AGENCIES: THIS NOTICE PROVIDES INFORMATION RELATIVE TO VARIATION REQUESTS. Section 5.1 of civil service rule V requires the Office of Personnel Management to inform agencies about variations which it grants under that rule.

1.		OPM has approved a precedent-setting variation under civil service rule V to 5 CFR 330.706(b) which requires that agencies report all vacancies to OPM when accepting applications from outside the agency (including applications for temporary positions lasting 90 or more days).

2.		The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is experiencing unprecedented growth and needs to rehire recent INS retirees who can assist the INS in an effort to hire and train 5,000 new employees. Temporarily rehiring recently retired INS employees will provide INS with a cadre of experienced and well trained workers who can assist in this massive hiring and retraining effort. The support positions needed are unique, and require knowledge of immigration and nationality laws, and in most instances, fluency in Spanish.

3.		Former Federal employees who would otherwise apply for and be considered for these positions under 5 CFR Part 330, interim Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan regulations, would not meet the highly specialized qualification requirements. INS has no surplus or displaced employees who qualify for these positions. Requiring the INS to advertise these one-of-a-kind positions where there is no expectation that there are displaced employees with the requisite skills would add unnecessary delay to accomplishing its goals mandated by Congress.

4.		Variation was granted to avoid undue hardship to the agency while undergoing a massive effort to hire and train 5,000 new employees. The variation did not circumvent the intent of the regulation because Federal displaced workers who might otherwise apply for these positions during the notice period would not be considered well qualified, and thus would not be entitled to selection priority.

5		Section 5.1 of civil service rule V required that like variations be granted in like circumstances. Therefore, if an agency believes that it has a case which parallels the one described in this notice, it may request a variation. Agencies are reminded, however, that variation is appropriate only when no other authority exists to remedy the hardship or practical difficulty. All requests for variation must be submitted to OPM through the headquarters of the agency or Department involved. Agencies do not have authority to approve variations.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Variations to Staffing Regulations

Notice No: 26	Washington, DC 20415
Date: June 4, 1996