# AGENDA 

1.  **Welcome & Opening Remarks --** [Gary
    King](mailto:gary.king@mail.va.gov), Moderator (202-273-9807)

2.  **VA National Strategic Mobilization Plan --** [Ventris
    Gibson](mailto:ventris.gibson@mail.va.gov) (202-273-

4920\)

Ms. Gibson was unable to attend the call because of a meeting at the
Office of Management and Budget. This item may be covered at the next
conference call.

3.  **HRMO Activity Report --** [Gary
    King](mailto:gary.king@mail.va.gov), Moderator (202-273-9807)

[SELECTION(S) MADE:]{.underline}

Millicent Kidder has been selected for the position at VISN 9 -- Human
Resources Consultant.

Dawn Rosenstrom has been selected for the position of Human Resources
Manager at Togus, ME.

[CURRENT VACANCY:]{.underline}

#### Northern California Health Care System, Sacramento (Mather), CA

Northern California Health Care System, Martinez, CA

Anchorage, AK \[25% COLA -- tax free\]

West Los Angeles, CA

Clarksburg, WVA

Richmond, VA

Muskogee, OK

4.  **Classification Skills Needs Assessment --** [Karen
    Norman](mailto:karen.norman@mail.va.gov) (202-273-

> 9762\)

The finishing touches are being put on a web-based classification needs
survey. This survey will ask classification practitioners to rate the
frequency and skill level for a listing of approximately 20 major job
tasks. The results will help us make a case for the content and funding
of future classification training. We would appreciate your assistance
in making sure that anyone doing classification work is contacted and
encouraged to participate and just getting the word out. The programming
is being worked now and it looks like we will be ready to post in late
February -- early March depending how the alpha testing goes. We will
distribute notice of the web site via mail group notices. Thank you.

5.  **HR Management Programs and Policies - Items of Interest:**

**HR Flexibilities Study --** [Dennis
Curley](mailto:dennis.curley@mail.va.gov) (202-273-9814)

This is a brief update, from the Atlanta Leader Conference session on
the HR Flexibility Study. And now, for the rest of the story...

The Strategic Management Council was briefed in November about the
recommendations needed to improve VA's use of HR flexibilities. The
arrival of those recommendations coincided with the beginnings of the VA
HR Study by the IBM Consultants. As a result, the majority of our
findings and the data to support them have been provided to the
contractor for their use in their analysis. Their report-out is due in
March.

**Veterans Recruitment Appointments --** [Allan
Porta](mailto:allan.porta@mail.va.gov) (973-676-1000, ext. 1877)

During the past two weeks, there has been a lot of discussion about the
Jobs for Veterans Act, Public Law 107-288, which was signed by the
President and went into effect November 7, 2002. The Act contained some
significant changes to Veterans Readjustment Appointments, now known as
Veterans Recruitment Appointments. These changes will be codified to 38
USC 4214, Employment within the Federal Government. The Office of
Personnel Management has provided us with the following advance guidance
that clarifies some of the changes to the new VRA.

Under the law, the eligibility has changed in that the ten-year limit
has been replaced by a three-year limit and there is no minimum service
requirement. The following veterans are eligible for a noncompetitive
VRA appointment:

-   disabled veterans;

-   veterans who served on active duty in the Armed Forces during a war,
    or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been
    authorized;

-   veterans who, while serving on active duty in the Armed Forces,
    participated in a military operation for which an Armed Forces
    Service Medal was awarded; and

-   recently separated veterans, meaning veterans last separated from
    active duty within the last three years.

Although OPM did not provide advance guidance on other aspects relating
to VRA appointments, we are advising you to apply the three-year limit
while continuing to use existing policy and procedures including:

-   the same legal appointing authority code until and unless OPM issues
    a change to its Guide to Processing Personnel Actions;

-   the preparation of a training plan/agreement for each appointee with
    less than 15 years of education; and

-   converting the appointee to a career-conditional or career
    appointment after two tears, assuming completion of satisfactory
    performance and any training.

OPM intends to release revised VRA regulations, guidance and a memo to
agencies alerting them to the changes in the law as soon as possible. We
will provide you with additional information when it is received. In the
interim, continue to check OPM's web site.

####### Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments -- [**Allan Porta**](mailto:allan.porta@mail.va.gov) (973-676-1000, ext. 1877)

These buyout provisions and requirements are similar to the provisions
and requirements of previous buyout authorities.

The employee must be serving without time limit and have been employed
by the VA for at least three years continuously to be **eligible** for a
buyout.

