Conversions of Selected Employees from Noncareer to Career Positions at Departments and Certain Agencies
Gao ID: GAO-05-584R June 9, 2005According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), a "conversion" occurs whenever an employee changes from one personnel "status" or "service" to another without a break in federal government service of more than 3 days. There are many kinds of conversions. This report focuses on one type of conversion, i.e., employees converting from noncareer to career positions. Conversions of individuals from noncareer to career positions must conform to applicable regulations and qualification requirements. As requested, we are providing Congress with information on the number of employees who were converted from noncareer to career positions during the 32-month period from May 1, 2001, through December 31, 2003, as reported to us by 41 departments and agencies. The types of positions this letter covers and a definition of each, along with the criteria we used to select the 41 departments and agencies, are listed in the scope and methodology section. As agreed with Congress, we will report at a later date on conversions reported by departments and selected agencies from May 1, 2001, through April 30, 2005. That report will discuss (1) the number of all conversions occurring during that 4-year period; (2) for each of these conversions, characteristics of the noncareer positions previously held by employees and the career positions to which they were converted; and (3) whether the departments and selected agencies followed appropriate authorities and proper procedures in converting employees holding noncareer positions to career positions at the GS-12 level and above.
On the basis of data submitted by the 41 departments and agencies and our discussions with them, 77 individuals holding noncareer positions were converted to career positions during the 32 months from May 1, 2001, through December 31, 2003. These conversions were reported by 18 of the 41 departments and agencies we surveyed. The other 23 departments and agencies reported no conversions during this period. Forty-four (57 percent) of the 77 reported conversions were made by three departments: the Departments of Defense (17), Justice (17), and Health and Human Services (10).
GAO-05-584R, Conversions of Selected Employees from Noncareer to Career Positions at Departments and Certain Agencies
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June 9, 2005:
The Honorable Henry A. Waxman:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on Government Reform:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Danny K. Davis:
Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Federal Workforce and Agency
Organization:
Committee on Government Reform:
House of Representatives:
Subject: Conversions of Selected Employees from Noncareer to Career
Positions at Departments and Certain Agencies:
According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), a "conversion"
occurs whenever an employee changes from one personnel "status" or
"service" to another without a break in federal government service of
more than 3 days. There are many kinds of conversions. This report
focuses on one type of conversion, i.e., employees converting from
noncareer to career positions. Conversions of individuals from
noncareer to career positions must conform to applicable regulations
and qualification requirements.
As requested, we are providing you with information on the number of
employees who were converted from noncareer to career positions during
the 32-month period from May 1, 2001, through December 31, 2003, as
reported to us by 41 departments and agencies. The types of positions
this letter covers and a definition of each, along with the criteria we
used to select the 41 departments and agencies, are listed in the scope
and methodology section.
As agreed with your offices, we will report at a later date on
conversions reported by departments and selected agencies from May 1,
2001, through April 30, 2005. That report will discuss (1) the number
of all conversions occurring during that 4-year period; (2) for each of
these conversions, characteristics of the noncareer positions
previously held by employees and the career positions to which they
were converted; and (3) whether the departments and selected agencies
followed appropriate authorities and proper procedures in converting
employees holding noncareer positions to career positions at the GS-12
level and above.
Results:
On the basis of data submitted by the 41 departments and agencies and
our discussions with them, 77 individuals holding noncareer positions
were converted to career positions during the 32 months from May 1,
2001, through December 31, 2003. These conversions were reported by 18
of the 41 departments and agencies we surveyed. The other 23
departments and agencies reported no conversions during this period.
Forty-four (57 percent) of the 77 reported conversions were made by
three departments: the Departments of Defense (17), Justice (17), and
Health and Human Services (10).[Footnote 1] (See encl. I for a more
detailed list of departments and agencies reporting conversions from
May 1, 2001, through December 31, 2003.)
Agency Comments:
We provided a draft of this report to OPM for their review and comment.
OPM agreed with the facts presented in this report, and provided some
technical clarifications, which we incorporated as appropriate. In
particular, OPM asked that we further clarify that some of the
individuals moving from noncareer to career positions as discussed in
this report, had previously held career positions (prior to being
appointed to the noncareer positions from which they were being
converted).
