Career and Career-Conditional Appointments

Purpose
Permanent employees are generally hired into the Federal government under a career-conditional appointment. A career-conditional employee must complete three years of substantially continuous service before becoming a full career employee. This 3-year period is used to determine whether or not the Government is able to offer the employee a career.

Service Requirement for Career Tenure
An employee must have 3 years of substantially continuous creditable service to become a career employee, i.e. obtain career tenure. The 3-year period must begin and end with nontemporary employment in the competitive service. Generally, substantially continuous creditable service must not include any break in service of more than 30 calendar days. If an employee does not complete the 3-year period, a single break in service of more than 30 calendar days will require the employee to serve a new 3-year period. (Periods of time in a nonpay status are not breaks in service and do not require the employee to begin a new 3-year period. However, they may extend the service time needed for career tenure.) Career-conditional employees automatically become career employees upon completion of this service requirement. Additionally, employees with career tenure have a higher retention standing during layoffs.

Required Probationary Period
The first year of service of an employee who is given a career-conditional appointment is considered a probationary period. The probationary period is really the final and most important step in the examining process. It affords the supervisor an opportunity to evaluate the employee's performance and conduct on the job, and to remove the person without undue formality, if necessary. A person who is transferred, promoted, demoted, or reassigned before completing probation is required to complete the probationary period in the new position. Prior Federal civilian service counts toward completion of probation if it is in the same agency, same line of work, and without a break in service.

Care should be taken to distinguish the 1-year probationary period from the 3-year career-conditional period. The probationary period is used to determine the employee's ability and fitness required for permanent Government service. The 3-year career-conditional period is established only to measure the employee's interest in, and the Government's ability to provide, a career in the Federal service.

Acquiring Competitive Status
Competitive status is a person's basic eligibility for assignment (e.g., by transfer, promotion,reassignment, demotion, or reinstatement) to a position in the competitive service without having to compete with members of the general public in an open competitive examination. When a vacancy announcement indicates that status candidates are eligible to apply, career employees and career-conditional employees who have served at least 90 days after competitive appointment may apply. Once acquired, status belongs to the individual, not to a position.

For more information on career and career-conditional appointments, probationary period, tenure, and competitive status, consult Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 5 CFR Part 315.

AS OF: 09-23-1999

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