[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 1, Parts 1 to 699]
[Revised as of January 1, 1997]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR316]

[Page 164-169]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
                CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
 
PART 316--TEMPORARY AND TERM EMPLOYMENT

                          Subpart A--[Reserved]

                       Subpart B--TAPER Employment

Sec.
316.201  Purpose and duration.
316.202  Eligibility of TAPER employees for within-grade increases.

                       Subpart C--Term Employment

316.301  Purpose and duration.
316.302  Selection of term employees.
316.303  Tenure of term employees.
316.304  Trial period.
316.305  Eligibility for within-grade increases.

                 Subpart D--Temporary Limited Employment

316.401  Purpose and duration.
316.402  Procedures for making temporary appointments.
316.403  Designation of provisional appointments.

                          Subpart E--[Reserved]

  Subpart F--Appointment Without Competitive Examination in Rare Cases

316.601  Appointment without competitive examination in rare cases.

    Subpart G--Retention of Incumbents of Positions Brought into the 
                           Competitive Service

316.701  Public or private enterprise taken over by Government.
316.702  Excepted positions brought into the competitive service.
316.703  Effect on tenure of position change of status quo employees.

                          Subpart H--[Reserved]

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 3301, 3302 and E.O. 10577 (3 CFR 1954-1958 Comp. 
p. 218); Sec. 316.302 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 3304(c), 22 U.S.C. 2506 
(94 Stat. 2158); 38 U.S.C. 2014, and E.O. 12362, as revised by E.O. 
12585; Sec. 316.402 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 3304(c) and 3312, 22 
U.S.C. 2506 (93 Stat. 371), E.O. 12137, 38 U.S.C. 2014, and E.O. 12362, 
as revised by E.O. 12585 and E.O. 12721.

    Source: 33 FR 12423, Sept. 4, 1968, unless otherwise noted.

                          Subpart A--[Reserved]

                       Subpart B--TAPER Employment

Sec. 316.201  Purpose and duration.

    (a) General. OPM may authorize an agency to fill a vacancy by 
temporary appointment pending establishment of a register (TAPER 
appointment) when there are insufficient eligibles on a register 
appropriate for filling the vacancy in a position that will last for a 
period of more than 1 year and the public interest requires that the 
vacancy be filled before eligibles can be certified. The agency must 
follow the provisions of part 333 of this chapter when making a TAPER 
appointment.
    (b) Specific authority for Worker-Trainee positions. Agencies may 
make TAPER appointments to positions at GS-1, WG-1, and WG-2 and may 
reassign or promote the appointees to other positions through grade GS-
3, WG-4, or equivalent grades in the Federal Wage System.

[60 FR 3058, Jan. 13, 1995]

Sec. 316.202   Eligibility of TAPER employees for within-grade 
          increases.

    A TAPER employee serving in a position subject to the General 
Schedule is eligible for within-grade increases in accordance with 
subpart D of part 531 of this chapter.

                       Subpart C--Term Employment

Sec. 316.301  Purpose and duration.

    An agency may make a term appointment for a period of more than 1 
year but not more than 4 years when the need for an employee's services 
is not permanent. Reasons for making a term appointment include, but are 
not limited to: project work, extraordinary workload, scheduled 
abolishment, reorganization, or contracting out of the function, 
uncertainty of future funding, or the need to maintain permanent 
positions for placement of employees who would otherwise be displaced 
from other parts of the organization.

[60 FR 3058, Jan. 13, 1995]

[[Page 165]]

Sec. 316.302  Selection of term employees.

    (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, 
when making a term appointment an agency shall select an eligible from a 
register.
    (b) The Office may authorize an agency to make term appointments 
outside a register when there are insufficient eligibles on the 
appropriate register.
    (c) An agency may give a term appointment without regard to the 
existence of an appropriate register to:
    (1) A person with eligibility for reinstatement;
    (2) Any veteran who meets the qualifications for a veterans 
readjustment appointment is eligible for employment under this 
paragraph. The Office will prescribe instructions and guidance in FPM 
Chapter 316 on implementing term employment for veterans readjustment 
appointment eligibles.
    (3) A person eligible for career or career-conditional employment 
under Secs. 315.601, 315.605, 315.606, 315.607, 316.608, 315.609, or 
315.703 of this chapter.
    (4) A former term employee of the agency who left prior to the 
expiration of his or her appointment. Reappointment must be to a 
position covered by the same term authority under which the individual 
previously served, and service under such reappointment may not exceed 
the expiration date of the original term appointment;
    (5) A disabled veteran who has been retired from active military 
service with a disability rating of 30 percent or more, or has been 
rated by the Veterans Administration within the preceding year as having 
a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more.
    (6) A person eligible for acquisition of competitive status for 
career appointment under section 3304(c) of title 5, United States Code. 
However, a term employee does not acquire a competitive status on the 
basis of this term appointment; nor does this term appointment extend or 
terminate the employee's eligibility under 5 U.S.C. 3304(c).
    (7) A temporary employee who was within reach for term appointment 
to the same position from an appropriate register at the time of his/her 
temporary appointment, or during subsequent service in the position, 
provided that the register was being used for term appointments at the 
time the employee was reached and he or she has been continuously 
employed in the position since being reached.