Scope and Methodology:
For the purpose of this review, we identified seven categories of
noncareer positions, defined below. Individuals holding noncareer
positions may have previously held career positions. For example,
limited-term Senior Executive Service (SES) and limited-emergency SES
positions are often filled by federal employees who have previously
held career positions and achieved career status.
* Schedule C: Appointments are generally noncompetitive and are for
excepted service positions graded GS-15 and below that involve
determining policy or that require a close confidential relationship
with the agency head or other key officials of the agency.
* Noncareer SES: Appointments are to positions with responsibility for
formulating, advocating, and directing administration policies.
Noncareer SES appointees have no tenure and serve "at the pleasure of
the department or agency head."
* Limited-term SES: Appointments may be made for up to 36 months to a
position with duties that will end in 36 months or an earlier specified
time period.
* Limited-emergency SES: Appointments may be made for up to 18 months
to meet a bona fide, unanticipated, urgent need.
* Presidential appointees, including executive level and noncareer
ambassadors: Appointments are made by the president, generally to fill
high-level executive positions. Appointees support and advocate the
president's goals and policies.
* Noncareer legislative branch: Appointments are primarily to positions
in member and committee offices.
* Other statutory at-will employees: Sometimes called administratively
determined positions. Certain agencies have specific authority to
appoint individuals to these positions noncompetitively. Appointees
serve at the pleasure of the agency head and can be removed at will and
the salary levels can be determined by the agency head within certain
limits.
We identified four categories of career positions, defined as follows:
* Career (competitive service): Appointments are made through a
governmentwide or "all sources" merit staffing (competitive) process,
including recruitment through a published announcement, rating and
ranking of eligible candidates, and establishment of OPM-created or
approved qualification standards.
* Career-conditional (competitive service): Appointments are for
permanent positions in the competitive service and are generally the
initial positions for new hires. Appointees must complete a 1-year
probationary period and a total of 3 years of continuous creditable
service to attain a career appointment.
* Career (SES): Appointments are to top-level policy, supervisory, and
managerial positions in most federal agencies. The SES includes most
Civil Service positions above grade 15 of the General Schedule. Career
SES positions require a further review and approval of the executive/
managerial qualifications of the proposed selectee by an OPM-
administered SES Qualifications Review Board.
* Excepted Service (Non-Schedule C): Appointments involve positions
within agencies that are not required to use OPM's competitive hiring
examination. These agencies have authority to establish their own
hiring procedures to fill excepted service vacancies. Most excepted
service employees, with the exception of Schedule C, have adverse
action appeal rights to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
The criteria used to select the executive branch departments and
agencies for this review were: (1) all 15 departments, (2) agencies
that had oversight or other regular responsibilities for federal
workforce issues, and (3) agencies of particular interest to the
congressional requesters of the review. Under these criteria, we
identified 41 departments and agencies. These are listed in enclosure
II.
To determine the number of employees who converted from noncareer to
career positions, we asked the 41 departments and agencies to first
complete a data collection instrument (DCI) for the selected
conversions made from May 1, 2001, through December 31, 2003, and
provide the information to us by April 15, 2004. To follow up on
conversions made on or after January 1, 2004, we asked the departments
and agencies to provide information on a monthly basis even if they had
no conversions, beginning on May 15, 2004, through April 30, 2005.
Using the DCI, we asked the 41 departments and agencies to provide
information about the career positions to which the individuals were
converted, i.e., the position title, the pay grade, annual salary, and
entered-on-duty date. We also asked the departments and agencies to
provide the title of the appointee's former position. In addition, we
asked the departments and agencies to provide the related Standard Form
50 for all appointments. These forms provide the official record of a
personnel action. We used the Form 50s to obtain information about each
appointee's prior position, such as annual salary, and to verify
information that the departments and agencies provided on the DCI. We
did not make judgments regarding the qualifications of former noncareer
employees for the career positions to which they were converted.
We conducted our work in Washington, D.C. from March 2004 through May
2005 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards.
As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents
of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days
from the report date. We will also make copies available to others upon
request. In addition, this report will be available at no charge on
GAO's Web site at http://www.gao.gov.
Major contributors to this report were Carolyn Samuels, Terry Draver,
Sarah Veale, Jeffrey McDermott, and Greg Wilmoth. Please contact me on
(202) 512-6806 if you have any questions.
