Permanent End For FCIP

From the Washington Post:

President Obama plans to issue an executive order, perhaps as early as this week, ending a federal internship program that critics say circumvents proper hiring practices.

The program has drawn fire from federal employee unions and from the government board that oversees federal hiring practices, which ruled in November that the program undermined the rights of veterans, in particular, who were seeking federal work.

According to a draft copy of the executive order, which The Washington Post obtained from a person involved with the review process, the program will be terminated in March and be replaced with a program clearly designed to provide short-term federal work opportunities for recent graduates of schools of all kinds.

Is Social Security Still Hiring Under FCIP?

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.

Federal Career Intern Decision

That decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board on the Federal Career Intern Program (FCIP) is available online. Some key excerpts:

We hold that FCIP is inconsistent with the Civil Service Rules that govern placement of positions in the excepted service under 5 U.S.C. § 3302(1) -- a law relating to veterans’ preference -- because it allows an agency to invoke an appointing authority reserved for “positions . . . for which it is not practicable to hold a competitive examination” after the agency holds a competitive examination that yields highly-qualified preference-eligible candidates.

We wish to emphasize what we do not hold. Amicus NTEU [National Treasury Employees Union] asserts ... that FCIP violates the merit system principles because it allows hiring without “fair and open competition.” ... The cases before us, however, arise under the VEOA [Veterans Employment Opportunity Act]; the sole issue is whether the appellants’ rights under a statute or regulation relating to veterans’ preference have been violated. ...

In this connection, we overrule the statement in Gingery v. Department of Defense, 105 M.S.P.R. 671, ¶ 9 (2007), rev’d on other grounds, 550 F.3d 1347 (Fed. Cir. 2008), that FCIP is “a valid exception to the competitive examination requirement” because it is “authorized by an Executive Order.” ...

The Board has recognized that in unusual cases its decisions may have such a far-reaching impact on the workings of the government that the normal timeline for compliance should be extended. ... This appears to be such a case. At the same time, untold numbers of veterans are potentially being shut out of job opportunities for which they would have preference, because the agencies are filling the positions under FCIP without public notice. ... Balancing the foregoing considerations, we conclude that OPM must comply with 5 U.S.C. § 3302(1) within 120 days of the date of this decision instead of the customary 30 days.

This will have a massive effect upon future hiring at Social Security and other agencies. FCIP was probably intended to be a small part of federal hiring but has come to be a major way in which federal employees are hired. Of course, because of the elections results, Social Security may not be doing much hiring over at least the next two years.

MSPB Rules Against Federal Career Intern Program

From a press release issued by the American Federation of Government Employees:

The American Federation of Government Employees today applauded the Merit Systems Protection Board’s ruling that the Federal Career Intern Program (FCIP) violates competitive hiring and veterans preference rules under Title 5. AFGE had filed an amicus brief in the case urging the board to strike down the FCIP.

In the Nov. 2 decision, MSPB ruled that the FCIP is inconsistent with Civil Service Rules that govern placement of positions in the excepted service because it does not require agencies to justify placing positions in the excepted service as required by statute. Under Title 5, excepted service authority should be granted only for “positions … for which it is not practicable to hold a competitive examination.” The board therefore ordered the Office of Personnel Management to comply with Title 5.

Social Security has made extensive use of FCIP. This will be a major change in hiring for Social Security if this holds up.

OIG Report On Stimulus Act Hiring

Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued a report on hiring under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the large economic stimulus bill passed last year. The agency hired 2,115 new employees under ARRA. The report indicates that 74% of the "operations" employees hired under ARRA were hired under the Federal Career Internship Program (FCIP). About 16% of the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) hires were made under FCIP.

FCIP hires are controversial since there is no public listing of such positions. There have been concerns that this allows favoritism and other shenanigans. The explanation given for the heavy use of FCIP is that it is quicker to hire under FCIP and that FCIP hires have a longer period of evaluation. Somebody needs to take a hard look at federal hiring policies. At best, secretive hiring reduces the applicant pool which makes it harder to hire the best possible employees. At worst, secretive hiring can lead to scandals.

Social Security Loses On Federal Career Intern Program

From Government Executive.Com:

The Merit Systems Protection Board has ruled that a disabled veteran can legally challenge the government's career internship program, reversing a 2008 decision by an administrative judge.

The ruling deals another blow to the Federal Career Intern Program, created by a 2000 executive order as a special hiring authority for the government. A July decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia allowed a separate lawsuit filed by the National Treasury Employees Union against the program to move forward.

