In the wake of the decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) that the Federal Career Intern Program (FCIP) is inconsistent with veteran's preference statutes has Social Security sent any directions to its managers? Is it business as usual until the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) acts? Has OMB acted? Is FCIP hiring still going on? Are managers trying to complete FCIP hiring under the current rules before they are told to stop? I realize that the MSPB did not order an immediate halt in FCIP hiring but it is clear that any FCIP hire may bring about a complaint to MSPB and the complaint is likely to be sustained.
I don't know what is happening with this program, but I do know that my agency essentially has a hiring freeze, except for certain limited components, so I assume we aren't doing much of anything with the program.
ReplyDeleteOMB has nothing to do with this. I suspect you meant OPM. I suspect that they will issue something eventually - and might even appeal the decision.
ReplyDeleteSSA has been tiptoeing around the FCIP question for most of FY ’10, encouraging managers to use competitive vacancies instead of FCIP. All of the higher-level managers I know quietly acknowledged that they expected FCIP to “go away”. SSA has used FCIP as the almost-exclusive hiring method for most of the past decade, ostensibly as a means to “diversify” the work force. I have heard many managers complain about “blocking veterans” on candidate lists from competitive announcements. That is SSA-speak for: “I have someone in a targeted group but (s)he is not a veteran so I cannot hire him/her because I have a veteran at the top of the list.” I am not sure why but SSA seems to have a prejudice against hiring veterans. I decided several years ago that I will always use the competitive process so I get the best candidate, not just someone who fits into a special category.
ReplyDeleteVeterans are hard to fire or demote if they fail at the job the were hired to do or even if they flunk out of the training course needed to do it. What it amounts to is that many are rated for some degree of disability when they apply for the job and others will develop service-related disorders while on the job. You all know about the ADA and its requirements for reasonable accomodation of handicapped [sic.] individuals. Adverse actions against handicapped people are hard to defend legally and are strenuously resisted by the Union, etc. QED.
ReplyDeleteLong and short, you can hire Vets but then you are stuck with them if they do not perform or display other conduct problems. This is in the context of hiring maybe one or two people every so many years. Too risky. That's one reason why FCIP is prefferred if you have the chance. Easier to hire AND fire. Theoretically. I have my own objections to FCIP and agree on the whole with the FLRB. But, this is why. Nancy Ortiz
Correction--"...agree ...with the FLRB" should be "MSPB." NO
ReplyDeletefor those who don't know - SSA shut down the use of FCIP for any future vacancies last week based on the OPM release.
ReplyDeletewhile there is a general hiring freeze of staff positions in HQ and ROs.......case processing units continue to hire but cannot use FCIP.
Ms. Ortiz is spot on. Hiring vets is hit and miss. Been there, done that. I made quite a few FCIP hires over my time and there was no favoritism involved. I cast the net pretty far and wide (usually college and recruiting fairs) and got some good, some bad. The beauty of FCIP is the two year probation period...can weed out the folks who can't handle the job in a reasonable period of time.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for hiring vets..but the disability angle screws everything up. Makes it harder to get rid of the ones who aren't able to cut it. And at the risk of sounding like I don't "support the troops", since when do vets get such preferential treatment in an age when every other "category" is accused of being the beneficiaries of affirmative action?
I had 4 veterans in my last SRT class, two will be excellent employees, the other two have potential but didn't show it during training. But our office hasn't hired veterans in a really long time. Most of the employees are bilingual and non-US born because we need so many languages to talk our clientele.
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