Rule2026-18828
Shared Certificates and Pooled Hiring Actions
Primary source
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Published
September 15, 2026
Effective
October 15, 2026
Issuing agencies
Personnel Management Office
Abstract
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing an interim rule to improve hiring efficiency across federal agencies, modify provisions pertaining to how an appointing authority (i.e., the head of a Federal agency or department) may share a competitive certificate with one or more appointing authorities, implement provisions to allow an appointing authority to share an excepted service certificate with one or more appointing authorities, and implement provisions regarding OPM-led hiring actions which allow federal agencies to utilize competitive and excepted service certificates for occupations common to many agencies.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 177 (Tuesday, September 15, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 177 (Tuesday, September 15, 2026)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 58347-58363]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-18828]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published
under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
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Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 177 / Tuesday, September 15, 2026 /
Rules and Regulations
[[Page 58347]]
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
5 CFR Parts 302, 332, and 337
[Docket ID: OPM-2017-0004]
RIN 3206-AO24
Shared Certificates and Pooled Hiring Actions
AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Interim rule with request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing an
interim rule to improve hiring efficiency across federal agencies,
modify provisions pertaining to how an appointing authority (i.e., the
head of a Federal agency or department) may share a competitive
certificate with one or more appointing authorities, implement
provisions to allow an appointing authority to share an excepted
service certificate with one or more appointing authorities, and
implement provisions regarding OPM-led hiring actions which allow
federal agencies to utilize competitive and excepted service
certificates for occupations common to many agencies.
DATES:
Effective date. This interim rule is effective October 15, 2026,
Comments due: Comments must be received on or before November 16,
2026.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by using the Federal Rulemaking
Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments.
All submissions must include the agency name and docket number or
RIN for this Federal Register document. Please arrange and identify
your comments about the regulatory text by subpart and section number.
If your comments relate to the supplementary information, please refer
to the heading and page number in the supplementary section. All
comments must be received by the end of the comment period for them to
be considered. All comments and other submissions received generally
will be posted at <a href="https://regulations.gov">https://regulations.gov</a> as they are received, without
change, including any personal information provided. However, OPM
retains discretion to redact personal or sensitive information,
including but not limited to personal or sensitive information
pertaining to third parties.
A summary of this rule may be found in the docket for this
rulemaking at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Mahoney (202) 936-3265 or by
email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#badfd7cad6d5c3fad5cad794ddd5cc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3a5f574a5655437a554a57145d554c">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On March 18, 2016, the Competitive Service Act of 2015 (the
``Act'') was enacted as Public Law 114-137 (<a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-114publ137/pdf/PLAW-114publ137.pdf">https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-114publ137/pdf/PLAW-114publ137.pdf</a>). The Act allows an
``appointing authority'' to share a competitive certificate issued
under delegated examining procedures with one or more ``appointing
authorities'' to make an appointment to a position that is in the same
occupational series, grade level (or equivalent), and duty location
during the 240-day period beginning on the date of issuance of the
certificate of eligibles. OPM issued implementing regulations, which
became effective February 17, 2017 (see 82 FR 5335; RIN 3206-AN46).
Since that time, OPM's Human Resources Solutions and agencies using
shared certificates have provided feedback on how to improve these
provisions. OPM has considered that input in the context of Executive
Order (E.O.) 14170, ``Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and
Restoring Merit to Government Service'' \1\ signed by the President on
January 20, 2025, and the OPM-Executive Office of the President (EOP)
joint implementing guidance of May 29, 2025, titled ``Merit Hiring
Plan,'' \2\ with the aim of making these provisions more efficient for
agencies and applicants alike. OPM is modifying these rules to create
greater efficiencies for hiring agencies. These changes include:
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\1\ E.O. 14170, 90 FR 8621 (Jan. 30, 2025).
\2\ U.S. Office of Personnel Management & White House Domestic
Policy Council, Merit Hiring Plan (May 29, 2025), <a href="https://www.opm.gov/chcoc/transmittals/2025/Merit%20Hiring%20Plan%205-29-2025%20FINAL.pdf">https://www.opm.gov/chcoc/transmittals/2025/Merit%20Hiring%20Plan%205-29-2025%20FINAL.pdf</a>.
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<bullet> Expanding the application of the three-considerations rule
in 5 CFR 332.405 to allow a manager or selecting official in a
receiving agency to use/apply a decision(s) by a hiring manager(s) in
other agencies to remove applicants from further consideration. We are
revising Sec. 332.405(d) to remove the bar on applying the rule to
shared certificates and, in its place, to codify the limitation of the
rule to certificates issued using numerical rating;
<bullet> Expanding the application of veterans' pass over
procedures to allow a veteran passed over by the original hiring agency
(or OPM in the case of thirty percent or more disabled veterans) to be
removed from consideration by a receiving agency;
<bullet> Adding language which reminds agencies of their
obligations with respect to individuals who have selection priority
(e.g., displaced employees eligible under Reemployment Priority List
(RPL), Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Interagency Career
Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP), and workers' compensation
provisions);
<bullet> Clarifying that an original hiring agency may share a
certificate with other agencies simultaneously;
<bullet> Modifying the requirement that receiving agencies must
work a shared certificate independently. The modification allows a
receiving agency to leverage another agency's pass-over or three-
considerations decision.
<bullet> Including language which reminds agencies that pass overs
of disabled veterans with a thirty percent or more compensable
disability must be sent to OPM for adjudication;
<bullet> Removing a reference to collective bargaining units to
attune the rules with a statutory amendment which removed the reference
with the CSA; and
<bullet> Expanding the application of shared certificates to
positions filled in the excepted service.
II. Comments Received on the 2017 Interim Final Rule and OPM Responses
OPM received five comments on the interim final rule published on
January 18, 2017 (82 FR 5335; Docket ID OPM-2017-0004), from a Federal
agency, a nonprofit organization, and three individual members of the
public. Because this rule reissues the 2017 interim regulations with
modifications,
[[Page 58348]]
OPM has considered those comments in developing this rule and responds
to them here. Comments are identified by their <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> comment
numbers.
Comment (OPM-2017-0004-0002): An individual commenter supported the
rule's focus on drawing talent into the Federal Government but
questioned what would motivate an original hiring agency to share a
certificate and suggested a mandate or quota requiring each hiring
agency to share at least three certificates per year.
Response: OPM declines to adopt a sharing mandate or quota by
regulation. The Competitive Service Act is permissive: 5 U.S.C. 3318
provides that an appointing authority ``may'' share a certificate, and
a regulatory quota would be inconsistent with that discretionary
framework. This rule instead addresses the commenter's underlying
concern by reducing the burden of sharing--permitting simultaneous
sharing, permitting the sharing of assessment scores, and allowing
receiving agencies to leverage another agency's pass-over or three-
considerations decision--and by establishing OPM-led pooled hiring
actions, which systematically make a single hiring action available to
multiple agencies. OPM notes that it has recently set, via guidance, a
governmentwide goal of at least 60% of selections made from shared
certificates (including OPM-led pooled hiring actions and agency
certificates shared under 5 U.S.C. 3318(b)) for all new external
competitive-service hires, measured as a share of external selections
during Fiscal Year 2027.\3\
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\3\ See OPM, Guidance on Annual Staffing Plans (July 30, 2026),
available at <a href="https://www.opm.gov/chcoc/latest-memos/guidance-on-annual-staffing-plans.pdf">https://www.opm.gov/chcoc/latest-memos/guidance-on-annual-staffing-plans.pdf</a>.
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Comment (OPM-2017-0004-0003): A Federal agency posed six
operational questions: (1) how agencies would identify other agencies'
need for the same hires in advance of an announcement; (2) whether a
receiving agency could access applicants in a lower category than the
one certified; (3) the effect of the 240-day shared-certificate period
on OPM's 80-day hiring cycle model; (4) whether an original hiring
agency may decline to share a certificate with a particular agency, and
any reporting mechanism or repercussions for declining; (5) what
happens if two agencies select the same candidate; and (6) how
candidates who are no longer available are removed from shared
certificates.
Response: Sharing remains within the discretion of the original
hiring agency, including the choice of agencies with which to share;
there is no reporting mechanism or repercussion for declining to share.
The OPM-led pooled hiring provisions in new Sec. 332.409 and new
subpart F of part 302, together with the Merit Hiring Plan's direction
that agencies collaborate with OPM to identify sharing opportunities
and the Annual Staffing Plan process created by E.O. 14356 (Ensuring
Continued Accountability in Federal Hiring),\4\ provide the advance
mechanism for identifying common hiring needs that the commenter
described. A receiving agency must use the certificate in its original
form and may not re-rate or re-rank applicants, so it may not reach
into a category other than as certified. The 240-day period is fixed by
statute and does not alter the 80-day time-to-hire goal; indeed, the
changes in this rule allowing receiving agencies to leverage pass-over
and three-considerations decisions are designed to shorten the time
receiving agencies need to work a certificate. Where more than one
agency seeks the same candidate, the candidate may elect which offer to
accept, and this rule requires notations on the certificate and prompt
notification of errors, while under pooled hiring actions OPM will
notify all participating agencies when an applicant is removed from
further consideration. Remaining operational details are addressed in
the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook and implementing guidance.
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\4\ 90 FR 48387 (Oct. 20, 2025).
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Comment (OPM-2017-0004-0004): An organizational commenter
recommended that OPM (1) remove the requirement that applicants ``opt
in'' to having their applications shared and adopt an opt-out default;
(2) remove ``duty location'' from the conditions for using a shared
certificate; (3) add language encouraging timely hiring decisions and
expedited sharing; and (4) set a clear date for agencies to report to
OPM on their use of the authority, with annual reporting thereafter.
The commenter also encouraged OPM to promote staffing-system
interoperability, enable USAJOBS searches for announcements with shared
certificates, pilot the authority for mission-critical occupations,
engage the CHCO Council and other interagency councils, and train
agencies.
Response: OPM declines to replace the opt-in structure. Requiring
an applicant's affirmative consent before his or her application and
personal information are disseminated to agencies to which the
applicant did not apply protects applicant privacy, and this rule
retains that structure. OPM also declines to remove ``duty location'':
the Competitive Service Act itself limits use of a shared certificate
to positions in the same occupational series, grade level, and duty
location, so that condition cannot be removed by regulation. OPM agrees
with the objective of timely action and has addressed it operationally
rather than through hortatory language--this rule permits simultaneous
sharing and allows receiving agencies to leverage another agency's
pass-over and three-considerations decisions, both of which expedite
use of shared certificates. OPM declines to codify a fixed reporting
date in regulation; the recordkeeping and documentation requirements of
this rule create the audit trail necessary for OPM oversight, and OPM
collects usage information through its oversight functions under 5
U.S.C. 1104. The commenter's remaining suggestions are operational and
outside the scope of this rulemaking, but OPM has acted consistent with
their aims, including through OPM-led pooled hiring actions for
occupations common across agencies, as described in section V of this
preamble.
Comment (OPM-2017-0004-0005): An individual commenter recommended
that certificate sharing be mandatory rather than discretionary
(``shall'' rather than ``may''), subject to limits such as sharing only
the top three candidates for each position or submitting an overall
certificate quarterly, and suggested a quota of shared certificates.
Response: OPM declines to make sharing mandatory or to impose a
quota, for the reasons stated in response to comment OPM-2017-0004-
0002: the statute is permissive, and a mandate would impose burden
where no cross-agency need exists. OPM believes the OPM-led pooled
hiring provisions of this rule better achieve the commenter's aim of
making talent systematically available across the Government from a
single hiring action.
Comment (OPM-2017-0004-0006): An individual commenter, a veteran,
supported the concept but expressed concern that agencies and their
components would not follow the rules, described being passed over in
favor of another candidate notwithstanding his veterans' preference,
and urged OPM to examine agency policies and agreements and enforce the
rules so applicants receive fair consideration.
