This IRM is part of the Servicewide effort to provide IRS Human Resource practitioners with the most current policies and procedures from the HCO, PO.

It has been a long-standing policy of the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the IRS that the requirements for employment in the excepted service are normally the same as the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) requirements for employment in the competitive service. Written tests required for competitive appointments are waived for appointments in the excepted service. Within both the competitive and excepted service, the requirements for positions under the General Schedule are also applicable to positions under other pay plans, with the exception of positions under the Federal Wage System.

Laws - United States Code:

Public Laws:

Regulations - Code of Federal Regulations:

Other:

HCO, OHRS, PO is responsible for:

HCO, OHRO, PEO is responsible for:

The following table lists commonly used acronyms in this IRM.

The following table defines terms contained in this IRM:

Applicants selected under an excepted appointment will be required to serve a two-year trial period under 5 CFR 213.3102(u)(6), Entire Executive Service, unless EO or regulation authorizing the appointment specifies a shorter trial period. The trial period is an assessment period that provides managers the opportunity to evaluate an appointee’s performance and conduct on the job to determine the fitness of employee for continued employment in the IRS.

Time spent on the excepted appointment counts toward the probationary period and/or career tenure if converted to a career or career-conditional appointment in the competitive service per 5 CFR 213.3102(u)(6), Entire Executive Service. Time spent on a temporary appointment, as specified in 5 CFR 213.3102(u)(6), Entire Executive Service, does not count towards the two-year requirement if the work is of a temporary nature.

The HCO, OHRO, PEO, and TA are responsible for ensuring that the vacancy announcement contains trial period information specific to the position and type of appointment.

OCRC is responsible for assisting HCO, HOps with reasonable accommodation requests to allow applicants and employees with disabilities to efficiently apply for and perform the duties of their positions.

The legal framework that supports and encourages the employment, retention, and advancement of people with disabilities is discussed on the OPM website, Policy, Data, Oversight - Disability Employment

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was given authority over equal employment enforcement in the federal government by Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978, later incorporated into EO 12144, Transfer of Certain Equal Pay and Age Discrimination in Employment Enforcement Functions, dated June 26, 1979.

The role of the OPM is to promote the hiring, placement, and advancement of disabled individuals and rehabilitated offenders throughout the federal sector. Additionally, OPM furnishes direction, guidance, and technical support to agency heads, directors of human resources, and personnel officers in their selective placement program activities. OPM maintains a website devoted to disability employment OPM website, Policy, Data, Oversight - Disability Employment.

The OHRO has responsibility for hiring programs associated with the Disability Program. The Director, TA is responsible for initiating and coordinating the IRS Affirmative Action Plan for the employment of persons with disabilities with the HCO, TA, Hiring Operations (HOps), OCRC, and Treasury.

A Schedule A Program Manager is located in HCO, OHRO, TA, PEO, HOps, SRH. Schedule A Program Managers are advocates for Schedule A hiring and should be the first contact for the hiring managers when filling positions under the Schedule A appointing authority. Schedule A Program Manager duties are collateral.

The Schedule A Program Manager will:

Managers will:

An applicant with a disability may be appointed non-competitively to a permanent or a temporary position, under the Schedule A appointing authority (An open announcement is not required). The Schedule A is a special appointing authority for persons with disabilities. Proof of an applicant’s disability is required prior to making an appointment under this authority.

To be eligible for these noncompetitive, Schedule A appointments, applicants must meet the definition for being disabled contained in 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Appointment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, Severe Physical Disabilities, or Psychiatric Disabilities, and provide the following:

Management may utilize a temporary appointment to observe the applicant on the job to determine whether the applicant is capable of performing the duties of the position. When this option is used, the hiring manager may convert the applicant to a permanent appointment when it has been determined that the individual is able to perform the duties of the position as demonstrated in 5 CFR 213.3102(u)(5), Appointment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, Severe Physical Disabilities, or Psychiatric Disabilities.

Applicants who are selected for positions under Schedule A must meet the qualification requirements for the position and be able to perform the essential duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodations. Per 5 CFR 213, Excepted Service, all appointments in the excepted service are specifically excepted from competitive service and they do not confer competitive status. Therefore, Schedule A employees are not eligible to compete under merit promotion procedures through internal or status announcements. These employees may request non-competitive consideration for a position they qualify for by contacting their manager who coordinates with the HOps Schedule A Coordinator.

Disabled employees may be promoted and reassigned to positions for which they are qualified. There are no special procedures as in the initial appointment procedure, for promotions and reassignments of disabled employees.

Employees have the option to request consideration for placement into a position for which they qualify using Schedule A authority for placement. To do this, a request is made by the employee to their manager and/or through the Schedule A Program Manager.

Disabled employees should make their qualifications and desires for particular positions known to their managers in order to be considered for such internal promotions and reassignments.

Promotion and reassignments for Schedule A disabled employees are considered an alternate method of filling a vacancy.

After two years of successful performance in a permanent position, an employee serving in the excepted service under Schedule A, 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Appointment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, Severe Physical Disabilities, or Psychiatric Disabilities, an employee may be non-competitively converted to a career or career-conditional appointment upon the recommendation of his/her supervisor.

Conversion to a competitive appointment is not mandatory. The supervisor should provide in writing, through the appropriate Schedule A Program Manager, substantive justification for not recommending conversion of an employee who has demonstrated successful job performance. See 5 CFR 315.709, Appointment for Persons with Disabilities, for guidance on Schedule A conversions.

