The competitive service is a part of the
United States federal government civil service. Applicants for jobs in the competitive civil service must compete with other applicants in open competition under the merit system administered by the
Office of Personnel Management, unlike applicants in the
excepted service and
Senior Executive Service
The Senior Executive Service (SES) is a position classification in the civil service of the United States federal government equivalent to general officer or flag officer rank in the U.S. Armed Forces. It was created in 1979 when the Civil Servi ...
. There are several hiring authorities for the competitive service, including "traditional" competitive examining, as well as expedited procedures such as Direct Hire Authority and the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act.
Notably, the procedures for firing and demoting a member of the competitive service are considerable in order to protect the employment rights of the member, yet to provide the employer (the US government) a fair and incremental method to manage employees. A written notice of thirty days, a statement of reasons for dismissal, and a right to a hearing must be granted.
In 2015, 69.9% of the federal workforce was in the competitive service.
Legislative basis
According to
U.S. Code Title 5 §2102,
The "competitive service" consists of:
#all
civil service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
positions in the
executive branch
The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state.
In political systems b ...
, except—
##positions which are
specifically excepted from the competitive service by or under
statute;
##positions to which
appointments are made by nomination for confirmation by the United States Senate, unless the Senate otherwise directs; and
##positions in the