Signed by:
George H. Stalcup:
Director, Strategic Issues:
Enclosure I: Number of Employees Converted from Noncareer to Career
Positions from May 1, 2001, through December 31, 2003, as Reported by
Certain Departments and Agencies[A]:
Departments and agencies: Department of Agriculture;
Number of conversions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 0;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 1.
Departments and agencies: Department of Commerce;
Number of conversions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 0;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 1.
Departments and agencies: Department of Defense;
Number of conversions: 17;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 12;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 5.
Departments and agencies: Department of Education;
Number of conversions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 0.
Departments and agencies: Department of Health and Human Services;
Number of conversions: 10;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 8;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 2.
Departments and agencies: Department of Homeland Security;
Number of conversions: 6;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 2;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 4.
Departments and agencies: Department of Housing and Urban Development;
Number of conversions: 2;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 0;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 2.
Departments and agencies: Department of the Interior;
Number of conversions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 0.
Departments and agencies: Department of Justice;
Number of conversions: 17;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 0;
Number of other conversions[B]: 16.
Departments and agencies: Department of Labor;
Number of conversions: 2;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 1.
Departments and agencies: Department of State;
Number of conversions: 2;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 0;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 2.
Departments and agencies: Department of the Treasury;
Number of conversions: 5;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 5;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 0.
Departments and agencies: Department of Veterans Administration;
Number of conversions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 0;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 1.
Departments and agencies: Environmental Protection Agency;
Number of conversions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 0;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 1.
Departments and agencies: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission;
Number of conversions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 0;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 1.
Departments and agencies: General Services Administration;
Number of conversions: 3;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 2.
Departments and agencies: National Aeronautics and Space
Administration;
Number of conversions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 1;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 0.
Departments and agencies: Office of Personnel Management;
Number of conversions: 5;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 5;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 0.
Total;
Number of conversions: 77;
Number of employees converted to Senior Executive Service (SES)
positions: 38;
Number of employees converted to Competitive Service (non-SES)
positions: 23;
Number of other conversions[B]: 16.
Source: GAO analysis of data based on department and agency responses
to our data collection instrument.
[A] These data include employees who had previously held career
positions prior to being appointed to noncareer positions, i.e.,
limited-term and limited-emergency SES positions, before they were
converted to career positions, such as career SES positions.
[B] Other conversions would include conversions to Non-Schedule C
excepted service positions.
[End of table]
Enclosure II:
Executive Branch Departments and Select Agencies Covered in This
Review:
1. Department of Agriculture;
2. Department of Commerce;
3. Department of Defense (Office of the Secretary, Air Force, Army, and
Navy);
4. Department of Education;
5. Department of Energy;
6. Department of Health and Human Services;
7. Department of Homeland Security;
8. Department of Housing and Urban Development;
9. Department of the Interior;
10. Department of Justice;
11. Department of Labor;
12. Department of State;
13. Department of Transportation;
14. Department of the Treasury;
15. Department of Veteran Affairs;
16. Commission on Civil Rights;
17. Consumer Product Safety Commission;
18. Corporation for National Service;
19. Environmental Protection Agency;
20. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission;
21. Export-Import Bank of the U.S.
22. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation;
23. Federal Labor Relations Authority;
24. Federal Maritime Commission;
25. Federal Trade Commission;
26. General Services Administration;
27. U.S. International Trade Commission;
28. Merit Systems Protection Board;
29. National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
30. National Labor Relations Board;
31. Office of Government Ethics;
32. Office of Management and Budget;
33. Office of Personnel Management;
34. Office of Special Counsel;
35. Office of the U.S. Trade Representative;
36. Overseas Private Investment Corporation;
37. Peace Corps;
38. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation;
39. Securities and Exchange Commission;
40. Small Business Administration;
41. Social Security Administration.
(450274):
FOOTNOTES
[1] The 77 conversions from noncareer to career status discussed in
this report represent about 0.01 percent of the more than 74,000
conversions of all types made governmentwide during this time frame.
Within the Senior Executive Service (SES), the 38 conversions discussed
in this report represent about 2.8 percent of the 1,359 conversions of
all types made governmentwide during this same period.
