**[Material Transmitted:]{.underline}**

HHS Instruction 330-1, Department of Health and Human Services Career
Transition Plan

**[Material Superseded:]{.underline}**

None

**[Background:]{.underline}**

On December 29, 1995, the Office of Personnel Management issued interim
regulations on career transition assistance for surplus and displaced
Federal employees. In response to those regulations, on March 8, 1996,
the Department issued a career transition plan addressing career
transition services, placement assistance, and reemployment priority
policies for surplus and displaced employees. On June 9, 1997, OPM
issued its final regulations. The Department\'s career transition plan
has been amended to conform with the final regulations, and is being
issued in the form of an Instruction for the first time.

**[Filing Instructions:]{.underline}**

File new material. Post receipt of this transmittal to the HHS Check
List of Transmittals and file this transmittal in sequential order after
the check list.

Evelyn M. White

Deputy Assistant Secretary

for Human Resources

**INSTRUCTION 330-1**

**Subject: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES CAREER TRANSITION
PLAN**

330-1-00 Introduction

330-1-10 References

330-1-20 Policies to Provide Career Transition Services to All Surplus
and Displaced HHS Employees

330-1-30 Placement Consideration for Department Surplus and Displaced
Employees

330-1-40 Operation of the Reemployment Priority List

330-1-50 Filling Positions From Outside the Department

**330-1-00 INTRODUCTION**

In accordance with Office of Personnel Management regulations contained
in 5 CFR Part 330, the following is the Department of Health and Human
Services Career Transition Plan. The plan covers services to be provided
to surplus and displaced employees, consideration of surplus and
displaced Department employees, operation of the Department\'s
reemployment priority list, and consideration of surplus and displaced
employees from outside the Department.

The requirements in this plan form the foundation for providing
assistance to surplus and displaced employees, and Operating Divisions
are encouraged to take steps which go beyond these requirements to meet
the needs of their employees.

**330-1-10 REFERENCES**

A. 5 CFR Part 330, Subpart F (Agency Career Transition Assistance Plans
for Local Surplus and Displaced Employees)

B. 5 CFR Part 330, Subpart G (Interagency Career Transition Assistance
Plan for Displaced Employees)

C. 5 CFR Part 351 (Reduction in Force)

D. HHS Personnel Instruction 351-1 (Reduction in Force)

**330-1-20 POLICIES TO PROVIDE TRANSITION SERVICES TO ALL SURPLUS AND
DISPLACED HHS EMPLOYEES**

A. [Purpose]{.underline}

OPM Regulations 5 CFR Part 330 take a new approach to helping surplus
and displaced workers find other jobs, namely, individual employee
empowerment. This approach requires that agencies help workers who are
affected by

downsizing develop the tools and resources to find other

> Department requirements for career transition services for these
> employees. Operating Divisions will develop their specific plans based
> on their own needs, including number and types of employees affected.

B. [Coverage]{.underline}

Career transition services will be provided to all surplus and displaced
employees including those in the excepted service and the Senior
Executive Service.

C. [Career Transition Strategies]{.underline}

1\. Operating Divisions will develop career transition strategies for
surplus and displaced employees that clearly identify:

• the types of career transition services, equipment and facilities to
be provided by the OPDIV to headquarters and field employees;

• communication strategies that ensure that all employees are kept
informed of proposed or actual changes that might result in surplus or
displaced employees, of the availability of career transition services
and facilities, and when/where/how services will be­ available;

• the use of excused absences for employees to use the services and
facilities;

• employee use of facilities after separation;

• training to be provided to employees, managers, supervisors and union
representatives (examples of topics which should be considered are job
search skills, resume writing, interview techniques, financial
management, stress management and transition management);

• how retraining will be used to help the organization meet its future
workforce needs, while helping surplus or displaced employees obtain
meaningful employment, and how retraining strategies and plans will be
developed and implemented;

• access to services by employees, including those in headquarters,
field offices, and remote sites, and those with disabilities;

• other forms of Federal, state, and local assistance which are
available to support career transition for employees including those
with disabilities; and

• the role of the Employee Assistance Program in providing services.

2\. Career transition strategies must include options for various
contingencies, e.g., when there are limited numbers of surplus or
displaced employees, or when there are large numbers of surplus or
displaced employees.

