HRDG 4500 - Recruitment and Retention Incentives - Section M

Effective April 28, 2005, an employee who is:

• Receiving his or her first appointment (regardless of tenure), or
• Reappointed (following a break in service of at least 90 calendar days after the last period of Federal employment)

to the Federal civilian service, may be given service credit towards determining the annual leave accrual rate for prior work experience.

(Final Office of Personnel Management [OPM] regulations implementing Section 202[a] of the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004 [PL 108-411, October 30, 2004, amending 5 USC 6303]; Federal Register, Vol. 71, No. 180, dated September 18, 2006; Departmental Notice 4060-001, Interim Creditable Service for Annual Leave Accrual, dated March 13, 2006.)

In consultation with the servicing Human Resources (HR) Specialist, the recommending and approving officials determine the amount of service credit that may be granted. The amount of time granted may not exceed the actual amount of time worked outside of the Federal government in a position whose duties were directly related to the duties in the new position. For example, full-time (FT) credit may be granted for FT employment and part-time (PT) credit for PT service. Service credit for PT service must be based on the number of hours and the percentage of time the employee actually performed the duty(ies). An employee may not be granted double credit for:

• The same period of employment, or
• For service that is otherwise creditable under existing leave regulations.

Example: If an employee worked FT for a company for three (3) years, the recommending and approving officials may determine that the duties the employee performed for those three (3) years are directly related to the new position. The employee may only be credited with three (3) years of service for annual leave accrual purposes. All other service credit computations will be based on qualifying Federal employment. However, if during that timeframe only 25% of the FT duties were directly related to the new position, than he or she may only be credited based on the 25%. The same principle applies if the employee were in a PT position.

The following categories of employees are excluded:

• Current Federal GS, GM or AD employees,
• Wage grade employees,
• Senior Executive Service (SES) employees,
• Senior Level (SL) employees,
• Scientific or Professional (ST) employees, and
• Senior Foreign Service employees.

Service credit may be granted for work experience that is directly related to the new position which is gained either through:

• Prior work experience, or
• Active duty uniformed service experience.

Previously, an employee who was a retired member of a uniformed service under 5 USC 3501 could be granted credit only for periods of active duty served during a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge was issued. The new regulations state that service credit may also be granted to retired members of the uniformed service for any period of active military service in which the duties performed are directly related to the position to which he or she is appointed.

NOTE: Prior work experience may include:

• Non-paid volunteer work,
• Previously noncreditable work in a quasi-Federal organization, or
• A combination of prior work experience and experience in a uniformed service.

An employee may not receive dual credit for the same period of non-Federal service or active duty uniformed service. Once an employee is permanently credited with a period of prior service or active duty uniformed service (and after completion of 1 full year of continuous service with USDA), that period of service may not be considered for further credit if the employee has a future break in service.

If an employee loses credit because he or she fails to complete 1 full continuous year of service, Programs may choose to provide credit for that period of time in the future if and when he or she is reappointed. Programs may provide credit for the same period of prior or active uniformed service if the employee has had a break in service of at least 90 calendar days and meets all of the conditions for receiving credit.

In order to grant the service credit, the skills and experience gained from previous prior employment:

• Must be essential to the new position, and
• Directly related to the duties of the position to which being appointed, and
• The recommending and approving officials must make a written determination that the use of this authority is necessary in order to achieve an important agency mission or performance goal.

New employees being granted this benefit are responsible for providing the recommending and approving officials, with administratively acceptable written documentation that clearly documents the duties performed as well as the time periods. This documentation must be provided to the recommending and approving officials and the servicing personnel office (SPO) BEFORE the effective date of the employee's entry on duty. Examples include:

• Position or Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) Description.
• Employment Records.
• Letters from supervisors identifying the specific duties performed and the period of time the duties were performed.
• Resumes.
• Written documentation from the military services to receive credit for active duty honorable uniformed service.
• Other documentation that supports the recommending official's written documentation and verifies service.

The written justification must:

• Describe the specific skills and experience gained and how they are directly related to the duties in the new position,
• Identify the particular agency mission/performance goal and
• Describe how the skills/experience will support achieving the above mission or performance goal.
• Include the employee's documentation.

The recommending official is the first level supervisor.

The deciding official is the second level supervisor. The second level supervisor must be in the direct chain of command of the recommending official. This authority may not be re-delegated to a lower level.

Programs may choose to retain the recommending and/or approving officials at a higher level.

The approving official must review and approve, in writing, the SF-144, the employee's documentation, and the recommending official's written justification before the effective date of the employee's entry on duty and send them to the SPO.

Credit granted to an employee remains to the employee's credit unless he or she fails to complete 1 full year of continuous service with USDA. If an employee separates from Federal service or transfers to another Federal agency (e.g., USDA to Department of Defense) before completing 1 full year of continuous service, the employee loses service credit. Human Resources Operations (HRO), Minneapolis, Minnesota, must subtract the additional service credit from the employee's total creditable service and a new SCD for leave must be established before the employee separates or transfers to the new agency.

Note: Employees transferring from one USDA Agency/mission area to another within USDA retain service credit. Employees are not required to remain with the same USDA Agency/mission area for the 1 year period.

Any annual leave accrued or accumulated by an employee remains to his/her credit, even if he or she fails to complete the 1 full year of continuous service. HRO must transfer the annual leave balance to the new employing agency if the employee is transferring to a position to which annual leave may be transferred, or provide a lump-sum payment for unused annual leave if the employee is separating from Federal service or moving to a new position to which annual leave cannot be transferred.

Programs are responsible for:

• Completing leave audits, and, if applicable,
• Completing an AD-581, Lump Sum Leave or Compensatory Time Payments and,
• Submitting necessary documentation to the SPO.