U.S. Office of Personnel Management WELFARE-TO-WORK NEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS November 5, 1997

Memorandum dated 11/5/97, transmitted the following Q's & A's to Directors of Personnel.

Q. Can agencies use the OPM-1635 form (self identification of receipt of assistance under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program) as a screening tool in the application and interview process?

A. No. Information regarding a persons economic status is a non-merit factor and is not to be considered in making selections. Using this information is a violation of 5 U.S.C. 2301, which requires that selection be determined solely on the basis of relative ability, knowledge, and skills.

OPM-1635, which is to be completed post-employment on a voluntary basis, is used by agencies to keep track of the number of welfare recipients employed. It is not to be used to identify specific individuals as welfare recipients.

Q. Are employees hired as Worker-Trainees under temporary appointment pending the establishment of a register (TAPER) eligible to participate in the Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?

A. Yes. Federal employees are entitled to leave under the FMLA if they (1) are covered under the Federal annual and sick leave system; (2) have permanent appointments or temporary appointments of more than 1 year, and (3) have completed at least 12 months of Federal service (not required to be 12 recent or consecutive months). Reference 5 CFR 630.1201.

Q. Will TAPER employees be required to take and pass written examinations, when testing requirements are part of the qualification standards, before being converted to career appointments at the end of the three year period?

A. OPM has issued a waiver of test requirements for noncompetitive conversion to career status of Worker-Trainees employed under the TAPER authority. The waiver was sent to Directors of Personnel, as well as being sent out through the Interagency Advisory Group.

Q. Can agencies hire employees as GS-1 Worker-Trainees under appointments other than TAPER?

A. Yes, agencies have the authority to use any appointment type that is appropriate. If competitive hiring authorities other than the TAPER authority are used, agencies must apply competitive procedures which meet requirements for the appointment type. Agencies may not appoint to permanent or non-permanent (other than TAPER) competitive positions using Part 333 procedures simply because they have identified the position as a GS-1 Worker Trainee.

Q. Can OPM provide agencies with advice, from a recruitment standpoint, as they are confronted with continued frustration in attempting to hire welfare recipients from among large numbers of applicants for relatively small numbers of vacancies?

A. We recognize the challenge agencies are faced with in their efforts to recruit under the Welfare-to-Work initiative. Our advice continues to be "do your homework." If agencies make the effort to establish contact with local Social Services Offices and other local private organizations which are in touch with welfare recipients, they can establish a basis for the referral of viable candidates when jobs are announced. The next step is to estimate the volume of anticipated applications. If the demand for jobs is much greater than the supply, it would appear that a limited open period for the vacancy announcement would be justified.

Q. Can agencies limit the area of consideration to "local commuting area" when announcing Worker-Trainee vacancies?

A. No. When announcing Worker-Trainee vacancies, agencies are required to follow standard public notice practices required under delegated examining.

It has been OPM policy since 1978 that giving first consideration for Federal employment to applicants on the basis of where they live is not legally justifiable in competitive examining. Based on a 1978 Supreme Court decision (Hicklin v. Orbeck, 46 U.S.L.W. 4773 June 22, 1978) the Civil Service Commission determined the exclusion of nonresidents from job consideration in specific geographic areas to be discriminatory without serving a valid or overriding justifying purpose.

It is clear that residency is a non-merit factor and thus violates the merit principles of open competition and job-relatedness. Also, residency preference could lead to veteran preference violations.

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Updated 21 November 1997