The veteran, Alvern C. Weed, said the internship program cost him a job with the Social Security Administration in 2005. Weed had applied for the job during the first round of hiring by responding to an advertisement on the federal recruiting site USAJobs.gov, and was added to a list of candidates who had preference because of their veteran status. But the supervisor in charge of filling the position ignored that list, according to the case, and instead selected two candidates who responded to a newspaper advertisement.

AFGE Newsletter Critical Of Social Security Management

Council 220 of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a union which represents most Social Security employees has issued its July 2009 newsletter. Here is a little excerpt from one article:

Nepotism is alive and well at Social Security -- and Union officials believe some managers are using the Federal Career Intern Program (FCIP) as a way to bring their family members and friends into the agency.

I do not have a dog in the fight over FCIP. However, my gut feeling based upon only limited knowledge of the program is that Social Security management needs to think about whether extensive use of FCIP is a good idea. Council 220 goes over the top at times, but that does not mean that they are always wrong.

And there is also this information in the newsletter:

Senior Executive Service (SES) Performance Awards were given on December 24, 2006 (Christmas Eve) to the following individuals. They are considered 2007 awards:

• Linda McMahon, Deputy Commissioner for Operations $25,000
• Milt Beever, Associate Commissioner, Office of Labor- Management and Employee Relations (OLMER) $8,000]

Regional Commissioners:

• Paul Barnes (Atlanta) $22,000
• Nancy Berryhill (Denver) $14,000
• Beatrice M. Disman (New York) $25,000
• Michael Grochowski (Kansas City) $10,000
• James F. Martin (Chicago) $12,000
• Carl L. Rabun (Seattle) $10,000
• Ramona Schuenemeyer (Dallas) $8,000
• Manuel J. Vaz (Boston) $20,000
• Laurie B. Watkins (Philadelphia) $20,000

More award money was also given throughout 2008. Most of them were SES Performance Awards and were announced on March 14 (except where noted).

• Paul Barnes $22,000
• Milt Beever $12,500
• Nancy Berryhill $17,500
• Beatrice Disman $26,150
• Michael Grochowski $13,500
• James F. Martin $12,000
• Linda McMahon $26,150
• Ramona Schuenemeyer (SES Rank Award; Sept. 30) $32,975
• Ramona Schuenemyer $21,750
• Pete Spencer (San Francisco Regional Commissioner) $26,150
• Manuel J. Vaz (SES Rank Award; Sept. 30) $59,897
• Manuel J. Vaz $23,375
• Laurie Watkins $21,250

TOTAL for both years: $489,197

Union Attacks Career Intern Program At Social Security

I have posted about the fact that many, perhaps most, job openings at Social Security are not being posted on USA Jobs. Here is some background from Alyssa Rosenberg at Government Executive on a major reason why that is:

The National Treasury Employees Union is continuing its long-standing battle against the Federal Career Intern Program by supporting a veteran who claims the program cost him a job with the Social Security Administration.

The union has filed an amicus brief in the Merit Systems Protection Board case Alvern C. Weed v. Social Security Administration, arguing once again that FCIP illegally undermined veterans preference laws. The union claimed SSA improperly denied Weed, a disabled veteran, a chance to apply for claims and service representative positions by turning to FCIP during a second round of hiring.

"The FCIP was designed as a special-focus hiring authority to provide structured, two-year developmental internships," NTEU President Colleen Kelley stated. "Instead, we now find agencies using it as the principal, and in some cases only, means of hiring." ...

At issue in Alvern C. Weed v. Social Security Administration was SSA's failure to post a vacancy announcement during its second round of hiring. Weed had applied for the job during the first round by responding to an advertisement on the federal recruiting site USAJobs.gov, and was added to a list of candidates who had preference because of their veteran status. But the supervisor in charge of filling the position ignored that list and instead selected two candidates who responded to a newspaper advertisement.

Can someone explain to me why Social Security wants to avoid making job openings as widely known as possible? I may be naive but spreading the net as wide as possible sounds like a good idea to me. It also seems like the right thing to do even if there might be some inconveniences to it.

At least the federal Office of Personnel Management has decided to protect vets with service connected disabilities.

Update: The Senior Deputy General Counsel of the National Treasury Employees Union has just been hired as the General Counsel of the Office of Personnel Management. That might lead to a change in OPM's position on the litigation.