Response: Veterans' preference protections apply fully to shared
certificates, and this rule strengthens the documentation that supports
enforcement: objections and pass-over requests must be resolved before
a certificate is shared, pass overs of
[[Page 58349]]
preference eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of
thirty percent or more must be adjudicated by OPM, sustained pass overs
must be notated on the certificate, and both original and receiving
agencies must maintain records sufficient to reconstruct their use of
the certificate. These requirements support OPM's oversight of agency
compliance under 5 U.S.C. 1104(b). Concerns about specific hiring
actions are outside the scope of this rulemaking and may be pursued
through applicable complaint and appeal procedures.
III. Changes to Shared Certificates in the Competitive Service Under
the CSA (Sec. 332.408)
OPM is reissuing the interim regulations published on January 18,
2017, with the following modifications:
Section 332.408(b)(1)(iv) has been amended to include a reference
to OPM as the entity which must resolve pass over requests of thirty
percent or more disabled veterans with a service-connected disability.
This also requires an original hiring agency to notate the certificate
when it has sustained, or received OPM approval to sustain, a pass-over
of a preference eligible veteran.
A new paragraph (b)(2) in Sec. 332.408 provides that an original
hiring agency may apply the three-consideration rule in Sec. 332.405
to a certificate issued under Sec. 332.402 and must make a notation
next to the name of any applicant it removed from further
consideration; the paragraphs that follow in Sec. 332.408(b) are
renumbered accordingly.
OPM is also revising Sec. 332.405(d). The existing paragraph (d)
provides that the three considerations rule does not apply to shared
certificates. Because this rule permits an original hiring agency to
apply the rule to a certificate it intends to share and permits a
receiving agency to rely on that agency's decision, the existing bar is
inconsistent with the amendments made in this rule and is removed. In
its place, OPM is codifying the limitation of the rule to certificates
issued using numerical rating, which OPM has previously stated but has
not until now set out in regulatory text. See 90 FR 43135, 43138 (Sept.
8, 2025).
Section 1107 of Public Law 115-232 added the three-considerations
provision at 5 U.S.C. 3318(e), which governs selections using numerical
ratings, while at the same time amending 5 U.S.C. 3319 without adding a
comparable provision for category rating. Section 3319 incorporates
provisions of section 3318 where Congress intended them to apply, see 5
U.S.C. 3319(c)(5) and (c)(6)(A) and (B), and it does not incorporate
section 3318(e). Congress also addressed separately, and more narrowly,
the circumstances in which a preference eligible may be dropped from
further consideration under category rating, providing for
discontinuation of certification only where the preference eligible has
been three times considered and passed over from a standing register,
and only after advance notice. See 5 U.S.C. 3319(c)(6)(C). OPM is
stating the limitation in regulatory text so that it applies uniformly
to an agency's own certificates, to shared certificates, and to
certificates issued in OPM-led pooled hiring actions.
OPM is updating renumbered Sec. 332.408(b)(3) to clarify that an
original hiring agency may, but is not required to, share the
assessment scores of certified applicants with receiving agencies. OPM
is making this update to provide agencies with more information when
considering shared applicants with the aim of boosting interest and use
of shared certificates.
Renumbered Sec. 332.408(b)(4) is revised to clarify that an
original hiring agency may share a certificate with one or more
agencies, either sequentially or simultaneously. OPM is making this
change to reduce delays in time-to-hire that would otherwise result if
agencies could only share certificates sequentially. In the interim
rule effective February 17, 2017 (82 FR 5335), OPM discussed
simultaneous use and coordination of certificates by receiving agencies
but did not squarely address simultaneous sharing by the original
hiring agency. Because the CSA does not prohibit an original hiring
agency from sharing a certificate with several agencies at the same
time, OPM finds no basis to limit an agency from doing so. Paragraph
(c)(4)(i) in Sec. 332.408, discussed below, addresses how receiving
agencies work a certificate that has been shared simultaneously.
OPM is amending Sec. 332.408(c)(2) to remind receiving agencies of
their responsibilities with respect to Reemployment Priority Lists
(RPL) and Career Transition Assistance Plans (CTAP), in accordance with
5 CFR part 330, subparts B and F, respectively, before using a shared
certificate.
OPM is amending Sec. 332.408(c)(3)(i) by removing the reference to
collective bargaining obligations. OPM is making this change in
accordance with Public Law 115-232, section 1107,\5\ which removed the
reference from section 2(b)(4) of the Competitive Service Act of 2015.
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\5\ John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2019, Public Law 115-232, sec. 1107, 132 Stat. 1636 (Aug. 13,
2018) (amending section 2 of the Competitive Service Act of 2015),
<a href="https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ232/PLAW-115publ232.pdf">https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ232/PLAW-115publ232.pdf</a>.
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OPM is also revising Sec. 332.408(c)(3)(ii) to provide that an
agency may not give internal candidates an application period longer
than 10 business days. Sections 3318(b)(4)(B) and 3319(c)(5)(B) of
title 5, U.S. Code, each direct the other appointing authority to
``provide up to 10 business days'' for its employees to apply for the
position. OPM is conforming the regulatory text to the statutory period
so that the same limit applies whether the shared certificate was
issued using numerical rating or category rating procedures. As under
the 2017 interim rule, this time limit may not be waived or extended.
OPM is adding new subparagraph (c)(4)(ii) in Sec. 332.408 to
provide that a receiving agency may, but is not required to, consider
an applicant passed over by another agency in accordance with paragraph
(b)(1)(iv) or an applicant who received three bona fide considerations
by another agency in accordance with paragraph (b)(2). The flexibility
to allow a receiving agency(s) to leverage an original hiring agency's
three-consideration decision is consistent with 5 U.S.C. 3318(e) and 5
CFR 332.405. In the statute and the codified regulations, ``appointing
officer'' is not specific to a particular agency.
OPM is modifying current Sec. 332.408(c)(4)(i) which requires a
receiving agency to consider applicants independently of the actions of
another agency with which the certificate is shared simultaneously. The
modified provision provides an exception which allows a receiving
agency to apply another agency's pass-over or three-considerations
decision as described in new paragraph (c)(4)(ii). In the interim rule
effective February 17, 2017 (82 FR 5335), OPM noted, ``Congress did not
define precisely what it means to ``share'' the certificate. One
possible approach is that when the original hiring agency ``shares''
the certificate with other agencies they must simultaneously work the
certificate in a coordinated fashion, accounting for declinations,
failures to respond, selections, and so on as if they were integrated
arms of the same employer. (This is how the process might work when a
department shares a certificate among a number of its different
components.) Another possible approach is that each of the other
agencies may work the certificate
[[Page 58350]]
independently, as if the certificates had been referred from the top of
a register or inventory. Neither of these approaches is compelled by
the text of the statute and as such OPM has determined that the most
reasonable approach, and the one that best effectuates Congress's
apparent purpose, is the latter of the two.''
OPM has reconsidered its original position and determined this
change will allow agencies to use the shared certificate process more
efficiently. It will do so by relieving a receiving agency from having
to replicate the pass-over or three-considerations process when another
agency already has done so. Though certificates may be shared
simultaneously, the timing of when they are worked by each receiving
agency may differ within the 240-day period depending on capacity,
need, or urgency to fill the position, internal priorities, etc. For
this reason, we are providing that a receiving agency may coordinate
with another agency only for the purpose of leveraging another agency's
pass-over or three-considerations decision.
OPM's revised approach satisfies the standards governing a change
in agency position. See Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass'n of the U.S., Inc. v.
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29, 41-43 (1983); FCC v. Fox
Television Stations, Inc., 556 U.S. 502, 515-16 (2009). OPM
acknowledges that it is modifying the position adopted in the 2017
interim rule and is doing so consciously rather than sub silentio. The
new position is permissible under the statute: as the 2017 preamble
itself recognized, neither the coordinated approach nor the fully
independent approach is compelled by the text of the Competitive
Service Act, which does not prescribe how simultaneously shared
certificates must be worked. The revised rule retains independent
consideration as the general requirement and adds only a narrow,
discretionary exception permitting a receiving agency to leverage
another agency's pass-over or three-considerations decision--an
accommodation consistent with 5 U.S.C. 3318(e), which refers to
consideration by ``an appointing officer'' without confining the
relevant considerations to a single agency.
There are also good reasons for the change, and OPM believes the
new policy is better: nearly a decade of experience administering
shared certificates, together with feedback from OPM's Human Resources
Solutions and from agencies using shared certificates, has demonstrated
that requiring each receiving agency to replicate a pass-over or three-
considerations process that another agency has already completed adds
time and administrative burden without a corresponding benefit to
applicants or to merit-based selection. In addition, eliminating that
duplication directly advances the efficiency objectives of E.O. 14170
and the Merit Hiring Plan. Finally, the change does not disturb serious
reliance interests that would require a more detailed justification.
See Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, 579 U.S. 211, 221-22 (2016).
The independence requirement in current Sec. 332.408(c)(4)(i) is a
procedural direction to agencies about how a shared certificate is to
be worked. It confers no entitlement on applicants to duplicative
consideration by every receiving agency. The exception is permissive
rather than mandatory, so a receiving agency remains free to consider
any applicant notwithstanding another agency's action. And applicants'
substantive protections are unchanged: a pass-over of a preference
eligible may be leveraged only where the original hiring agency has
sustained the pass-over, or received OPM approval to sustain it in the
case of a disabled veteran with a thirty percent or more service-
connected disability, in accordance with paragraph (b)(1)(iv) and as
notated on the certificate, and a three-considerations decision may be
leveraged only as to an applicant who has received three bona fide
considerations for the same position, as documented on the certificate
under paragraph (b)(2).
IV. Shared Certificates in the Excepted Service (New Subpart E to Part
302)
A. Background and Purpose
The excepted service encompasses those positions in the Federal
civil service that are not in the competitive service or the Senior
Executive Service. Positions in the excepted service are organized
under several schedules, including Schedule D--which covers Pathways
Program positions for students and recent graduates--and Schedule
Policy/Career--which covers career positions of a confidential, policy-
determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character not normally
subject to change as a result of a Presidential transition. Employment
in the excepted service is governed by 5 U.S.C. 2103 and the
regulations set forth at 5 CFR parts 213 and 302.
OPM notes there are differences between the competitive and
excepted services. One of these is the use of the term ``certificate.''
A certificate is a competitive service term defined in 5 CFR 332.102 as
a list of qualified eligibles from which an appointing officer selects
one or more applicants for appointment. For purposes of new subpart E
in part 302, OPM is adopting the term certificate as defined in the
competitive service.
Another difference lies in how agencies are required to consider
employees and former employees involuntarily separated due to
downsizing. In the competitive service, agencies must adhere to the
requirements of Reemployment Priority List (RPL), Career Transition
Assistance Plans (CTAP), and Interagency Career Transition Assistance
Plans (ICTAP) in 5 CFR part 330 subparts B, F, and G, respectively,
before considering other applicants from outside the hiring agency's
workforce. RPL, CTAP, and ICTAP apply when filling positions in the
competitive service. CTAP applies in the excepted service only if the
hiring agency's CTAP plan specifically provides for selection priority
in the excepted service (Sec. 330.607(c)(5)).
Another difference between the two services is the provision which
allows an appointing officer to not consider an eligible candidate who
has been given bona fide consideration by one or more hiring managers
for three separate appointments from the same or different certificates
for the same position (i.e., the same title, series, and grade). This
is known as ``three-considerations'' and is codified in Sec. 332.405
of the competitive service but not in the excepted service.