3\. Where there are bargaining unit employees, the career transition
strategy will be developed in partnership with the union(s) that
represent employees.

4\. The OPDIV will provide a copy of its plan to the Office of Human
Resources, ASMB, within 60 days of issuance of this policy. The
Department encourages OPDIVs to share their plans with employees.

5\. The OPDIV will report on career transition activities and results as
requested by the Office of Human Resources, ASMB. The Office of Human
Resources may also conduct reviews of career transition activities at
any time.

6\. The Office of Human Resources, ASMB, will provide technical
assistance and broker cooperative arrangements for sharing services
among and between OPDIVs and other agencies.

**330-1-30 PLACEMENT CONSIDERATION FOR DEPARTMENT SURPLUS AND DISPLACED
EMPLOYEES**

A. [Purpose]{.underline}

The purpose of this portion of the career transition plan is to
implement the requirements of 5 CFR Part 330. Unless otherwise
specified, the plan will have the same requirements and exceptions as
set forth in the Office of Personnel Management regulations.

B. [Coverage]{.underline}

The plan applies to competitive and excepted service employees in tenure
groups I and II, but it does not apply to Schedule C employees and
employees appointed outside of Title V of the United States Code.

In addition to the filling of competitive service positions, it applies
to the filling of excepted service positions except for Schedule C
positions, experts and consultants, and positions not covered by Title V
of the United States Code.

The plan does not apply to the Senior Executive Service. OPDIVs may
extend coverage to other employees and positions provided that there is
no conflict with the rights of employees covered by this plan. Any
expansion of coverage is not applicable to other OPDIVs.

C. [Designating Employees as Surplus]{.underline}

OPDIVs have the authority to conduct reductions‑in‑force (RIFs) without
Department approval although RIFs must always be the last resort.
Employees who receive RIF separation notices are immediately covered by
this plan, and any reference in this plan to surplus employees includes
them too.

OPDIVs may designate employees as surplus without issuing RIF notices
when it is expected with a reasonable degree of certainty that the
designated employees will have to be separated by RIF within 6 months
and when the precipitating event is outside the OPDIV\'s control, such
as legislative action or a budget reduction imposed on the OPDIV.

If an OPDIV wants to designate surplus employees for longer than a 6
month period or wants to extend a designation beyond 6 months, prior
approval is required from the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human
Resources. Prior approval is also required if the precipitating event is
within the OPDIV\'s control, such as a reorganization recommended or
approved by the OPDIV head or subordinate officials. However, this prior
approval requirement does not apply in a situation where an OPDIV\'s
designation of employees as surplus will permit the OPDIV to effect
immediate placements of those employees within the OPDIV.

Employees designated as surplus must be given written notice to that
effect. The notice must advise them to include it when they apply for
positions. Employees who do not include the notice will not be entitled
to the consideration provided for in this plan.

D. [Publicizing Vacancies]{.underline}

The personnel office servicing an OPDIV with surplus employees is
responsible for advising in writing every

Department personnel office servicing positions in the commuting area
that it has surplus employees. At a minimum, this notification should
include the names, titles, series, grades, and promotion potential for
the surplus employees. Personnel offices with surplus employees must
keep these lists up to date, for example, by advising other personnel
offices as soon as employees are no longer entitled to consideration
under this plan.

Personnel offices with vacancies to fill must provide the personnel
office servicing the surplus employees written information about the
vacancies being filled. This can be a vacancy announcement or a position
description if no vacancy announcement is being used. Vacancy
announcements, when used, must contain all information required by
regulation, including the definition of well qualified.

The office servicing the surplus employees is responsible for providing
the information to the employees. Employees must have at least seven
work days from when the servicing personnel office receives the
information or until the closing date of the vacancy announcement,
whichever is longer, to apply. Personnel offices normally should not
take more than two work days to provide the vacancy information to
employees. Employees who are absent must provide their servicing
personnel office with information on how to contact them quickly or
alternatively may leave copies of their application with their personnel
office and indicate what type of vacancies they are interested in
applying for. Nothing in this plan prevents personnel offices from
developing other arrangements such as using electronic mail provided
that surplus employees have at least seven work days to apply for the
vacancies.

