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 An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duti ...

, unlike applicants in the

excepted service The excepted service is the part of the United States federal civil service that is not part of either the competitive service or the Senior Executive Service. It provides streamlined hiring processes to be used under certain circumstances. Ove ...

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 Service ...

. 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 In the law of the United States, the Code of Laws of the United States of America (variously abbreviated to Code of Laws of the United States, United States Code, U.S. Code, U.S.C., or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the ...

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 (polity), state. In poli ...

, except— ##positions which are specifically excepted from the competitive service by or under

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

; ##positions to which appointments are made by nomination for confirmation by the United States Senate, unless the Senate otherwise directs; and ##positions in the

Hiring authorities

A hiring authority is the law, executive order, or regulation that allows an agency to hire a person into the federal civil service. Competitive Examining is the "traditional" competitive hiring authority, but it is not the only one. Direct Hire Authority allows an expedited process for agencies to fill certain positions that have been deemed to have a severe candidate shortage or a critical hiring need. The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act allows eligible veterans to apply for certain positions. There are also hiring authorities for reappointments of both permanent and temporary positions. Title 21 appointments were created by the

21st Century Cures Act The 21st Century Cures Act is a United States law enacted by the 114th United States Congress in December 2016 and then signed into law on December 13, 2016. It authorized $6.3 billion in funding, mostly for the National Institutes of Health. The ...

in 2016 for scientific, technical, or professional positions in the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

that support the development, review, and regulation of medical products. The following chart shows the number of hires for each of the top-used competitive service hiring authorities in fiscal year 2014:

Competitive examining

Competitive examining is the "traditional" method for making appointments to competitive service positions. It requires adherence to the full range of procedures and protections listed in

Title 5 of the United States Code Title 5 of the United States Code is a positive law title of the United States Code with the heading "Government Organization And Employees." Provisions Title 5 contains the Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act of 1974, the Congressional Revi ...

. Prior to 1996, the process of examining was largely centralized in the

Civil Service Commission A civil service commission is a government agency that is constituted by legislature to regulate the employment and working conditions of civil servants, oversee hiring and promotions, and promote the values of the public service. Its role is rou ...

and later the

(OPM). Two amendments in that year allowed examination authority to be delegated to individual federal agencies, and allowed OPM to charge fees to agencies for staffing services. As a result, by 2001 there were nearly 700 examining units across the government with OPM periodically reviewing their activity. Prior to 2010, competitive examining was subject to the "rule of three" where hiring managers could only select from the top three rated applicants. This was replaced in 2010 with "category rating", where applicants are sorted into two or more categories, and agencies make selections from within the highest quality category regardless of the number of candidates.

Direct Hire Authority

Direct Hire Authority Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

allows an expedited process for agencies to fill certain positions that have been deemed to have a severe candidate shortage or a critical hiring need. It is authorized by and regulations are in . OPM determines which positions are eligible for Direct Hire Authority. Government-wide Direct Hire Authority as of 2019 applies to certain medical, scientific, and cybersecurity occupations, as well as positions involved in Iraqi reconstruction efforts. Agencies may also request to OPM that additional specific positions be filled through Direct Hire Authority. Direct Hire Authority expedites the typical hiring process by eliminating formal competitive rating and ranking procedures, such as the "rule of three" where hiring managers may select from only the top three rated candidates. In addition, veterans’ preference does not apply. However, public notice requirements still apply, such as posting on

USAJobs USAJobs (styled USAJOBS) is the United States Government's website for listing civil service job opportunities with federal agencies. Federal agencies use USAJOBS to host job openings and match qualified applicants to those jobs. USAJOBS serves a ...

, as well as the one-year probationary period; and the appointee must meet all qualification requirements. Direct Hire Authority was first authorized by the

Homeland Security Act The Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002, () was introduced in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and subsequent mailings of anthrax spores. The HSA was cosponsored by 118 members of Congress. The act passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of ...

of 2002. In 2003, medical, information security, and Iraqi reconstruction positions were announced as the first eligible government-wide position types. Veterinary positions were added in 2009. In 2018, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics positions as well as additional cybersecurity positions were added to the list.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Competitive Service Civil service in the United States