The three-considerations provision applies in conjunction with
numerical ranking (i.e., rule of many) but not category rating. See
Reinvigorating Merit-Based Hiring Through Candidate Ranking in the
Competitive and Excepted Service, 90 FR 43135, 43138 (Sept. 8, 2025)
(``The three considerations rule applies to the rule of many, not to
category rating. The Act did not apply this provision to category
rating.''). Because the excepted service utilizes a parallel numerical
rating provision (Sec. 302.302(b)(1)), OPM establishes that agencies
may use Sec. 332.405 in conjunction with a shared certificate in the
excepted service where applicants were assigned numerical scores under
that paragraph. Consistent with the competitive service, the three-
considerations rule does not apply to an excepted service certificate
on which applicants were placed in quality categories under Sec.
302.302(b)(2).
Currently, 5 CFR part 302 establishes the procedures Federal
agencies must follow when filling excepted service positions, including
eligibility standards, application and rating procedures, and selection
requirements. This interim rule adds a new subpart E to part 302 to
create a framework for
[[Page 58351]]
agencies to share certificates of eligibles generated under the
excepted service examining process--a practice analogous to existing
certificate-sharing authorities in the competitive examining context--
thereby reducing duplicative recruitment efforts, lowering hiring
costs, and expanding qualified applicant pools across the Federal
Government.
B. Legal Authority
This rule is issued pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 1103, 1104, 3301, and
3302, which vest in OPM the authority to prescribe regulations
governing the examination, selection, and appointment of individuals in
the Federal civil service. Section 1103(a)(5) charges the Director of
OPM with executing, administering, and enforcing the civil service
rules and regulations and the laws governing the civil service, and
section 1104(b)(1) requires OPM to establish standards for, and
oversee, the performance of delegated personnel management functions.
Sections 3301 and 3302 authorize the President to prescribe regulations
for the admission of individuals into the civil service and to make
exceptions from the competitive service when warranted; by E.O. 10577
(Civil Service Rule I and 5 CFR 1.1, 5.1, and 6.1), the President has
directed OPM to administer those authorities, including the designation
of excepted service schedules and the regulation of appointments within
them.
The provisions governing shared use of competitive service
certificates rest on the Competitive Service Act of 2015, Public Law
114-137, which amended 5 U.S.C. 3318 and 3319 to authorize an
appointing authority to share a certificate of eligibles--whether
issued under numerical rating and ranking or under alternative
(category) rating--with one or more other appointing authorities for
selection to positions in the same occupational series, grade level (or
equivalent), and duty location, within 240 days of issuance. Section
2(d) of the Act directs the Director of OPM to issue an interim final
rule with comment to carry out its amendments, supplying both the
substantive authority and the procedural vehicle for the amendments to
Sec. 332.408. Section 1107 of the John S. McCain National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, Public Law 115-232,
subsequently amended section 2 of the Act, and this rule conforms OPM's
regulations to that amendment.
OPM's authority to establish parallel certificate-sharing
procedures for the excepted service derives from several sources.
Positions in the excepted service are defined at 5 U.S.C. 2103 and are
excepted from the competitive service under 5 U.S.C. 3302 and Civil
Service Rule VI (5 CFR part 6), and OPM regulates appointments to those
positions under 5 CFR parts 213 and 302. Part 302 itself implements,
among other authorities, 5 U.S.C. 3320, which requires that the
nominating or appointing authority select for excepted service and
District of Columbia government positions ``in the same manner and
under the same conditions'' required for the competitive service by the
Veterans' Preference Act provisions codified at 5 U.S.C. 3308 through
3318. Because Congress has thus directed that excepted service
selection track competitive service selection mechanics--including the
examination, certification, consideration, and pass-over provisions
those sections contain--OPM may, by regulation, make available in the
excepted service the same certificate-sharing, three-consideration, and
pass-over procedures Congress authorized for the competitive service,
while preserving the veterans' preference protections that section 3320
makes applicable of its own force.
The OPM-led pooled hiring provisions rest on OPM's retained, non-
delegated examining authority. Under 5 U.S.C. 1104(a)(2), OPM's
delegation of examining functions to agencies is discretionary, not
mandatory; OPM retains full authority to conduct competitive
examinations itself, for one agency or for many, under 5 U.S.C. 1103,
3301, 3302, and 3304 and Civil Service Rule II (5 CFR 2.1). Nothing in
the delegation framework limits OPM to single-agency examining, and
conducting a single examination whose results serve multiple agencies
with a common hiring need is a straightforward exercise of the central
examining function Congress vested in OPM. The assessment components of
pooled hiring actions are conducted consistent with 5 U.S.C. 3304, as
amended by the Chance to Compete Act of 2024 (Pub. L. 118-188), which
requires examinations that permit direct assessment of job-related
skills and competencies. The direct hire provisions in new Sec.
337.206 implement 5 U.S.C. 3304(b)(3), under which OPM authorizes
direct hire appointments upon a determination of severe candidate
shortage or critical hiring need, and OPM's attendant authority to
prescribe the conditions under which such appointments are made.
Finally, while E.O. 14170 and the Merit Hiring Plan do not
themselves supply rulemaking authority, they direct the policy this
rule implements, and the rule effectuates the merit system principle
that the Federal workforce be used efficiently and effectively, 5
U.S.C. 2301(b)(5).
C. Overview of the Provisions for Sharing Certificates in the Excepted
Service
Agencies will share certificates in the excepted service in a
manner similar to how certificates are shared in the competitive
service under Sec. 332.408. A description of this process and
regulatory provisions to implement them follows:
OPM is placing these provisions in 5 CFR part 302 subpart E and
relabeling this subpart ``Shared use of an excepted service
certificate.'' OPM is redesignating current subpart E, ``Appeals,'' as
a new subpart G, and is placing the OPM-led pooled hiring provisions in
a new subpart F.
OPM is adding provisions which allow agencies to share certificates
for excepted service positions when the original hiring agency is using
either the numerical list option or category rating option in
accordance with Sec. 302.401(a)(2) and (3), respectively. OPM is
adopting this flexibility in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3320 \6\ which
states that appointments in the excepted service shall be filled ``in
the same manner and under the same conditions'' as positions filled in
the competitive service. Current regulations in 5 CFR 332.408 allow for
competitive service shared certificates to be used in conjunction with
both numerical ranking and category rating procedures at Sec. Sec.
332.402 and .404, and part 337 subpart C, respectively. Because the
same examining methods exist for filling positions in the excepted
service, OPM believes the same efficiencies can be realized in excepted
service hiring. OPM believes this approach is consistent with the
intent of the CSA and 5 U.S.C. 3304(a)(3), (c)(1) and (4), and accords
with 5 U.S.C. 3320, and promotes efficiency within excepted service
hiring.
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\6\ 5 U.S.C. 3320.
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OPM is limiting the application of shared certificates in the
excepted service to positions filled under excepted service Schedule
D--Pathways Programs, and Schedule Policy/Career. OPM does not include
positions in Schedule A of the excepted service for purposes of shared
certificates because Schedule A is defined as ``Positions other than
those of a confidential or policy-determining character for which it is
impracticable to examine.'' Furthermore, 5 CFR 213.3102 states
``Examining for this purpose means application of the qualification
standards and requirements established
[[Page 58352]]
for the competitive service.'' The absence of governmentwide
qualification standards for Schedule A positions makes sharing
certificates cumbersome and difficult, which undermines the efficiency
this flexibility is designed to create.
These rules allow an original hiring agency to flag with a
designated code any applicant(s) to which the original hiring agency
applied the three-consideration rule. For these purposes, OPM is
allowing an agency to apply the three-consideration rule in Sec.
332.405 to an excepted service certificate on which applicants were
assigned numerical scores under Sec. 302.302(b)(1). A receiving agency
may apply the three-consideration rule to any applicant flagged by the
original hiring agency with the designated code. Thus, a receiving
agency will have its choice: it can leverage the original hiring
agency's three-consideration determination or make its own
determinations when applying this rule.
The excepted service provisions also allow a receiving agency to
apply a sustained pass over of a preference eligible veteran made by
another agency for the same hiring action. OPM is adopting this on the
basis that all agencies using the certificate will be using the same
qualification standard for the position being filled.
The excepted service shared certificate rules do not require a
receiving agency to consider internal candidates before making a
selection from a shared certificate. OPM's rationale is that the
eligibility for Schedule D and Policy/Career positions is specific;
Schedule D applicants must be eligible under the Pathways Program
Internship Program (see 5 CFR part 362, subpart B) or the Pathways
Program Recent Graduate (see 5 CFR part 362 subpart C). This
significantly limits the number of agency employees who could
participate in these programs. Keeping the requirement for Schedule
Policy/Career positions but not Schedule D positions would be confusing
and lead to inefficient application of this flexibility.
The excepted service provisions provide that an original hiring
agency may share a certificate with one agency at a time, or several
agencies simultaneously.
OPM is establishing the competitive service provision that allows a
receiving agency in the excepted service to use another agency's pass-
over or three-considerations decisions. Our rationale is the same as
that for the competitive service: to obviate the need for each agency
to replicate these processes when another agency has already done so.
The premise for sharing certificates in either service is to make
hiring more efficient for agencies using the same certificate to fill a
position in the same occupational series, at the same grade level (or a
corresponding rate or level of pay for a position excluded from the
General Schedule), with the same full performance level, and in the
same duty location as was listed on the original hiring agency's
certificate.
Each receiving agency will still be responsible for establishing a
unique instance of a case file to document that agency's use of the
certificate. This will be helpful in the event a receiving agency must
later reconstruct its hiring actions. Allowing multiple agencies to use
certificates independently of one another also supports the timeliest
and practical implementation of these provisions and minimizes the risk
of error associated with multiple agencies simultaneously working the
same certificate.
D. Section-by-Section Analysis of New Subpart E of Part 302
Section 302.501--General Authority
Section 302.501 establishes the foundational authority and
conditions applicable to all certificate-sharing activity under this
subpart. Under Sec. 302.501(b), a hiring agency may share an excepted
service certificate issued for filling positions under Schedule D and
Schedule Policy/Career with one or more Federal agencies, for positions
filled on a permanent or time-limited basis. Time-limited positions
remain subject to the conditions set forth in Sec. 213.104. Shared use
may encompass full-time and other-than-full-time positions, including
part-time, seasonal, on-call, and intermittent positions, ensuring
broad flexibility in workforce management.
In Sec. 302.501(c), OPM establishes a 240-day time limit on all
actions taken on a shared certificate, measured from the date on which
the original hiring agency issued the certificate. This limit may not
be extended. OPM establishes the 240-day duration to attune to the
similar provision in the competitive service for the purpose of
ensuring that shared certificates do not remain in active use for an
indefinite period and that applicants on the certificate do not remain
subject to potential selection for an unreasonable duration. We believe
standardizing this duration will promote efficient use in both service
and eliminate confusion among practitioners that might otherwise occur
with different time limits.
Section 302.501(d) establishes documentation and safeguarding
obligations. Both the original hiring agency and any receiving agency
must maintain sufficient documentation to permit reconstruction of
their respective use of the certificate, and must safeguard examination
materials, assessment materials, and applicant information in
accordance with Sec. 300.201. This requirement supports accountability
and enables OPM oversight of agency compliance.
Paragraphs (e) and (f) of Sec. 302.501 provide general compliance
reminders: all sharing activity must comply with part 302, and agencies
must keep records of instances of sharing and use of shared
certificates, establishing a clear audit trail.
Section 302.502--Requirements for the Original Hiring Agency
Section 302.502 sets forth the conditions and obligations governing
the original hiring agency's decision to share an excepted service
certificate and its conduct in doing so. These provisions are designed
to ensure that certificate sharing is carried out in a manner that
respects applicant consent, preserves veteran preference rights, and
maintains the integrity of the original examining process.