E. [Filling Positions]{.underline}

When filling competitive service positions, surplus excepted service
employees must be considered if they have competitive status or are
serving under an appointment which can be used to fill the position. For
example, an individual serving under Schedule A appointment for severely
disabled individuals, if otherwise qualified, could be placed into a
competitive service position while continuing to serve under the
Schedule A appointment. Nothing in this plan confers competitive status
upon excepted service employees or requires an OPDIV to attempt to hire
an excepted employee through the competitive examining process.

When filling excepted service positions, surplus competitive service
employees must be considered if they would qualify

under the excepted service appointing authority being used or if the
position could be filled in the competitive service. A surplus
competitive service employee may be placed in an excepted position
without regard to the requirements of Department Instruction 302‑1.

If a position is being filled under the Department\'s Career
Opportunities Training Agreement, surplus employees who apply must be
considered for both the trainee and target positions except that a
surplus employee does not have to be considered under this plan for a
position which would involve a promotion or which has greater promotion
potential than the employee\'s current position. An OPDIV may not bypass
a surplus employee who meets the requirements in this plan for selection
for either the trainee or target position by filling the other position.
It is up to the OPDIV to decide which position (trainee or target) to
offer the surplus employee.

Because Indian preference is based in law, it takes precedence over the
requirements of this plan. Surplus employees not entitled to preference
may not be selected ahead of persons entitled to it. This refers only to
the Indian preference applicable to the Indian Health Service. It does
not apply to the preference applicable to parts of the Administration
for Children and Families because that preference is not absolute.

OPDIVs must select their own surplus employees ahead of those from other
OPDIVs.

F. [Determining Qualifications]{.underline}

*1. Noncompetitive Actions*

If a position is being filled by an action not requiring competitive
promotion procedures, surplus employees must be selected if they meet
the basic qualifications for the position including any documented
selective factors and can perform the duties of the position without
undue interruption as defined in 5 CFR Part 351. Surplus employees are
not required to meet quality ranking factors for noncompetitive actions.
If a surplus employee is found not qualified, there must be written
documentation which demonstrates why he or she is not qualified and
shows why the selectee is qualified. The fact that the selectee is
better qualified than the surplus employee is not sufficient if the
surplus employee meets the requirements described here.

*2. Competitive Promotion Actions*

If a position is being filled by a selection from a merit promotion
certificate, the surplus employee must be rated and ranked under the
same procedures as merit promotion applicants. If, after the rating and
ranking process, the surplus employee is determined to be well qualified
as defined and published on the vacancy announcement, he or she must be
selected. Each OPDIV must define the term well qualified in accordance
with regulatory guidelines and the terms of the merit promotion plan(s)
it administers. For example, depending on the promotion plan, well
qualified could be defined as \"meets all selective factors and is rated
at the above average level or higher for each KSA\". For promotion plans
that are part of negotiated labor agreements, such definitions must be
developed in partnership with employee unions. If the surplus employee
is not determined to be well qualified, any applicant for competitive
promotion who makes the best qualified list may be selected.

[Examples:]{.underline}

a\. An OPDIV is filling a GS‑12 position through an action not requiring
merit promotion procedures. A GS‑12 surplus employee who is determined
to meet basic qualifications must be selected if he or she can do the
job without undue interruption.

b\. An OPDIV is considering filling a GS‑12 position by an action not
requiring merit promotion procedures but at the same time is announcing
the position under merit promotion procedures.

\(1\) If the surplus employee is determined to meet basic qualification
requirements and can perform the duties of the position without undue
interruption, he or she must be selected if the position is filled
noncompetitively.

\(2\) If the OPDIV proceeds to prepare a merit promotion certificate,
the surplus employee must be rated and ranked with other merit promotion
applicants. If the surplus employee is determined to be well qualified
according to the OPDIV definition, he or she must be selected.

\(3\) If in (2) above, the surplus employee is not determined to be well
qualified, the OPDIV could select an applicant from the best qualified
list ahead of the

surplus employee. However, this provision does not permit an OPDIV to
circumvent (1) above by using merit promotion procedures to select an
employee who is otherwise eligible for selection without competition.

c\. If an OPDIV is announcing a GS‑12 position with potential to grade
13 and a GS‑12 surplus employee in a position with no promotion
potential applies, he or she would be considered under merit promotion
procedures and would have no special rights under this plan.

