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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register Vol. 86, No. 108
Tuesday, June 8, 2021

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains regulatory documents having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents.

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL
MANAGEMENT
5 CFR PART 335
RIN 3206AN77

Promotion and Internal Placement Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:

The Office of Personnel Management OPM is issuing final regulations to give agencies, in individual hiring processes, the discretion to select and reinstate certain former Federal employees, to fill vacancies at any grade level or with promotion potential for which the individual is qualified, notwithstanding the grade of the position the individual had previously held on a permanent basis in the competitive service. An agency will be able to effectuate such reinstatements non-competitively, pursuant to a job opportunity announcement open to outside candidates, provided the former employee qualifies for the position as posted. The regulations will help agencies to recruit former Federal employees who have developed more enhanced or higher-level skill-sets than they had when they left government to apply for agency vacancies at grade levels appropriate to their current knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Previously, an agency could reinstate an individual, without competition, only to a position at a grade level that was no higher than the grade level of a position the individual had held on a permanent basis in the competitive service.
Reinstatement to a higher-graded position, or to a position with greater promotion potential, required competition. The intended effect of this hiring authority is to broaden the choices available to agencies when filling vacant positions and to promote a workforce in which individuals who have developed their competencies
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through extended service in the Federal Government and individuals who have developed their competencies in the private or non-profit sectors can enhance each others strengths by sharing knowledge and perspectives.
DATES: This rule is effective July 8, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michelle T. Glynn, Telephone: 202
6061571, Fax: 2026063340, TDD:
2024183134, or email:
michelle.glynn@opm.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 26, 2019, the Office of Personnel Management OPM
published proposed regulations in the Federal Register at 84 FR 70906 to change the criteria for how an agency may reinstate certain former Federal employees to a position in the competitive service in part 335 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations CFR.
OPM received 36 comments on the proposed rule: 20 from individuals, 11
from Federal agencies, 4 from professional associations, and 1 from a Federal employees union the Federal Employees Union.
Ten individuals, eight Federal agencies, and 2 professional associations expressed their general support for the proposed changes.
Three Federal agencies recommended OPM place a limitation on the number of times an individual can be noncompetitively reinstated under this hiring authority. OPM is not adopting this suggestion because the purpose of this rule is to broaden choices for an agency seeking to fill a vacancy by enabling an agency to choose to reinstate a former employee, noncompetitively, when such a former employee applies for the position and establishes qualifications at the appropriate level, and regardless of the grade or promotion potential of that employees prior Federal position.
Limitations on the number of times an individual could apply for a position through this reinstatement authority could act as a disincentive for individuals who have developed their knowledge, skills, and abilities through experiences outside of the Federal Government to attempt to return to Federal service. The Federal government can benefit when an employee leaves Federal service if the employee obtains new experiences in the private sector, the non-profit sector,
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academia, or state and local government that enrich the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the employee. Facilitating the return to Government of people who have broadened their work experience in this way advances the civil services goal of an effective and efficient government. Apart from providing the agency with additional choices in making selections for current vacancies, it enables agencies to build a workforce of individuals who bring a variety of knowledge, training, and experiences to their work. Accordingly, OPM seeks to remove barriers to reinstating Federal employees who have already competed for a Federal position once or who otherwise meet the service requirement for career tenure in accordance with 5
CFR 315.201 and reinstatement eligibility under 5 CFR 315.401, performed successfully, and subsequently gained valuable new skills and experiences when they apply to positions commensurate with their current level of qualification.
One commenter asked whether this rule waives the three-year time limit on reinstatement eligibility in 5 CFR
315.401b for individuals who did not complete the requirement for career tenure. OPM is not waiving the time limitations in 5 CFR 315.401b. Former career-conditional employees are eligible for reinstatement for three years.
Former career employees have lifetime eligibility for reinstatement.
Another individual commented that an employee who leaves an agency before completing 52 weeks at their current grade level should not be allowed to be reinstated after one year to a position at a higher grade level because the employee did not obtain all of the knowledge, skills, experience, and training at the lower grade to be eligible for work at the higher grade.
OPM agrees, in part, with this comment, but it has already addressed through existing regulation. Individuals seeking reinstatement to a higher-graded position under this rule must meet timein-grade TIG restrictions in accordance with 5 CFR part 300 subpart F;
reinstatement is not an exclusion from TIG restriction per 5 CFR 315.603b2.
OPM disagrees with the commenters belief that an individual could not meet the qualifications for higher-graded work if the requisite education or experience was obtained outside of Federal employment. OPM has
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