Conditions Precedent to Sharing (Sec. 302.502(a)). An original
hiring agency may share a certificate issued under Sec. 302.302 only
if six conditions are satisfied:
<bullet> The original hiring agency itself intends to use the
certificate for its own hiring needs (Sec. 302.502(a)(1)), ensuring
that shared certificates are not generated solely for the benefit of
other agencies.
<bullet> The agency informed applicants at the time of the
announcement that the resulting certificate may be used by one or more
hiring agencies (Sec. 302.502(a)(2)), consistent with transparency and
due notice principles.
<bullet> The agency provided applicants an opportunity to opt in to
having their applications and personal information shared with other
agencies (Sec. 302.502(a)(3)). This opt-in structure protects
applicant privacy and ensures that personal data is not disseminated to
agencies without the individual's affirmative consent.
<bullet> All objections to eligibles and requests to pass over
preference eligible veterans have been resolved in accordance with
subpart D of part 302, or by OPM in the case of a disabled veteran with
a 30% or more service-connected disability (Sec. 302.502(a)(4)). The
agency must notate on the certificate the name of any preference
eligible it successfully passed over, preserving a clear record for
receiving agencies.
[[Page 58353]]
<bullet> The original hiring agency either made a selection from
the certificate or documented its reason for making no selection (Sec.
302.502(a)(5)), preventing agencies from sharing a certificate they
have declined to use without explanation.
<bullet> The agency determined that sharing complies with part 302
and applicable agency policy (Sec. 302.502(a)(6)).
New Sec. 302.502(b)permits the original hiring agency to apply the
three-consideration rule of Sec. 332.405 during its use of the
certificate on which applicants were assigned numerical scores under
Sec. 302.302(b)(1), and to remove candidates accordingly, with
required notations on the certificate before sharing; the paragraphs
that follow are renumbered accordingly.
Obligations in Sharing (Sec. 302.502(c) through (e)). When sharing
a certificate, the original hiring agency must transmit all
documentation related to the certificate's creation, including the job
analysis, testing and examination materials, the job opportunity
announcement or applicable public notification, and applications as
relevant. The agency may share certified applicants' assessment scores
but must share the certificate in its original form to preserve the
original candidate ordering. The agency must safeguard personally
identifiable information during transmission and must redact the names
of applicants who did not opt in, ensuring those individuals cannot be
considered by receiving agencies.
An original hiring agency may share a certificate with one or more
agencies, either sequentially or simultaneously (Sec. 302.502(d)),
providing flexibility in multi-agency hiring efforts. If the original
hiring agency discovers an error that may affect selections by a
receiving agency, it must notify each affected agency promptly (Sec.
302.502(e)).
Section 302.503--Requirements for Receiving Agencies
Section 302.503 establishes the conditions and procedures governing
receiving agencies' use of shared certificates, with particular
attention to position compatibility, applicant notification, selection
procedures, and safeguards against further redistribution.
Eligible Vacancies (Sec. 302.503(a)). A receiving agency may use a
shared certificate only to fill a vacancy in the same occupational
series, at the same grade level (or corresponding pay rate or level),
with the same full-performance level, and in the same duty location as
specified on the original hiring agency's certificate. If the original
certificate was issued for an interdisciplinary position, the receiving
agency may use it to fill an interdisciplinary position. Before use,
the receiving agency must independently verify through its own job
analysis that the minimum qualification requirements--including any
selective placement factors--and the competencies, knowledge, skills,
and abilities used for the original position remain appropriate for the
position to be filled. This verification requirement ensures that
shared certificates are not misapplied to positions with materially
different requirements.
Notification to Applicants (Sec. 302.503(b)). Before using a
shared certificate, a receiving agency must notify eligible applicants
that it has received their names and application materials and intends
to consider them for employment. The notification must identify the
receiving agency, position title, occupational series, grade level or
equivalent, and duty location. This requirement ensures that applicants
are informed of the expanded use of their application materials prior
to any employment consideration, consistent with principles of
transparency and individual notice.
Section 302.503(c)(1) clarifies that these requirements do not
affect agencies' right to fill a position from any appropriate source
under Sec. Sec. 330.102 and 335.103. Section 302.503(c)(2) requires
that, before considering other candidates, a receiving agency must
first provide for priority consideration for individuals entitled to it
under Sec. Sec. 302.303 and 302.304.
Selection Procedures (Sec. 302.503(d)). Section 302.503(d)(1)
permits--but does not require--a receiving agency to consider
applicants designated as having been passed over or as having received
three bona fide considerations, affording the agency discretion in
these cases. Under Sec. 302.503(d)(2), the receiving agency may not
reassess applicants for rating or ranking purposes, preserving the
integrity of the original agency's examining process and preventing
double examination.
Time Limit and Prohibition on Further Sharing. Section 302.503(e)
confirms that a receiving agency has 240 days from the date of original
certificate issuance to make selections--consistent with the
governmentwide limit established in Sec. 302.501(c). Section
302.503(f) expressly prohibits the receiving agency from sharing or
distributing the shared certificate to any other Federal agency,
ensuring that certificate sharing remains a controlled, bilateral
transaction between the original hiring agency and its designated
receiving agency or agencies, and does not become an uncontrolled
daisy-chain distribution.
V. OPM-Led Pooled Hiring Actions
A. General Overview
OPM is establishing regulatory frameworks for OPM-led pooled hiring
actions for both excepted service and competitive service positions,
under which OPM will centrally recruit and preliminarily assess
applicants or prepare and provide ready-made certificates to
participating agencies which will use OPM-generated lists and
certificates to make selections consistent with existing hiring
authorities and protections. These rules memorialize OPM's current use
of pooled hiring actions. OPM-led pooled hiring actions are a
governmentwide hiring approach designed to allow multiple agencies to
select from a single hiring action rather than each agency running
separate announcements and creating individual or agency-specific
certificates for the same occupation. The goal of these actions is to
eliminate duplication of effort and resources, shorten the time-to-
hire, improve the applicant experience, and increase the number of
hires made from a single certificate. OPM uses this process for jobs
filled under competitive examining procedures, direct hire authority
(DHA), and when filling positions in the excepted service.
OPM, under its general authority governing admission of individuals
into the executive branch of the civil service, may recruit and conduct
examining for positions to be filled by multiple federal agencies. 5
U.S.C. 3301, 3302, and 3304. OPM-led pooled hiring actions utilize one
announcement, an assessment process in accordance with 5 U.S.C.
3304(a)(3), (c)(1) and (4), one common certificate, and enable multiple
agencies to hire from the same talent pool. These actions are a common-
certificate hiring strategy that leverages OPM's experience,
efficiency, policy and examining expertise with respect to competitive
examining, excepted service hiring procedures, or direct hire authority
and applies this expertise to cross-agency hiring needs. The aim of
these actions is to maximize hiring outcomes from a single recruitment
effort. Key features of OPM-led pooled hiring rules include:
<bullet> OPM may recruit, screen applicants for minimum
requirements and qualifications, and provide lists of applicants who
meet these requirements to agencies which will conduct the technical
assessment process and certify applicants;
<bullet> OPM may recruit, assess applicants for both minimum
requirements and
[[Page 58354]]
qualifications and technical qualifications, certify applicants for
selection, and provide ready-made certificates to agencies from which
to make selections;
<bullet> OPM may screen applicants for eligibility under the Career
Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), or the Interagency Career Transition
Assistance Plan (ICTAP), or both, and provide lists of these eligibles
to agencies;
<bullet> Allow agencies to apply the three-consideration rule in
Sec. 332.405, on certificates issued using numerical rating, such that
a manager or selecting official in one agency may use/apply a decision
by a hiring manager in another agency to remove applicants from further
consideration;
<bullet> Allow a hiring manager in one agency to apply a pass over
of a preference eligible veteran made by another hiring agency (or by
OPM in the case of a preference eligible veteran with a thirty percent
or more disability); and
<bullet> OPM may conduct these actions for hiring under competitive
examining procedures, direct hire authority, or positions in the
excepted service.
Both shared certificates and OPM-led pooled hiring actions create
efficiencies within the hiring process, support merit system
principles, and support several tenets of E.O. 14170 and the Merit
Hiring Plan. The E.O. directed that ``recruitment and hiring
processes'' become ``more efficient and focused on serving the
Nation.'' Section I.D. of the Merit Hiring Plan speaks to ``. . . the
use of validated assessments, talent pools, and shared certificates.''
The Merit Hiring Plan notes that ``OPM has already begun this process
by centralizing hiring actions for common occupations such as Budget
Analysts, Human Resources Specialists, and Information Technology
positions. This allows applicants to apply once for roles at many
agencies and allow agencies to select qualified candidates from a
single shared certificate.'' The Merit Hiring Plan also states that,
``Agencies should collaborate with OPM to identify hiring actions that
will use shared certificates or lists of eligible candidates external
to the agency as both the originating and receiving agency (such as
pursuant to the Competitive Service Act of 2015 (5 U.S.C. 3318-19) and
other hiring authorities), so that OPM can assist in connecting
agencies for the purposes of certificate sharing.'' All of this
supports Merit System Principles, which state, inter alia,
``Recruitment should be from qualified individuals from appropriate
sources in an endeavor to achieve a work force from all segments of
society, and selection and advancement should be determined solely on
the basis of relative ability, knowledge and skills, after fair and
open competition which assures that all receive equal opportunity.'' 5
U.S.C. 2301(b)(1).
B. How OPM-Led Pooled Hiring Works in the Excepted Service (New Subpart
F)
For the excepted service, new subpart F of part 302 authorizes OPM
to issue excepted service certificates, permits agencies to make
selections from those certificates in accordance with applicable law
and regulation, and requires agencies to continue to meet all
applicable requirements relating to priority reemployment and veterans'
preference, including those in Sec. Sec. 302.103, 302.303, 302.304,
and 302.401. Under Sec. 302.603, OPM may recruit applicants, determine
whether they meet minimum requirements and qualifications and provide
lists of qualified applicants to agencies, while agencies remain
responsible for conducting technical assessments in accordance with the
Merit Hiring Plan and 5 U.S.C. 3304(a)(3), (c)(1) and (4), preparing
and issuing their own certificates under part 302, and applying
existing mechanisms such as the three-consideration rule and pass-over
procedures for preference eligibles, with notice to OPM so that OPM can
notify all participating agencies when an applicant has been removed
from further consideration. Section 302.604 permits OPM to create and
issue one or more ready-made certificate(s) for pooled excepted service
hiring and to establish policies governing the timeframe for agency
selections, while retaining requirements that agencies satisfy all
applicable priority reemployment and veterans' preference obligations
and follow the three-consideration rule and pass-over procedures, with
OPM informing all participating agencies when an applicant or veteran
has been removed from further consideration.
Section-by-Section Analysis of Subpart F
Subpart F authorizes OPM to conduct pooled hiring for excepted
service positions by recruiting applicants, determining their minimum
qualifications, and providing lists or certificates that may be used by
one or more agencies. Agencies retain responsibility for technical
assessments, selections, and compliance with existing legal
requirements, including priority reemployment, the three-consideration
rule, and protections for preference eligibles.
Section 302.601--General Authority
Section 302.601 establishes that OPM may issue lists of qualified
applicants to agencies, or excepted service certificates, that can be
used by single or multiple agencies under part 302. It provides that
agencies may conduct technical assessments and certification on lists
of qualified applicants, or make selections from OPM-issued
certificates consistent with applicable law and regulation, reinforcing
that pooled hiring operates within existing statutory and regulatory
hiring frameworks.