[44 FR 44813, July, 31, 1979, as amended at 46 FR 61065, Dec. 15, 1981; 
47 FR 27539, June 25, 1982; 49 FR 5601, Feb. 14, 1984; 50 FR 13173, Apr. 
3, 1985; 50 FR 42509, Oct. 21, 1985; 53 FR 20808, June 7, 1988; 59 FR 
46898, Sept. 13, 1994; 60 FR 3058, Jan. 13, 1995]

Sec. 316.303   Tenure of term employees.

    (a) A term employee does not acquire a competitive status on the 
basis of his term appointment.
    (b) The employment of a term employee ends automatically on the 
expiration of his term appointment unless he has been separated earlier 
in accordance with this chapter.

Sec. 316.304   Trial period.

    (a) The first year of service of a term employee is a trial period.
    (b) The agency may terminate a term employee at any time during the 
trial period. The employee is entitled to the procedures set forth in 
Sec. 315.804 or Sec. 315.805 of this chapter as appropriate.

Sec. 316.305   Eligibility for within-grade increases.

    A term employee serving in a position subject to the General 
Schedule is eligible for within-grade increases in accordance with 
subpart D of part 531 of this chapter.

                 Subpart D--Temporary Limited Employment

Sec. 316.401  Purpose and duration.

    (a) Appropriate use. An agency may make a temporary limited 
appointment--
    (1) To fill a short-term position (i.e., one that is not expected to 
last longer than 1 year);
    (2) To meet an employment need that is scheduled to be terminated 
within the timeframe set out in paragraph (c) of this section for such 
reasons as abolishment, reorganization, or contracting of the function, 
anticipated reduction in funding, or completion of a specific project or 
peak workload; or
    (3) To fill positions on a temporary basis when the positions are 
expected

[[Page 166]]

to be needed for placement of permanent employees who would otherwise be 
displaced from other parts of the organization.
    (b) Certification of appropriate use. The supervisor of each 
position filled by temporary appointment must certify that the 
employment need is truly temporary and that the proposed appointment 
meets the regulatory time limits. This certification may constitute 
appropriate documentation of compliance with the limits set out in 
paragraph (c) of this section. The reason(s) for making a temporary 
limited appointment must be stated on the form documenting each such 
appointment.
    (c) Time limits--general. (1) An agency may make a temporary 
appointment for a specified period not to exceed 1 year. The appointment 
may be extended up to a maximum of 1 additional year (24 months of total 
service). Appointment to a successor position (i.e., to a position that 
replaces and absorbs the position to which an individual was originally 
appointed) is considered to be an extension of the original appointment. 
Appointment to a position involving the same basic duties and in the 
same major subdivision of the agency and same local commuting area as 
the original appointment is also considered to be an extension of the 
original appointment.
    (2) An agency may not fill a position by temporary appointment if 
that position has previously been filled by temporary appointment(s) for 
an aggregate of 2 years, or 24 months, within the preceding 3-year 
period.
    (d) Exceptions to general time limits. (1) Agencies may make and 
extend temporary appointments to positions involving intermittent or 
seasonal work without regard to the requirements in paragraph (c) of 
this section, provided that:
    (i) Appointments and extensions are made in increments of 1 year or 
less.
    (ii) Employment in the same or a successor position under this and 
any other appointing authority totals less than 6 months (1,040 hours), 
excluding overtime, in a service year. The service year is the calendar 
year that begins on the date of the employee's initial appointment in 
the agency. Should employment in a position filled under this exception 
total 6 months or more in any service year, the provisions of paragraph 
(c) of this section will apply to subsequent extension or reappointment 
unless OPM approves continued exception under this section. An 
individual may be employed for training for up to 120 days following 
initial appointment and up to 2 weeks a year thereafter without regard 
to the service year limitation.
    (2) OPM will authorize exceptions to the limits set out in paragraph 
(c) of this section only when necessitated by major reorganizations or 
base closings or other unusual circumstances. Requests based on major 
reorganization, base closing, restructuring, or other unusual 
circumstances that apply agencywide must be made by an official at the 
headquarters level of the Department or agency. Requests involving 
extension of appointments to a specific position or project based on 
other unusual circumstances may be submitted by the employing office to 
the appropriate OPM service center.

