointment or appointments. An individual that successfully competes for a vacant permanent position under H.R. 1531 would, upon appointment, become a career-conditional employee, unless the employee has otherwise completed the service requirements for career tenure, and acquire competitive status upon appointment. In closing, I strongly urge all my colleagues to support the bipartisan Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act. Ensuring that our Nation’s hard working temporary seasonal employees may compete to serve the American people on a permanent basis will not only improve government efficiency and effectiveness, but it is simply the right thing to do on behalf of this dedicated workforce. List of Organizations Supporting Connolly Bill
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