Section 302.602--Definitions
Section 302.602 defines OPM-led pooled hiring action to mean a
hiring approach under which OPM will (1) centrally recruit and provide
agencies with lists of applicants who meet minimum requirements and
qualifications for hiring agencies to conduct the technical assessment,
certification, and selection processes, or (2) centrally recruit,
screen applicants for minimum requirements and qualifications, conduct
the technical assessment and certification processes, and provide
agencies with ready-made certificates of qualified applicants to make
selections.
Section 302.603--Lists of Qualified Applicants
Section 302.603 explains that OPM may recruit applicants and
determine whether they meet minimum requirements and qualifications,
then provide agencies with lists of qualified candidates. Agencies
remain responsible for conducting technical assessments, issuing their
own certificates, and ensuring that all requirements related to
applicants eligible for priority reemployment (including those in
Sec. Sec. 302.103, 302.303, 302.304, and 302.401) are satisfied.
Section 302.603 also permits agencies to apply the three-
consideration rule under Sec. 332.405, on certificates on which
applicants were assigned numerical scores under Sec. 302.302(b)(1),
with a requirement to notify OPM so that OPM can inform all
participating agencies when an applicant has been removed from further
consideration under that rule. An agency may, but is not required to,
consider an applicant who has already received three bona fide
considerations by another agency; similarly, when an agency passes over
a preference eligible and that pass over is sustained, it must notify
OPM so that OPM can inform participating agencies that the veteran has
been removed from further consideration, and any agency may--but is not
required to--consider
[[Page 58355]]
an applicant previously passed over under Sec. 302.401 and the
Delegated Examining Operations Handbook.
Section 302.604--OPM-Created Certificates for Pooled Hiring
Section 302.604 authorizes OPM to issue one or more excepted
service certificates for a given hiring instance under the procedures
of part 302. When an agency uses an OPM-generated certificate, it may
not reassess applicants for rating or ranking purposes, ensuring that
OPM's central assessment governs how applicants are ordered on the
certificate.
Section 302.604 further allows OPM to establish policies governing
the timeframe within which an agency using an OPM certificate may make
a selection, including any extensions. Agencies using these
certificates must still meet all applicable requirements for applicants
eligible for priority reemployment (referencing Sec. Sec. 302.103,
.303, .304, and .401), may apply the three-consideration rule with
notice to OPM (so OPM can notify all participating agencies of removals
from consideration), and must notify OPM when a pass over of a
preference eligible is sustained so that OPM can remove the veteran
from further consideration for all participating agencies, which may
but are not required to consider such applicants thereafter.
C. How OPM-Led Pooled Hiring Works in the Competitive Service (Sec.
332.409)
For competitive service positions, new Sec. 332.409 establishes
parallel authority for OPM-led pooled hiring actions conducted under
delegated examining procedures, permitting OPM to issue lists of
qualified applicants or ready-made competitive service certificates for
use by one or more agencies. Under paragraph (c), OPM may recruit
applicants, determine whether they meet minimum qualifications, and
provide agencies with lists of qualified applicants, including
identifying applicants with ICTAP eligibility who must receive
selection priority consistent with 5 CFR part 330, subpart G, before
other applicants from an OPM-generated certificate. Participating
agencies remain responsible for conducting technical assessments and
issuing certificates under parts 332 and 337 and are required to
satisfy all applicable Reemployment Priority List (RPL), CTAP, and
ICTAP requirements before making selections.
Paragraph (d) authorizes OPM to issue one or more competitive
certificates for a hiring instance and to establish policies specifying
the timeframe within which agencies may make selections and any
extensions, while providing agencies with ICTAP-eligible lists and
requiring each agency to clear RPL and CTAP in accordance with 5 CFR
part 330 before selecting from an OPM-generated certificate. As with
the excepted service framework, agencies using pooled competitive
examining certificates remain subject to the three-consideration rule
and pass-over requirements for preference eligibles; agencies must
notify OPM when invoking the three-consideration rule or when a pass
over is sustained, and OPM will notify all participating agencies when
an applicant has been removed from further consideration, while
allowing agencies discretion, consistent with law and the Delegated
Examining Operations Handbook, to consider applicants who have received
three bona fide considerations or been subject to a sustained pass
over.
Analysis of Sec. 332.409
Section 332.409 authorizes OPM to conduct pooled hiring for
competitive service positions by issuing lists of qualified applicants
or competitive service certificates that may be used by multiple
agencies under delegated examining procedures. Agencies make selections
from these OPM-issued certificates in accordance with existing law and
regulation, while remaining responsible for technical assessments,
their own certificates, and for clearing applicable Reemployment
Priority List (RPL), CTAP, and ICTAP requirements before selecting from
the pooled lists.
Paragraph (a): General Authority
Paragraph (a) provides that OPM may issue lists of qualified
applicants or competitive service certificates for use by one or more
agencies operating under delegated examining procedures. It further
states that agencies may make selections from these certificates
consistent with applicable law and regulation, making clear that pooled
hiring is an optional mechanism that functions within the existing
competitive examining framework.
Paragraph (b): Definitions
Paragraph (b) defines OPM-led pooled hiring action to mean a hiring
approach under which OPM will (1) centrally recruit and provide
agencies with lists of applicants who meet minimum requirements and
qualifications for hiring agencies to conduct the technical assessment,
certification, and selection processes, or (2) centrally recruit,
screen applicants for minimum requirements and qualifications, conduct
the technical assessment and certification processes, and provide
agencies with ready-made certificates of qualified applicants to make
selections. OPM at its discretion may provide agencies with lists of
applicants eligible under 5 CFR part 330, subpart F, subpart G, or
both.
Paragraph (c): Lists of Qualified Applicants
Paragraph (c) explains that OPM may recruit applicants, determine
minimum qualifications, and provide agencies with lists of qualified
applicants. As part of this pooled process, OPM will provide agencies
with a list of applicants with ICTAP eligibility, who must be selected
before other applicants from the OPM-generated certificate, consistent
with 5 CFR part 330, subpart G.
Participating agencies remain responsible for conducting technical
assessments and issuing certificates under this part and part 337, and
must satisfy all applicable requirements related to RPL, CTAP, and
ICTAP before making selections. The paragraph also allows an agency to
apply the three-consideration rule under Sec. 332.405, on certificates
issued under Sec. 332.402, with an obligation to notify OPM so that
OPM can inform all participating agencies when an applicant has been
removed from further consideration; agencies may, but are not required
to, consider applicants who have already received three bona fide
considerations by another agency, and similarly must notify OPM when a
pass over of a preference eligible is sustained so that OPM can notify
participating agencies and remove the veteran from further
consideration, while leaving each agency the discretion to consider
applicants previously passed over under Sec. 332.406 and the Delegated
Examining Operations Handbook.
Paragraph (d): OPM-Created Certificates for Pooled Hiring
Paragraph (d) authorizes OPM to issue one or more competitive
certificates for a hiring instance under delegated examining
procedures. When an agency uses an OPM-generated certificate, it may
not reassess applicants for rating or ranking, ensuring that OPM's
assessment governs the order of candidates.
Paragraph (d) also permits OPM to establish policies specifying the
timeframe within which agencies using an OPM certificate may make
selections, including any extensions. In addition, OPM will provide
agencies with a list of ICTAP-eligible applicants who must be selected
before other applicants from the OPM-generated certificate, and each
agency must clear RPL and CTAP before
[[Page 58356]]
selecting from the certificate, while still being able to invoke the
three-consideration rule on certificates issued under Sec. 332.402 and
to follow pass-over procedures for preference eligibles--again with
notice to OPM so that it can inform all participating agencies and
remove such applicants from further consideration, while allowing
agencies the discretion to consider applicants who have been subject to
three considerations or a sustained pass over.
D. OPM-Issued Direct Hire Certificates (Sec. 337.206)
OPM is also adding a new Sec. 337.206 to subpart B of part 337,
and redesignating existing Sec. 337.206 (Terminations, modifications,
extensions, and reporting) as Sec. 337.207, to address OPM-issued
certificates used in connection with direct hire authority as part of
OPM-led pooled hiring. Paragraph (a) authorizes OPM to issue direct
hire certificates in conjunction with any direct hire authority
authorized under subpart B of part 337. Paragraph (b) requires OPM to
provide participating agencies information concerning applicants
entitled to priority consideration under 5 CFR part 330, subpart G, who
applied to the pooled announcement, and requires each agency to provide
those applicants selection priority in accordance with that subpart.
Paragraph (c) requires each agency using an OPM-issued direct hire
certificate to satisfy its Reemployment Priority List and Career
Transition Assistance Plan obligations under 5 CFR part 330, subparts B
and F, before making a selection from the certificate. Paragraph (d)
provides that agencies may not assess applicants for purposes of
determining relative qualifications through rating and ranking,
consistent with the limitations on assessment applicable under direct
hire authority, but may select among qualified candidates on the basis
of relative qualifications. Paragraph (e) provides that these
requirements apply to OPM-issued direct hire certificates
notwithstanding Sec. 337.201(a).
Paragraph (d)'s two clauses reflect the distinction, inherent in
the direct-hire framework, between assessment and selection. Under 5
U.S.C. 3304(b)(3), direct-hire appointments are made without regard to
5 U.S.C. 3309 through 3318, the provisions governing numerical rating,
additional points for preference eligibles, and certification of
eligibles in rank order. Because those provisions do not apply,
agencies using direct-hire authority may not rate and rank applicants:
assigning scores, categories, or ordinal standing would reconstruct a
competitive-examining process without the preference and certification
safeguards that ordinarily accompany one, and paragraph (d) carries
that assessment-stage limitation forward for OPM-issued direct-hire
certificates.
That limitation, however, has sometimes been misread to require
selecting officials to treat every qualified candidate as
interchangeable, as though any job-related comparison at the point of
selection were forbidden. Neither 5 U.S.C. 3304(b)(3) nor subpart B of
part 337 compels that result: the statute lifts the examining
procedures of sections 3309 through 3318; it does not direct agencies
to disregard merit when choosing among qualified candidates. Paragraph
(d) therefore makes explicit that, once qualifications have been
established, a selecting official may weigh the relative qualifications
of qualified candidates--for example, depth and relevance of
experience, education, and demonstrated competencies--in making a
selection.
A selection-stage comparison of this kind is not rating and ranking
within the meaning of paragraph (d): it assigns no scores, establishes
no ordered register or certificate, occurs only after the certificate
has been issued, and creates no entitlement to selection in any
particular order. This clarification harmonizes direct-hire procedures
with the merit system principle that selection should be determined on
the basis of relative ability, knowledge, and skills (5 U.S.C.
2301(b)(1)) and with the direction of E.O. 14170 and the Merit Hiring
Plan that agencies select the best-qualified candidates, while
preserving the streamlined character of direct hiring that 5 U.S.C.
3304(b)(3) is designed to provide.
VI. Regulatory Analysis
A. Statement of Need
OPM is issuing this interim rule to implement the provisions of
E.O. 14170, the Merit Hiring Plan, and 5 U.S.C. 2301(b)(5). These
provisions emphasize efficiency and an effective use of the federal
workforce. The modifications to the shared certificates provisions are
responsive to agency feedback on the limitations of current Sec.
332.408. This interim rule is needed to reinvigorate the use of shared
certificates, broaden its applicability to excepted service hiring, and
attune these rules with the Merit Hiring Plan and the Chance to Compete
Act, 5 U.S.C. 3304(a) and (c). The OPM-led pooled hiring provisions
memorialize current OPM hiring practices thereby creating transparency
and consistency for high-demand occupations or those common across
federal agencies. Pooled hiring actions enable a more efficient and
effective hiring system. They eliminate duplication and variation of
outcomes for the same hiring need across government and provide
agencies with ready-made lists of applicants from which to make
selections. They increase efficiency and expedite the hiring process by
increasing the number of selections made from one certificate.