[59 FR 46898, Sept. 13, 1994]

Sec. 316.402  Procedures for making temporary appointments.

    (a) General rule. Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this 
section, agencies must make temporary limited appointments either by 
selection from a register or outside a register, in accordance with the 
procedures set out in 5 CFR part 333.
    (b) Noncompetitive temporary limited appointments. An agency may 
give a noncompetitive temporary limited appointment without regard to 
the existence of an appropriate register to an individual in one of the 
categories set out below, and may renew such temporary limited 
appointments in accordance with the conditions and time limits for 
extension of temporary appointments published by OPM in the Federal 
Personnel Manual. An individual who receives a valid appointment under 
this paragraph will be eligible for such an extension even if his or her 
eligibility for a noncompetitive appointment expires or is lost (other 
than for personal cause) during the authorized period of

[[Page 167]]

temporary employment. Individuals eligible for noncompetitive temporary 
appointments are:
    (1) A person with eligibility for reinstatement;
    (2) A person eligible for career or career-conditional appointment 
under Secs. 315.601, 315.605, 315.606, 315.607, 315.608, or 315.609 of 
this chapter;
    (3) A former temporary employee of the agency who was originally 
appointed from a register or under the provisions of part 333 of this 
chapter and whose service meets the time limits for reappointment set 
out in Sec. 316.401;
    (4) Any veteran who meets the qualifications for a veterans 
readjustment appointment is eligible for employment under this 
paragraph. The Office will prescribe instructions and guidance in FPM 
Chapter 316 on temporary limited employment for veterans readjustment 
appointment eligibles.
    (5) A disabled veteran who has been retired from active military 
service with a disability rating of 30 percent or more, or has been 
rated by the Veterans' Administration within the preceding year as 
having a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more.
    (6) A person eligible for acquisition of competitive status for 
career appointment under section 3304(c) of title 5, United States Code. 
However, a temporary employee does not acquire a competitive status on 
the basis of this temporary appointment; nor does this temporary 
appointment extend or terminate the employee's eligibility under 5 
U.S.C. 3304(c).

[44 FR 44814, July 31, 1979, as amended at 45 FR 43365, June 27, 1980; 
46 FR 61065, Dec. 15, 1981; 47 FR 27539, June 25, 1982; 49 FR 5601, Feb. 
14, 1984; 50 FR 13173, Apr. 3, 1985; 50 FR 42509, Oct. 21, 1985; 52 FR 
15706, Apr. 30, 1987; 52 FR 38219, Oct. 15, 1987; 53 FR 20808, June 7, 
1988; 55 FR 13500, Apr. 11, 1990; 59 FR 46899, Sept. 13, 1994]

Sec. 316.403  Designation of provisional appointments.

    (a) Conditions for designation. An agency may designate a temporary 
appointment as a provisional appointment only when all of the following 
conditions are met:
    (1) The appointment is made to fill a continuing position by a 
provisional appointment leading to permanent appointment when the 
position must be filled more quickly than would be possible under the 
procedures required for nontemporary appointment or when such a 
provisional appointment is a requirement of the applicable authority;
    (2) The agency must have current budgetary and appointing authority 
for the nontemporary appointment (assuming satisfactory completion of 
the required procedures); and
    (3) The agency must have a specific intention to convert the 
appointee to a nontemporary appointment under appropriate authority 
before the expiration of the temporary appointment, must state this 
intention in any written offer of employment and document this intention 
as part of the permanent record of the initial appointment in accordance 
with instructions issued by OPM in the Federal Personnel Manual.
    (b) Authority for provisional appointments. Provisional appointments 
must be made under an authority established by law, Executive order, or 
regulation or granted by OPM. Appointments which may be treated as 
provisional appointments under this paragraph may be made under any 
appropriate authority, including, but not limited to:
    (1) Noncompetitive temporary appointments of disabled veterans under 
Sec. 316.402(b)(2), when the appointments are intended to afford 
eligibility for conversion in accordance with Sec. 315.707 of this 
chapter and section 3112 of title 5, United States Code;
    (2) Temporary appointments of nurses in the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, when the appointments are made under the provisions of section 
4114 of title 38, United States Code, with the intention of converting 
the appointees to continuing appointments as soon as the appointees 
obtain required State certification or registration and/or the agency 
completes necessary verification of references;
    (3) Temporary transitional Schedule C appointments made under 
Sec. 213.3302 of this chapter, when the appointees are to be converted 
to nontemporary Schedule C appointments upon OPM approval and completion 
of necessary clearances.