Time spent on a temporary appointment may not be credited towards the two-year trial period requirement according to 5 CFR 213.3102(u)(6), Appointment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, Severe Physical Disabilities, or Psychiatric Disabilities.

Upon notification from the Schedule A Program Manager, the business unit is responsible for initiating the Personnel Action Request to convert or terminate the employee. The effective date of the action must be current; conversion actions are not to be processed with retroactive effective dates.

All disability and medical documentation for appointments must be maintained in a confidential manner in HCO, TA, HOps. This material is not to be included or placed in the individual's Official Personnel Folder or medical folder. The documentation is considered confidential by virtue of the medical records and other sensitive information and must be stored in a secure manner on a SharePoint or other electronic site. Since these records are collected solely for the purpose of Schedule A, 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Appointment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, Severe Physical Disabilities, or Psychiatric Disabilities, appointments, the records are not to be used for any other purpose and should be maintained for two years after conversion.

Case files are to be established and maintained by HOps for each applicant who is considered for a Schedule A appointment. At a minimum, the case file must contain the following information:

Annual reporting is required by Treasury for disability hiring. The business unit's accomplishments under the Disability Program are reported in the Service’s Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action Program annual report. HCO, PEO is responsible for preparing the annual report and forwarding to OCRC. OCRC manages the information received and includes successes, deficiencies, participation rates, advancement, and retention of individuals with targeted disabilities in their Management Directive 715 Annual Report.

The number of fellows will be determined by projected IRS Human Capital requirements and availability of resources. As noted in the OPM Guide to Internships, Fellowships, Apprenticeships, and Other Programs, new hires appointed to the fellowship will count against the full time employee equivalent ceiling.

The initial appointment of the fellowship will be a two-year time-limited appointment under 5 CFR 213.3102(r), Entire Executive Civil Service, in the excepted service. Renewed fellowship appointments may not exceed a total fellowship appointment of four years. Fellowship appointments may be renewed on a case-by-case basis considering applicants’ qualifications, IRS requirements, and budgetary constraints.

Qualifications will be assessed by the HCO, TA, Hiring Operations Division. Appointments will be made at the General Schedule GS-09 to GS-15 grade levels.

Service as a fellow confers no rights to further federal employment in either the competitive or excepted service upon the expiration of the appointment.

Fellows may apply for permanent career positions or be appointed to other excepted service positions before or after completion of their fellowship appointment, but the IRS makes no commitment regarding the availability of suitable positions within the IRS. Hiring decisions will be made solely on the basis of merit and fitness without regard to political or religious affiliations, marital status, race or any other non-merit-based factor.

Fellows will serve on two-year, time-limited, excepted service appointments within the GS classification and pay system. All employees with appointments of at least 366 days (5 USC 8332) may be entitled to the standard federal benefit package including health insurance per 5 CFR 890, Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, life insurance per 5 CFR 870, Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Program, the Federal Employee Retirement System Revised Annuity per 5 CFR 841, Federal Employees Retirement System, and the Thrift Savings Plan, per 5 CFR 1690, Thrift Savings Plan.

Although the primary work product of the fellows is likely to not be appropriate for release outside of the IRS, consideration identical to that provided to regular Department of Treasury (Treasury) employees will be given to the development of academic articles suitable for publication. The fellows will have access on an as-needed basis to Treasury data essential to their work and be subject to the same disclosure rules applicable to all IRS employees.

Fellows may be appointed as junior fellows or senior fellows.

Fellowship projects may include but are not limited to analytical studies leading to publication of mandated reports, analysis and development of specific policy proposals, and/or review and analysis of administrative guidance interpreting key financial regulatory legislation and legislation relevant to the arenas of critical infrastructure, implementation projects, cyber intelligence, and/or cyber security.

The IRS will fund fellowships using existing salary and full-time employee approval. Operational management of the program is assigned to the HCO.

The HCO, TA, Hiring Operations will be responsible for the recruitment and selection of junior and senior fellows. Appointments, including determination of compensation, will be coordinated between HCO, TA, and the IRS Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

Position descriptions for Policy Analysts, Policy Advisors, Financial Analysts, Financial Economists, and Cyber Intelligence Analysts will be used for junior fellows. Position descriptions for Senior Policy Analysts, Senior Policy Advisors, and Senior Cyber Intelligence Analysts will be used for senior fellows. Any other unique or specific position descriptions required will be drafted by the HCO, TA, Position Management and Classification Office.

Consistent with 5 USC 2301, Merit System Principals, and 5 USC 3315, Registers; Preference Eligibles Furloughed or Separated, the IRS will adhere to merit system principles and provide public notification of employment opportunities in a manner that makes an effort to attract qualified individuals from all segments of society and provide fair and open competition before filling a position under the authority granted by Treasury Policy TN 22-01, Employment in the Excepted Service dated January 6, 2022, and 5 CFR 213.3102(r), Entire Executive Civil Service. The IRS will use USAJOBS, job fairs, recruitment activities at colleges and universities, advertisement in professional journals, publications, and through professional organizations to reach the widest audience. Information on the use of this hiring authority will be reported to OPM in line with 5 CFR 213.103, Publication of Excepted Appointing Authorities in Schedules A, B, C, and D.