B. Impact
OPM is issuing these provisions to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of hiring across the federal landscape. OPM-led hiring
actions leverage OPM's extensive expertise with respect to examining
while alleviating agencies from having to replicate the process for the
same hiring action. This will result in economies of scale when it
comes to filling the same high-demand positions across government.
Another impact will be that this approach reduces the time to hire.
Agencies are provided ready-made certificates and pools of qualified
applicants from which to make selections or conduct technical
assessments and certify candidates. Applicants need only apply one time
to the original job announcement or notification and can be considered
by multiple agencies instead of applying to each agency separately. All
of these outcomes will mean a more effective, twenty-first century
hiring process for agencies and applicants.
These provisions are expected primarily to improve efficiency and
consistency in Federal hiring while preserving existing protections and
priority programs for affected applicants. The impact of this rule is
as follows:
Expected Operational Impacts
<bullet> Centralized recruitment and preliminary qualification
screening by OPM should reduce duplicative agency recruiting efforts
and help agencies access broader, shared pools of qualified applicants
for excepted and competitive service positions.
<bullet> Use of OPM-generated lists and certificates for multiple
agencies is expected to shorten time-to-hire and support more
consistent application of qualification standards and rating and
ranking procedures.
<bullet> Agencies will retain responsibility for technical
assessments and selections, so any changes to internal workflows are
expected to be incremental and focused on integrating OPM-issued lists
and certificates into existing hiring processes.
[[Page 58357]]
Impacts on Preference and Priority Candidates
<bullet> The provisions are designed to maintain, rather than
reduce, protections for preference eligibles and applicants covered by
priority and transition programs.
<bullet> Agencies must continue to satisfy all applicable
requirements related to priority reemployment (for excepted service)
and RPL, CTAP, and ICTAP (for competitive service) before making
selections, and OPM will identify ICTAP-eligible applicants who must be
selected in accordance with 5 CFR part 330.
<bullet> Existing veterans' preference protections, including the
pass-over procedures for preference eligibles and the three-
consideration rule, remain in place, with additional coordination
through OPM notification to ensure that all participating agencies act
consistently when an applicant is removed from further consideration.
Impacts on Agencies and Applicants
<bullet> For agencies, the pooled hiring model is expected to
provide greater flexibility and access to ready candidate pools,
potentially improving the speed and quality of hiring decisions without
imposing fundamentally new obligations beyond integrating OPM-led
processes and notification requirements.
<bullet> For applicants, the ability for multiple agencies to use
shared OPM-generated lists and certificates may increase opportunities
for consideration across agencies from a single application, while
ensuring that those subject to priority and preference rules continue
to receive the protections required by statute and regulation.
C. Regulatory Alternatives
OPM considered minor regulatory changes to current rules at 5 CFR
332.408. We determined this approach did not support Merit System
Principles and the Administration initiatives mentioned above. OPM
opted for a more expansive approach aimed at producing a more efficient
and effective hiring system for federal agencies, job applicants, and
taxpayers. We determined the wording in 5 U.S.C. 3301, 3302, and 3320
allows us to expand the use of shared certificates under the
Competitive Service Act of 2015, as amended, for positions filled in
the excepted service using rating or ranking selection methods.
As OPM's use of pooled hiring actions has grown, we believe there
is benefit to memorializing in regulation the provisions which govern
this approach. This provides for a standardized and transparent system
of rules to the benefit of hiring agencies and applicants. Under these
provisions, applicants essentially apply once and become part of a pool
of talent available for consideration by several federal agencies.
Agencies are able to access candidates who have already been assessed
and found qualified for similar positions, grades, and locations. This
eliminates duplication of effort and resources. OPM determined the
benefits of regulating far outweigh the alternative.
D. Costs
This interim rule will affect the operations of over 80 Federal
agencies--ranging from cabinet-level departments to small independent
agencies. OPM will provide guidance on implementing this rule in
various forms: fact sheets, frequently asked questions, and podcasts.
OPM estimates that this rulemaking will require individuals employed by
these agencies to train human resources (HR) practitioners and hiring
managers on its use. For this cost analysis, OPM assumed an average
salary rate of Federal employees performing this work using the rate in
2025 for GS-14, step 5, from the Washington, DC, locality pay table
($161,486 annual locality rate and $77.38 hourly locality rate). We
assumed that the total dollar value of labor, which includes wages,
benefits, and overhead, is equal to 200 percent of the wage rate,
resulting in an assumed labor cost of $154.76 per hour. To comply with
the regulatory changes in the interim rule, affected agencies will need
to review the rule and update their policies and procedures where
necessary. We estimate that, in the first year following publication of
the interim rule, doing so will require an average of 100 hours of work
by employees per agency with an average hourly cost of $154.76. This
work would result in estimated costs in that first year of
implementation of about $15,476 per agency, and about $1,238,080 in
total governmentwide. In addition, OPM estimates that agencies will
train human resources practitioners and hiring managers on these
procedures, as contemplated by the guidance OPM will issue with this
rule; assuming approximately 10,000 individuals governmentwide require
an average of 2 hours of training at the same loaded hourly rate of
$154.76, first-year training costs are approximately $3,095,200. OPM
further estimates that agencies will update staffing-system
configurations, applicant-notification templates, and case-file
procedures to accommodate shared and OPM-issued certificates, at an
average of 40 hours per agency, or approximately $495,232
governmentwide. Total estimated first-year costs are therefore
approximately $4.8 million. OPM invites comment, accompanied by data,
on these estimates. Some agencies may incur additional costs because
they have to establish excepted service employment policies where none
existed. We do not believe this rulemaking will substantially increase
the ongoing administrative costs to agencies (including the
administrative costs of using these new procedures and training new
staff) because the rulemaking streamlines existing procedures and
processes.
E. Benefits
The benefits of the interim rule are many. This interim rule
supports Administration efforts to improve hiring processes across
federal agencies. These rules will prevent agencies from ``reinventing
the wheel'' for every job opening, which will reduce the time to hire
and allow agencies to tap into existing pools of top-tier talent. By
streamlining the hiring process, these rules make federal hiring more
efficient and beneficial for hiring agencies and applicants.
F. Severability
If any provision of the interim sections or its application to any
person, act, or practice is held invalid, the remainder of the subpart
or the application of its provisions to any person, act, or practice
shall not be affected thereby.
VII. Waiver of Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Section 2(d) of Public Law 114-137, the Competitive Service Act of
2015 (``CSA''), directs that ``the Director of the Office of Personnel
Management shall issue an interim final rule with comment to carry out
the amendments made by this section.'' On January 18, 2017, OPM
published an interim final rule to implement the amendments made by the
CSA. Based on experience with the rule, these amendments to Sec.
332.408 and related provisions of part 332 governing shared use of
competitive service certificates are issued as an interim final rule
with comment pursuant to this express statutory directive, and the
general notice-and-comment requirement of 5 U.S.C. 553(b) is
statutorily waived as to those provisions.
With respect to the new framework for shared use of excepted
service certificates (5 CFR part 302, subpart E) and OPM-led pooled
hiring actions
[[Page 58358]]
(Sec. Sec. 302.601 and 332.409), which are not amendments compelled by
the CSA, OPM separately finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to
issue these provisions without prior notice of proposed rulemaking. OPM
currently uses pooled hiring approaches and coordinated excepted-
service referral practices administratively, and agencies have
structured ongoing and planned hiring actions--including centralized
hiring for Budget Analyst, Human Resources Specialist, and Information
Technology positions referenced in the Merit Hiring Plan--around the
expectation that these practices will continue without interruption.
Requiring a delay for notice and comment before formalizing these
existing practices in regulation would be impracticable and contrary to
the public interest, because it would create uncertainty for agencies
and applicants currently relying on these hiring mechanisms and could
require unwinding hiring actions already underway.
OPM-led pooled hiring actions are in active use for occupations
common across the Government, with announcements open, certificates
outstanding, and applicants awaiting selection as of the date of this
rule. Interposing a notice-and-comment cycle before these provisions
take effect would suspend or cast doubt on selections from those
certificates, prejudice applicants who applied in reliance on the
announced process, and delay the filling of high-need positions; those
results would be impracticable to administer and contrary to the public
interest.
In addition, these provisions are procedural and organizational in
character: they govern the internal mechanics by which OPM and Federal
agencies refer, share, and act upon lists and certificates of
eligibles, and they impose no new substantive burden on applicants,
whose rights--including veterans' preference, priority reemployment,
and career transition protections--are preserved in full.
Accordingly, OPM has also concluded that these provisions fall
within the exception for rules of agency organization, procedure, or
practice under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A), which independently permits issuance
without prior notice and comment. Codifying these existing practices
now, rather than only after a comment cycle, also serves the public
interest by providing applicants and agencies immediately with the
transparency and uniformity of published rules. OPM is nonetheless
requesting public comment on all provisions of this interim rule,
including the excepted-service and pooled-hiring provisions, and will
consider all comments received in determining whether to modify these
provisions in a subsequent final rule.
VIII. Regulatory Compliance
1. Regulatory Review
OPM has examined the impact of this rule as required by E.O.s 12866
and 13563, which direct agencies to assess all costs and benefits of
available regulatory alternatives and, if a regulation is necessary, to
select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits (including
potential economic, environmental, public health, and safety effects,
distributive impacts, and equity). A regulatory impact analysis must be
prepared for rules that have an annual effect on the economy of $100
million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a
sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the
environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal
governments or communities. This rulemaking does not reach that
threshold but has otherwise been designated as a ``significant
regulatory action'' under section 3(f) of E.O. 12866, as supplemented
by E.O. 13563. This rulemaking is not considered an E.O. 14192
regulatory action because it imposes no more than de minimis costs.
2. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Director of the Office of Personnel Management certifies that
this regulation will not have a significant impact on a substantial
number of small entities because it applies only to Federal agencies
and employees.
3. Federalism
This rule will not have substantial direct effects on the States,
on the relationship between the National Government and the States, or
on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various
levels of government. Therefore, no Federalism Assessment is required.
4. Civil Justice Reform
This rule meets the applicable standards set forth in sections 3(a)
and 3(b)(2) of E.O. 12988.
5. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA)
requires that agencies assess anticipated costs and benefits before
issuing any rule that would impose spending costs on State, local, or
tribal governments in the aggregate, or on the private sector, in any 1
year of $100 million in 1995 dollars, updated annually for inflation.
That threshold is currently approximately $206 million. This rulemaking
will not result in the expenditure by State, local, or tribal
governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, in excess of
the threshold. Thus, no written assessment of unfunded mandates is
required.
6. Congressional Review Act
OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has determined
this rule does not meet the criteria for a ``major rule'' as defined in
5 U.S.C. 804(2).
7. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required
to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure
to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, as amended, (44 U.S.C. 3501 et
seq.), unless that collection of information displays a currently valid
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number.
List of Subjects
5 CFR Part 302
Government employees, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
5 CFR Part 332
Government employees.
5 CFR Part 337
Government employees, Veterans.
Signing Statement
The Director of OPM, Scott Kupor, reviewed and approved this
document and has authorized the undersigned to electronically sign and
submit this document to the Office of the Federal Register for
publication.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Jerson Matias,
Federal Register Liaison.
Accordingly, for the reasons stated in the preamble, OPM amends 5
CFR parts 302, 332, and 337 as follows:
PART 302--EMPLOYMENT IN THE EXCEPTED SERVICE
0
1. The authority citation for part 302 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 1103, 1302, 3301, 3302, 3318, 3320, 8151,
and E.O. 10577, 3 CFR 1954-1958 Comp., p. 218, unless otherwise
noted.
[[Page 58359]]
Subpart E--Appeals [Redesignated as Subpart G]
Sec. 302.501 [Redesignated]
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2. Redesignate subpart E as subpart G and Sec. 302.501 as Sec.
302.701.