G. [Review of Qualifications]{.underline}

OPDIVs must have written procedures for reviewing determinations that
surplus employees who apply for vacancies do not qualify for selection.
Reviews must be conducted by an individual other than the person
responsible for the initial determination. The reviewer may not be
subordinate to the person who made the initial determination. Applicants
must be notified in writing of the results of the review.

H. [Exceptions]{.underline}

OPDIVs may make internal reassignments as exceptions to this plan in
instances where the reassignment does not result in a vacancy (for
example, reassignments of employees to accomplish an official
reorganization) or where the OPDIV\'s budget or FTE situation will not
accommodate hiring from outside the OPDIV.

There must be written documentation any time a vacancy is filled as an
exception to this plan. The documentation must be signed by the official
who has the authority to take the action causing the exception. For
example, there is an exception if the placement of the surplus employee
would cause another employee to be separated by RIF. If that exception
is used, the documentation must be signed by an official who would have
the authority to authorize the RIF.

No separate documentation is required when the action speaks for itself.
For example, if an employee receives a career promotion, that is an
exception to this plan, and no additional documentation is required.

I. [Placement of Employees on Retained Grade and Pay]{.underline}

Department Instruction 335‑2 concerning placement consideration for
employees on retained grade and pay has

been abolished. Each OPDIV must develop its own program to provide
placement consideration for these employees. The requirements of this
plan take precedence over these programs.

**330-1-40 OPERATION OF THE REEMPLOYMENT PRIORITY LIST**

The following information concerning the operation of the Department\'s
reemployment priority list is based on Office of ­Personnel Management
Regulations in Subpart B of 5 CFR Part 330 and is incorporated from
Department Instruction 351‑1 which is still in effect.

The RPL applies to the competitive service, including temporary
positions, and to Indian preference appointments.

The exceptions to the RPL that OPM permits for appointment of disabled
veterans from OPM registers and OPM options for the reinstatement of
preference eligibles are permitted in HHS.

Thirty‑day special needs appointments and 700‑hour appointments of
individuals with disabilities are permitted as exceptions to the RPL.

Conversions, including the reinstatement of an excepted service employee
to the competitive service without a break in service, are subject to
clearance of the RPL. However, conversions that are inherent in the
appointing authority, such as for employees with disabilities on
Schedule A appointments, are permitted.

OPM regulations require separate RPL registers for full‑time and
part‑time employees. However, it is the Department\'s policy that if
there are no part‑time employees on the RPL for a part‑time position,
full‑time employees who have indicated availability for part‑time
positions must be selected ahead of applicants from outside the
Department, and vice versa. In these cases, selections are made in
subgroup order.

The reemployment priority coordinator is the personnel officer or
his/her designee who maintains the RPL for a commuting area. If
employees are being separated from only one competitive area in a
commuting area, the personnel officer with appointing authority over
those positions is the coordinator. If more than one personnel office
has appointing authority over employees who are being separated, the
personnel officer with the largest number is the coordinator, unless the
affected personnel officers agree

otherwise.

If an installation is closed and there is no longer a personnel officer,
the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources will designate a
coordinator.

The reemployment priority coordinator will notify OPDIVS/STAFFDIVS
whenever the RPL is activated and will distribute RPL clearance
requirements to all servicing personnel offices in the commuting area.
Clearance requirements will, at a minimum, include a list of the series
and grade levels that require RPL clearance. Reemployment priority
coordinators have discretion to establish different operating procedures
when dictated by local conditions. Servicing personnel offices must
document any selections from outside the Department to show that the
reemployment priority list was cleared. If the reemployment priority
coordinator and another servicing personnel officer cannot resolve a
disagreement concerning the qualifications of an RPL candidate for a
particular vacancy, the case will be sent to next organizational level
(the OPDIV Personnel Officer or the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human
Resources).

Employees who do not comply with procedures established by the
reemployment priority coordinator may be removed from the reemployment
priority list, provided that the procedures are in writing and the
employee has been informed in writing that his/her noncompliance will
result in removal from the list.

**330-1-50 FILLING POSITIONS FROM OUTSIDE THE DEPARTMENT**

OPDIVs must develop written procedures for considering surplus and
displaced employees from other Federal agencies. These procedures must
conform to Subpart G of the regulations.