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Washington, D.C.—A recent Office of Personnel Management (OPM) report on hiring flexibilities fails to address the negative impact of such flexibilities currently being used by government agencies, such as impeding fair and open competition and advancement and circumventing merit-based hiring practices, the leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees said.

National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen M. Kelley cited a report finding that the number of federal employees hired under eight special hiring authorities, including the Federal Career Intern Program (FCIP), rose almost 50 percent—30,000 to 43,000—from FY 2004 to FY 2007. During this period, new hires under the FCIP rose 147 percent—6,800 to 17,000—while the total number of new merit-based hires increased by less than 2 percent, 236,000 to 240,000.

“OPM’s report indicates that it is continuing to move away from a merit-based competitive service in favor of more relaxed standards that allow a great deal of discretion on the part of hiring managers,” President Kelley said. “This presents a danger that hiring decisions become based on factors other than a candidate’s qualifications and that weakens the merit-based federal civil service.”

FCIP is the most egregious, and fastest-growing, example of how federal agencies are departing from statutorily-mandated competitive examination and selection requirements. NTEU has been critical of the widespread use of the FCIP and other hiring authorities, arguing that they narrow the applicant pool and create a perception of unfair and arbitrary treatment.

President Kelley said that, far from being a limited special-focus hiring tool, aimed at providing structured, two-year training and development ‘internships,’ the FCIP has become the tool of choice to circumvent competitive hiring practices. Vacancy announcements do not have to be posted, veterans’ preference rights are diminished, and agencies have discretion to make selection decisions without following rating and ranking processes or merit promotion plans. Many agencies also use the FCIP's two-year "internship" period as a means to evade the one-year probationary period that normally applies to new hires.

She noted that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has used the FCIP to fill all entry-level officer positions, and other agencies, like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), employ the program to fill many entry-level openings.

“A merit-based hiring system relies on fair and open recruitment and uses valid assessment tools for entry-level positions in government,” President Kelley said. “It is the reason the U.S. civil service has a global reputation for professionalism and excellence.”

Last year NTEU filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging OPM rules covering the FCIP. The suit alleges that the rules allow government agencies to undermine competitive hiring procedures that have served as the cornerstone of the merit-based federal workforce for more than a century.

President Kelley also has urged Congress to prod agencies into a greater use of existing hiring flexibilities, including offering monetary bonuses, relocation assistance and flexitime options that give agencies more versatility when competing for employees against the private sector.

“The federal government’s mission will be complicated in the years ahead,” Kelley said. “We are going to need a comprehensive plan to get back to the place where we attract the best and the brightest this country has to offer.”