0
3. Add a new subpart E to read as follows:
Subpart E--Shared Use of Excepted Service Certificates
Sec.
302.501 General authority.
302.502 Requirements for the original hiring agency.
302.503 Requirements for receiving agencies.
Sec. 302.501 General authority.
(a) Certificate has the meaning given in Sec. 332.102 of this
chapter.
(b) A hiring agency may share an excepted service certificate
issued for filling positions under Schedules D and Policy/Career with
one or more Federal agencies for positions to be filled on a permanent
or time-limited basis. Positions filled on a time-limited basis are
subject to Sec. 213.104 of this chapter. Positions may be full-time or
other than full-time, including part-time, seasonal, on-call, and
intermittent positions.
(c) All actions taken on a shared excepted service certificate must
occur within 240 days after the date on which the original hiring
agency issued the certificate. This period may not be extended.
(d) The original hiring agency and any receiving agency using a
shared excepted service certificate must maintain sufficient
documentation to reconstruct their respective use of the certificate
and must safeguard examination materials, assessment materials,
examination results, assessment results, and applicant information in
accordance with Sec. 300.201 of this chapter.
(e) All actions taken on a shared excepted service certificate must
comply with this part.
(f) Agencies sharing excepted service certificates must keep
records of the instances of sharing these certificates and/or using
shared excepted service certificates.
Sec. 302.502 Requirements for the original hiring agency.
(a) An original hiring agency may share an excepted service
certificate issued under Sec. 302.302 with one or more receiving
agencies if:
(1) The original hiring agency intends to use the excepted service
certificate for its own hiring needs;
(2) The original hiring agency informed applicants that the
resulting excepted service certificate may be used by one or more
hiring agencies;
(3) The original hiring agency provided applicants an opportunity
to opt-in to have their applications and other personal information
shared with one or more hiring agencies;
(4) The original hiring agency's objections to eligibles or
requests to pass over preference eligibles have been resolved in
accordance with subpart D of this part, or by OPM in the case of a
disabled veteran with a thirty percent or more service-connected
disability. The original hiring agency must notate on the excepted
service certificate next to the name of any preference eligible veteran
whom the agency successfully passed over;
(5) The original hiring agency either made a selection from the
excepted service certificate or documented its reason for making no
selection; and
(6) The original hiring agency determined that sharing the excepted
service certificate complies with this part and any applicable agency
policy.
(b) The original hiring agency may apply the three-consideration
rule in Sec. 332.405 during its use of an excepted service certificate
on which applicants were assigned numerical scores under Sec.
302.302(b)(1) and remove candidates from consideration accordingly. The
three-consideration rule does not apply to an excepted service
certificate on which applicants were placed in quality categories under
Sec. 302.302(b)(2). Before sharing the certificate with another
agency, the original hiring agency must notate the certificate next to
the name of any applicant removed from consideration under Sec.
332.405. For purposes of this subpart, Sec. 332.405 applies as if the
position were being filled in the competitive service.
(c) When sharing an excepted service certificate, the original
hiring agency must share all documentation pertaining to the creation
of that certificate, including but not limited to the job analysis,
testing and examination materials, the job opportunity announcement or
applicable public notification, and applications, as relevant, and must
safeguard any personally identifiable information not needed for
effective use of the certificate by the receiving agency. The original
hiring agency may share the assessment scores of certified applicants.
The original hiring agency must share the excepted service certificate
of eligibles in its original form in order to retain the original
ordering of the certificate; must safeguard any personally identifiable
information from unauthorized access during the transmission process;
and must redact the names of applicants who did not opt-in to the
shared certificate, and who therefore may not be considered by the
receiving agency.
(d) The original hiring agency may share an excepted service
certificate of eligibles with one or more agencies, one agency at a
time or multiple agencies simultaneously.
(e) If the original hiring agency determines that it has made an
error that may affect selections by a receiving agency or agencies, it
must notify each affected receiving agency.
Sec. 302.503 Requirements for receiving agencies.
(a) Eligible vacancies. A receiving agency may use a shared
excepted service certificate to fill a vacancy in the same occupational
series, at the same grade level (or corresponding rate or level of pay
for a position excluded from the General Schedule) with the same full-
performance level, and in the same duty location as was listed on the
original hiring agency's certificate. If the original hiring agency's
excepted service certificate is for an interdisciplinary position as
described in the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook, the receiving
agency may use it to fill an interdisciplinary position. The receiving
agency must verify through its job analysis that the minimum
qualification requirements (including use of any selective placement
factors) and the competencies, or knowledge, skills, and abilities,
that were used for the original position are appropriate for the
position to be filled.
(b) Notification to applicants. Before using a shared excepted
service certificate, a receiving agency must notify eligible applicants
who opted-in that it has received their names and application materials
and intends to consider them for employment. The notification must
identify the agency, position title, occupational series, grade level
or equivalent, and duty location.
(c) Limitations. (1) Nothing in this paragraph affects agencies'
right to fill a position from any appropriate source under Sec. Sec.
330.102 and 335.103 of this chapter.
(2) Before considering other candidates, a receiving agency must
first provide for the consideration for selection required for
individuals entitled to priority consideration under Sec. Sec. 302.303
and 302.304.
(d) Selection from the shared certificate. A receiving agency may
consider candidates referred on the shared excepted service
certificate.
(1) A receiving agency may, but is not required to, consider any
applicant designated on the certificate as being passed over under
Sec. 302.502(a)(4), or as
[[Page 58360]]
having received three bona fide considerations under Sec. 302.502(b).
(2) The receiving agency may not reassess the applicants for
purposes of rating/ranking.
(e) Time limit on selection. The receiving agency has 240 days from
the date the certificate was issued (in the original hiring agency) to
select individuals from the shared excepted service certificate.
(f) Limit on further sharing by the receiving agency. The receiving
agency may not share or distribute the shared certificate to another
Federal agency.
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4. Add subpart F to read as follows:
Subpart F--OPM-Led Pooled Hiring Actions
Sec.
302.601 General authority.
302.602 Definitions.
302.603 Lists of qualified applicants.
302.604 OPM-created certificates for pooled hiring.
Sec. 302.601 General authority.
(a) OPM may issue lists of qualified applicants for which agencies
shall conduct technical assessments and certify applicants for
selection, to one or more agencies under this part; or
(b) OPM may issue excepted service certificates to one or more
agencies which may make selections in accordance with this part.
Sec. 302.602 Definitions.
In this subpart:
Certificate has the meaning given in Sec. 332.102 of this chapter.
OPM-led pooled hiring action means a hiring approach under which
OPM will (1) centrally recruit and provide agencies with lists of
applicants who meet minimum requirements and qualifications for hiring
agencies to conduct the technical assessment, certification, and
selection processes, or (2) centrally recruit, screen applicants for
minimum requirements and qualifications, conduct the technical
assessment and certification processes, and provide agencies with
ready-made excepted service certificates of qualified applicants to
make selections.
Participating agency means an agency that receives a list of
qualified applicants or an excepted service certificate from OPM under
this subpart for a given OPM-led pooled hiring action.
Sec. 302.603 Lists of qualified applicants.
(a) OPM may recruit applicants, determine minimum qualifications,
and provide lists of qualified applicants to agencies.
(b) Agencies are responsible for conducting technical assessments
and issuing excepted service certificates in accordance with this part.
(c) Agencies must satisfy all applicable requirements pertaining to
applicants eligible for priority consideration in accordance with
Sec. Sec. 302.103, 302.303, 302.304, and 302.401.
(d) An agency may apply the three-consideration rule under Sec.
332.405 of this subchapter to an excepted service certificate on which
applicants were assigned numerical scores under Sec. 302.302(b)(1) and
must notify OPM when doing so. The three-consideration rules does not
apply to an excepted service certificate on which applicants were
placed in quality categories under Sec. 302.302(b)(2). OPM will notify
all participating agencies when an applicant has been removed from
further consideration under the three-consideration rule. An agency
may, but is not required to, consider any applicant who received three
bona fide considerations from another agency in accordance with Sec.
332.405 of this subchapter and identified as such by OPM. For purposes
of this subpart, Sec. 332.405 of this subchapter applies as if the
position were being filled in the competitive service.
(e) An agency which passes over a preference eligible must notify
OPM when the pass-over is sustained. OPM will notify all participating
agencies when a pass-over request has been sustained, and the veteran
is removed from further consideration. An agency may, but is not
required to, consider any applicant notified that he or she was being
passed over by another agency in accordance with Sec. 302.401(b), the
Delegated Examining Operations Handbook, and identified as such by OPM.
Sec. 302.604 OPM-created certificates for pooled hiring.
(a) OPM may issue one or more excepted service certificates for a
hiring instance under the procedures of this part.
(b) An agency using an OPM-generated excepted service certificate
may not reassess applicants for purposes of rating or ranking.
(c) OPM may establish a policy for the timeframe within which an
agency using a certificate may make a selection, and any extensions to
this timeframe.
(d) Agencies must satisfy all applicable requirements pertaining to
applicants eligible for priority consideration in accordance with
Sec. Sec. 302.103, 302.303, 302.304, and 302.401.
(e) An agency may apply the three-consideration rule under Sec.
332.405 of this subchapter to an excepted service certificate on which
applicants were assigned numerical scores under Sec. 302.302(b)(1) and
must notify OPM when doing so. The three-consideration rule does not
apply to an excepted service certificate on which applicants were
placed in quality categories under Sec. 302.302(b)(2). OPM will notify
all participating agencies when an applicant has been removed from
further consideration under the three-consideration rule. A
participating agency may, but is not required to, consider any
applicant who received three bona fide considerations from another
agency in accordance with Sec. 332.405 and identified as such by OPM.
(f) An agency which passes over a preference eligible must notify
OPM when the pass-over is sustained. OPM will notify all participating
agencies when a pass-over request has been sustained, and the veteran
is removed from further consideration. An agency may, but is not
required to, consider any applicant notified that he or she was being
passed over by another agency in accordance with Sec. 302.401(b), the
Delegated Examining Operations Handbook, and identified as such by OPM.
PART 332--RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION THROUGH COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION
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5. The authority citation for part 332 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 1103, 1104, 1302, 2108, 3301, 3302, 3304,
3312, 3317, 3318, 3319; sec. 2(d), Pub. L. 114-137, 130 Stat. 310;
E.O. 10577, 19 FR 7521, 3 CFR 1954-1958 Comp., p. 218.
0
6. Amend Sec. 332.405 by revising paragraph (d) to read as follows:
Sec. 332.405 Three considerations for appointment.
* * * * *
(d) Applicability. The three considerations rule applies only to a
certificate of eligibles issued under Sec. 332.402. The rule does not
apply to a certificate of eligibles issued under Sec. 337.303 of this
chapter.
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7. Revise Sec. 332.408 to read as follows:
Sec. 332.408 Shared use of a competitive certificate.
(a) General authority. (1) A hiring agency may share a competitive
service certificate issued under its delegated examining authority with
one or more hiring agencies for a position(s) to be filled on a
permanent or term basis. Positions filled on a term basis are subject
to the provisions of 5 CFR part
[[Page 58361]]
316, subpart C. Positions may be full-time or other than full-time
(i.e., part-time, seasonal, on-call, and intermittent).
(2) Another Federal agency may make a selection from a certificate
shared with it under paragraph (b) of this section only after it has
considered individuals it is required to consider when filling
positions from within its own workforce and other internal applicants
under paragraph (c) of this section.
(3) All actions taken on a shared certificate must be made within
the 240-day period beginning on the date the original hiring agency
issued the certificate of eligibles. This period cannot be extended.
