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Washington, D.C. – The National Park Service’s attempt to clarify the hiring policy for seasonal park workers does not go far enough to ensure veteran employees will be allowed to return to their posts, National Treasury Employees Union President Tony Reardon said.

The National Park Service mishandled the situation and caused many long-time seasonal workers to lose their automatic re-hire eligibility because they were given incorrect information from the agency.

“Many of the Park Service’s most experienced employees, including backcountry rangers, are seasonals who for years have relied upon the ability to keep their temporary jobs year to year without going through a formal and time-consuming reapplication process,” Reardon said. “But because NPS gave confusing or inconsistent guidance – or sometimes no guidance at all -- many of them missed application deadlines or the uncertainty forced them to look elsewhere for employment. This is a loss to the National Park Service and the millions of park visitors who rely upon their expertise.”

NTEU has been urging NPS management and Congress to address the unfairness of seasonal workers being penalized because – through no fault of their own – they exceeded the limit on the number of hours they could work in one year. 

In the past, many seasonal workers were allowed to work up to 1,040 hours at two different parks in the same year and not have to reapply the following year. An audit by the Office of Personnel Management forced the agency to limit seasonal workers to 1,040 hours per year, total. As a result, in some extreme cases, seasonals who had exceeded the 1,040-hour limit more than a decade ago were barred from re-employment.

The agency issued new guidance May 15 that seasonal employees can regain their non-competitive rehire eligibility as long as they have not worked more than 1,039 hours per year. Seasonal employees are free to work multiple jobs at various parks and exceed the hourly limit, but they would lose their non-competitive rehire eligibility as a result.

“They were given permission and even encouraged to share their expertise by working different seasons in different parks, so it makes no sense that NPS would use that experience against them,” Reardon said. “The better solution would be to apply the stricter standard prospectively only and not punish those who exceeded the hourly limit in the past.”

NPS clearly needs seasonal employees who can work more than six months a year.  By making seasonal workers career federal employees, they can be rewarded for their dedication and receive retirement credit for their many years of service.

“This unfortunate situation could have been avoided had the Park Service taken the necessary steps to provide clear and consistent guidance, rather than making employees pay for the agency’s mistakes,” Reardon said.

NTEU represents 150,000 employees at 32 federal agencies and departments, including some NPS employees.