[[Page 168]]

    (4) Senior Executive Service limited term and limited emergency 
appointments made under Sec. 317.601 of this chapter, when the 
appointees are to be converted to nontemporary appointments in the 
Senior Executive Service or to nontemporary Presidential appointments, 
upon further action, such as OPM approval, White House clearance, and/or 
confirmation by the Senate; and
    (5) Temporary appointments of severely physically handicapped 
individuals, when such appointments are required to demonstrate 
qualifications for nontemporary appointment under Sec. 213.3102(u) of 
this chapter, and when the appointees will be converted to such 
nontemporary appointment upon successful performance in the trial 
position.

[56 FR 10142, Mar. 11, 1991, as amended at 60 FR 35120, July 6, 1995]

                          Subpart E--[Reserved]

  Subpart F--Appointment Without Competitive Examination in Rare Cases

Sec. 316.601  Appointment without competitive examination in rare cases.

    (a) An agency may make an appointment without competitive 
examination when:
    (1) The duties and compensation of the position are such, or 
qualified persons are so rare, that in the interest of good civil 
service administration the position cannot be filled through open 
competitive examination;
    (2) The person to be appointed meets all applicable qualification 
requirements for the position; and
    (3) The appointment is specifically authorized by the Office or is 
made under an agreement between the agency and the Office providing for 
such appointments.
    (b) A person appointed under paragraph (a) of this section does not 
acquire a competitive status on the basis of that appointment.
    (c) When a position filled under paragraph (a) of this section 
becomes vacant, the agency may fill the vacancy by another appointment 
under paragraph (a) of this section only if the conditions of paragraph 
(a)(3) of this section are again met.

[44 FR 55132, Sept. 25, 1979]

    Subpart G--Retention of Incumbents of Positions Brought Into the 
                           Competitive Service

Sec. 316.701  Public or private enterprise taken over by Government.

    (a) When the Office, or an agency acting under an agreement with the 
Office, finds that the Federal Government has taken over a public or 
private enterprise, or an identifiable unit thereof, and that a position 
has thereby been brought into the competitive service, the agency may 
retain the incumbent of the position.
    (b) (1) When an agency retains an employee under paragraph (a) of 
this section in a position which it determines to be a continuing one, 
the agency shall decide on a timely basis whether it will convert that 
individual's employment to career or career-conditional under 
Sec. 315.701 of this chapter.
    (2) When an agency decides not to effect conversion under 
Sec. 315.701 of this chapter, or the employee fails to qualify for 
conversion, the agency, in its discretion, may retain the employee as a 
status quo employee.
    (c) An agency may retain an employee under paragraph (a) of this 
section in a position that it determines is noncontinuing under a 
temporary appointment. That appointment may be made for a period not to 
exceed 1 year and will be subject to the time limits set out in 
Sec. 316.402.

[44 FR 55133, Sept. 25, 1979, as amended at 60 FR 39101, Aug. 1, 1995]

Sec. 316.702  Excepted positions brought into the competitive service.

    (a) When the Office, or an agency acting under an agreement with the 
Office, finds that an excepted position has been brought into the 
competitive service by statute, Executive order, or the revocation of an 
exception under Civil Service Rule VI (Sec. 6.6 of this chapter), or is 
otherwise made subject to competitive examination, the agency may retain 
the incumbent of the position.

[[Page 169]]

    (b)(1) When an agency retains an employee under paragraph (a) of 
this section who was serving in an excepted position under an indefinite 
appointment or an appointment without time limit, the agency may convert 
that employee's appointment to career or career-conditional under 
Sec. 315-701.
    (2) When the agency decides not to effect conversion under 
Sec. 315.701 of this chapter, or the employee fails to to qualify for 
conversion, the agency, in its discretion, may retain the employee as a 
status quo employee.
    (c) An employee who was serving under an excepted appointment 
limited to 1 year or less may be retained as a temporary employee under 
paragraph (a) of this section until the scheduled expiration date of the 
employee's excepted appointment. Extension of the employee's temporary 
appointment beyond that date will be subject to the provisions of 
Sec. 316.402.
    (d) An employee who was serving under an excepted appointment with a 
definite time limit longer than 1 year may be retained under a term 
appointment. The appointment will be subject to all conditions generally 
applicable to term appointments and may be extended up to the maximum 
limit for term appointments established under Sec. 316.301. Service 
under the employee's excepted appointment counts against the maximum 
limit for the term appointment.

[44 FR 55133, Sept. 25, 1979, as amended at 60 FR 39101, Aug. 1, 1995]

Sec. 316.703   Effect on tenure of position change of status quo 
          employees.

    (a) A status quo employee who is promoted, demoted, or reassigned 
becomes:
    (1) An indefinite employee when the position change occurs while he 
is not serving overseas; or
    (2) An overseas limited employee when the position change occurs 
while he is serving overseas.
    (b) An employee referred to in paragraph (a) of this section who is 
changed back to his status quo position becomes a status quo employee.

                          Subpart H--[Reserved]

 


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