(4) The original hiring agency and any receiving agency using a
shared certificate must each maintain case file documentation
sufficient for each agency to reconstruct its own use of the
certificate in accordance with the Delegated Examining Operations
Handbook, and must safeguard testing and examination materials,
examination results, and the names of applicants from disclosure to
other persons in accordance with Sec. 300.201 of this chapter.
(5) All actions taken on competitive certificates must be done in
accordance with the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook and all
applicable regulations in this part and part 337 of this chapter.
(6) Agencies sharing certificates must keep records of the
instances of sharing certificates and/or using shared certificates.
(b) Requirements for the original hiring agency. (1) A hiring
agency may share a competitive certificate it has issued under Sec.
332.402 (for traditional rating and ranking) or under 5 CFR 337.303
(for category rating) with one or more hiring agencies for use in
filling a position(s) if:
(i) The original hiring agency intends to use the certificate for
its own hiring;
(ii) The original hiring agency has provided notice within the job
opportunity announcement for the original vacancy that the resulting
list of eligible candidates may be used by one or more hiring agencies;
(iii) The original hiring agency provided an opportunity for
applicants to opt-in to have their applications and other personal
information shared with one or more hiring agencies;
(iv) The original hiring agency's objections to eligibles or
requests to pass over preference eligibles on the certificate under
Sec. 332.406 or Sec. 337.304 of this chapter have been resolved by
that agency's Delegated Examining Unit, or by OPM in the case of a
disabled veteran with a thirty percent or more service-connected
disability. The original hiring agency must notate on the certificate
next to the name of any preference eligible veteran whom the agency
successfully passed over.
(v) The original hiring agency has either made a selection from the
certificate or has made no selection from the certificate, and has
documented its reason for non-selection; and
(vi) The Delegated Examining Unit of the original hiring agency has
closed and audited the certificate in accordance with the procedures in
the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook.
(2) The original hiring agency may apply the three-consideration
rule in Sec. 332.405 during its use of a certificate issued under
Sec. 332.402 and remove candidates from consideration accordingly. The
three-consideration rule does not apply to a certificate issued under
Sec. 337.303 of this chapter. Before sharing the certificate with
another agency, the original hiring agency must notate the certificate
next to the name of any applicant removed from consideration under
Sec. 332.405.
(3) When sharing a certificate of eligibles, the original hiring
agency must share all documentation pertaining to the creation of that
certificate, including but not limited to the job analysis, testing and
examination materials, the job opportunity announcement, and
applications, as relevant, and must safeguard any personally
identifiable information not needed for effective use of the
certificate by the receiving agency. The original hiring agency may
share the assessment scores of certified applicants. The original
hiring agency must share the certificate of eligibles in its original
form in order to retain the original ordering of the certificate; must
safeguard any personally identifiable information from unauthorized
access during the transmission process; and must redact the names of
applicants who did not opt-in to the shared certificate, and who
therefore may not be considered by the receiving agency.
(4) The original hiring agency may share a certificate of eligibles
with one or more agencies, one agency at a time or multiple agencies
simultaneously.
(5) If the original hiring agency determines that it has made an
error that may affect selections by a receiving agency or agencies, it
must notify each affected receiving agency.
(c) Requirements for the receiving agency--(1) Vacancies that may
be filled. A receiving agency may use a shared certificate to fill a
vacancy in the same occupational series, at the same grade level (or a
corresponding rate or level of pay for a position excluded from the
General Schedule), with the same full performance level, and in the
same duty location as was listed on the original hiring agency's
certificate. If the original hiring agency's certificate is for an
interdisciplinary position as described in the Delegated Examining
Operations Handbook, the receiving agency may use it to fill an
interdisciplinary position. The receiving agency must verify through
its job analysis that the minimum qualification requirements (including
use of any selective placement factors) and the competencies, or
knowledge, skills, and abilities, that were used for the original
position are appropriate for the position to be filled.
(2) Notification to individuals who applied to the original
vacancy. Before using a shared certificate, a receiving agency must
notify the list of candidates of its receipt of their names and
application materials and its intention of considering them for a
position. The receiving agency must also inform these individuals of
its requirement to consider its own employees as well as other
individuals the agency is required to consider pursuant to 5 CFR part
330, subparts B and F, before consideration of anyone on the shared
certificate. At a minimum, the notification must include the agency,
position title, series, grade level or equivalent, and duty location.
(3) Consideration of internal candidates. Before making a selection
from a shared certificate, a receiving agency must provide notice of
its intent to fill the available position(s) to its own employees and
other individuals the agency is required to consider, to provide these
internal candidates the opportunity to apply consistent with the
provisions of part 335 of this chapter, and to review the
qualifications of the internal candidates.
(i) Nothing in this paragraph affects agencies' right to fill a
position from any appropriate source under Sec. Sec. 330.102 and
335.103 of this chapter.
(ii) Agencies are prohibited from providing an application period
any longer than 10 business days for internal candidates. This time
limit cannot be waived or extended.
(iii) Before considering other candidates, a receiving agency must
first provide for the consideration for selection required for
individuals covered under its Reemployment Priority List and its Career
Transition Assistance Plan under part 330, subparts B and F, of this
chapter.
(4) Selection from the shared certificate. After considering
internal
[[Page 58362]]
candidates, a receiving agency may consider candidates referred on the
shared certificate.
(i) Except as provided in paragraph (c)(4)(ii) of this section, the
receiving agency must consider candidates on a shared certificate
independently of the actions of any other agency with which the
certificate is simultaneously shared under paragraph (b)(4) of this
section.
(ii) The receiving agency may, but is not required to, consider any
applicant designated on the certificate as being passed over under
paragraph (b)(1)(iv) of this section, or as having received three bona
fide considerations under paragraph (b)(2) of this section.
(iii) The receiving agency may not reassess the applicants for
purposes of rating/ranking.
(iv) The receiving agency must provide selection priority to
individuals eligible under the Interagency Career Transition Assistance
Plan under part 330, subpart G, of this chapter, who applied to the
original job announcement.
(5) Time limit on selection from a shared certificate. The
receiving agency has 240 days from the date the certificate was issued
(in the original hiring agency) to select individuals from the shared
certificate.
(6) Limit on further sharing by the receiving agency. The receiving
agency may not share or distribute the shared certificate to another
Federal agency.
0
8. Add Sec. 332.409 to read as follows:
Sec. 332.409 OPM-led pooled hiring actions for competitive examining.
(a) General authority. (1) OPM may issue lists of qualified
applicants or competitive service certificates for use by one or more
agencies under delegated examining procedures.
(2) Agencies may conduct technical assessments and certify
applicants on lists of qualified applicants or make selections from
certificates issued under this section in accordance with applicable
law and regulation.
(b) Definitions. The following terms apply to this section:
OPM-led pooled hiring action means a hiring approach under which
OPM will:
(1) Centrally recruit and provide agencies with lists of applicants
who meet minimum requirements and qualifications for hiring agencies to
conduct the technical assessment, certification, and selection
processes; or
(2) Centrally recruit, screen applicants for minimum requirements
and qualifications, conduct the technical assessment and certification
processes, and provide agencies with ready-made certificates of
qualified applicants to make selections. OPM at its discretion may
provide agencies with lists of applicants eligible under 5 CFR part
330, subpart F, subpart G, or both.
Participating agency means an agency that receives a list of
qualified applicants or a competitive service certificate from OPM
under this section for a given OPM-led pooled hiring action.
(c) Lists of qualified applicants. (1) OPM may recruit applicants,
determine minimum qualifications, and provide lists of qualified
applicants to agencies.
(i) OPM will provide agencies with a list of eligible applicants
with Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) eligibility
who must be selected before other applicants from the OPM-generated
certificate in accordance with 5 CFR part 330, subpart G.
(2) Participating agencies are responsible for conducting technical
assessments and issuing certificates in accordance with this part and
part 337 of this chapter.
(3) Agencies must satisfy all applicable requirements relating to
Reemployment Priority List (RPL), Career Transition Assistance Plan
(CTAP), and ICTAP before making selections.
(4) An agency may apply the three-consideration rule under Sec.
332.405 to a certificate issued under Sec. 332.402 and must notify OPM
when doing so. The three-consideration rule does not apply to a
certificate issued under Sec. 337.303 of this chapter. OPM will notify
all participating agencies when an applicant has been removed from
further consideration under the three-consideration rule. An agency
may, but is not required to, consider any applicant who received three
bona fide considerations from another agency in accordance with Sec.
332.405 and identified as such by OPM.
(5) An agency which passes over a preference eligible must notify
OPM when the pass-over is sustained. OPM will notify all participating
agencies when a pass-over request has been sustained, and the veteran
is removed from further consideration. An agency may, but is not
required to, consider any applicant notified that he or she was being
passed over by another agency in accordance with Sec. 332.406, the
Delegated Examining Operations Handbook, and identified as such by OPM.
(d) OPM-created certificates for pooled hiring. (1) OPM may issue
one or more competitive certificates for a hiring instance under
delegated examining procedures.
(2) An agency using an OPM-generated certificate may not reassess
applicants for purposes of rating or ranking.
(3) OPM may establish a policy for the timeframe within which an
agency using a certificate may make a selection, and any extensions to
this timeframe.
(4) OPM will provide agencies with a list of ICTAP-eligible
applicants who must be selected before other applicants from the OPM-
generated certificate in accordance with 5 CFR part 330, subpart G.
(5) Each agency using the certificate must clear RPL and CTAP
before making a selection from the certificate in accordance with 5 CFR
part 330, subparts B and F.
(6) An agency may apply the three-consideration rule under Sec.
332.405 to a certificate issued under Sec. 332.402 and must notify OPM
when doing so. The three-consideration rule does not apply to a
certificate issued under Sec. 337.303 of this chapter. OPM will notify
all participating agencies when an applicant has been removed from
further consideration under the three-consideration rule. A
participating agency may, but is not required to, consider any
applicant who received three bona fide considerations from another
agency in accordance with Sec. 332.405 and identified as such by OPM.
(7) An agency which passes over a preference eligible must notify
OPM when the pass over is sustained. OPM will notify all participating
agencies when a pass over request has been sustained, and the veteran
is removed from further consideration. An agency may, but is not
required to, consider any applicant notified that he or she was being
passed over by another agency in accordance with Sec. 332.406, the
Delegated Examining Operations Handbook, and identified as such by OPM.
PART 337--EXAMINING SYSTEM
0
9. The authority citation for part 337 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 1104(a), 1302, 2302, 3301, 3302, 3304,
3319, 5364; E.O. 10577, 3 CFR 1954-1958 Comp., p. 218; 33 FR 12423,
Sept. 4, 1968; and 45 FR 18365, Mar. 21, 1980; 116 Stat. 2135, 2290;
117 Stat. 1392, 1665; and E.O. 13833.
Sec. 337.206 [Redesignated]
0
10. Redesignate Sec. 337.206 as Sec. 337.207.
0
11. Add a new Sec. 337.206 to read as follows:
[[Page 58363]]
Sec. 337.206 Special rules for OPM.
(a) OPM may issue direct hire certificates in conjunction with any
direct hire authority authorized under subpart B of this part.
(b) OPM will provide participating agencies information concerning
applicants entitled to priority consideration under part 330, subpart
G, of this chapter who applied to the pooled announcement, and each
agency must provide such applicants selection priority in accordance
with that subpart.
(c) Each agency using an OPM-issued direct hire certificate must
clear RPL and CTAP before making a selection from the certificate in
accordance with 5 CFR part 330, subparts B and F.
(d) Agencies using OPM-issued direct hire certificates may not
assess applicants for purposes of determining relative qualifications
through rating and ranking, but may select among qualified candidates
on the basis of relative qualifications.
(e) The requirements of this section apply to OPM-issued direct
hire certificates notwithstanding Sec. 337.201(a).
[FR Doc. 2026-18828 Filed 9-14-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-39-P
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