A reemployed annuitant, a disability retiree or eligible, the recipient
of an involuntary separation decision based on conduct or unsatisfactory
performance, a former buyout recipient or an employee covered by
statutory reemployment rights who is on transfer employment is **not
eligible** for a buyout.

Also **not eligible** are employees who received a student loan
repayment benefit within the last 36 months, a recruitment or relocation
bonus within the last 24 months or a retention allowance within the last
12 months.

Buyouts may be offered by the VA to employees on the basis of an
organizational unit, occupational series, geographical location, KSA,
specific time period or any combination of these factors.

The VA must submit to OPM a buyout plan that will include:

-The specific positions and functions to be reduced or eliminated,

-A description of employee categories to be offered buyouts,

-The time period,

-The number of and maximum amount of payments,

-How the VA will operate after eliminating and reducing the positions
and functions,

-A proposed organization chart and

-How the use of VERA impacts on the use of VSIP.

OPM will review the plan, consult with OMB before approval and inform us
of the reporting requirements. **Buyouts may not be offered until OPM
approves our plan.**

Payments will be made in a lump sum after separation based on either the
amount of severance pay the employee would be entitled to OR an amount
determined by the Secretary, not to exceed \$25,000, whichever is less.

Anyone who receives a buyout and comes back to the Federal government as
a compensated employee, including a personal services contract, within 5
years must repay the full amount **before** reemployment, **not a
prorated amount**, to the agency that paid it.

The Secretary may request a waiver of repayment from OPM if the
individual possesses unique abilities **and** is the only qualified
applicant OR in the case of an emergency involving direct threat to life
or property, the individual has the skills directly related to resolving
the emergency **and** will be a temporary employee. The waiver does not
pertain to employees coming back on a personal services contract.

OHRM will soon be contacting administrations and staff offices to
determine if there is interest in developing a plan for VA and obtaining
OPM's approval to offer buyouts.

If you have any questions please email or call Allan Porta on
973-676-1000 x1-1567.

**Whistleblower Program --** [John
Murray](mailto:john.a.murray@mail.va.gov) (202-273-9835)

##### 

The whistleblower awareness training broadcast entitled \"Whistleblower
Protections\" will continue to be aired twice a week through the end of
February. For broadcasts dates and times please consult the VA Learning
Catalog at:

<http://vaww.sites.lrn.va.gov/VACatalog/cu_calendar.asp?CalType=V>

In March, all VA organizations will be asked to provide information
indicating the number of managers who have received whistleblower
training within the past 3 years.

##### J1 Visa Processing and Associated Delays-- [**Mike McAree**](mailto:michael.mcaree@mail.va.gov) (202-273-9820)

On the January 8, 2003, HRMO conference call, we discussed the J-1 Visa
Waiver processing requirements as well as the current workload. Please
review those requirements if you are submitting a case. Incomplete cases
take much more time to be processed, so we urge you follow the
instructions on the website toolbox and submit complete cases. Given the
current workload and other projects, such as the chiropractic
occupational study, J-1 Visa waiver requests are being delayed. Each
request is reviewed in the order of its receipt. You can expect that it
will take between 4-6 weeks to complete a typical review before the case
if forwarded to the Department of State. It usually takes another 4-6
weeks before the Department of State forwards the request to INS for
final adjudication. The Tool Box on the Employment of Non-Citizens be
found on Staffing page of the OHRM web site at
<http://vaww.va.gov/ohrm/Staffing/NCE/NCE_1.htm>

**Chiropractic Care Study --** [Chuck
McClellan](mailto:charles.mcclellan@mail.va.gov) (202-273-8262)

The Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act
of 2001 (Public Law 107-135, Section 204) directed the VA to establish a
program to provide chiropractic care and services within its medical
centers and clinics. A critical element to implementing this program is
the development of qualification standards for doctors of chiropractic.
VHA is leading the effort to conduct an occupational study and
development of qualification standards. OHRM will be participating. The
work is still in the planning stage; when more information is available,
it will be shared with you.

**Biomedical Engineering Techs --** [Bill
Ellison](mailto:william.ellison@mail.va.gov) (202-273-9841)

We are anticipating an OPM request that we review the classification of
BIomedical Engineering Technicians (BMETs) in VA. As some of you may
recall there was an OPM classification appeal decision from 1997 that
resulted in the conversion of BMETs at Salem to wage grade Medical
Equipment Repairers. As a result of this decision, both OPM and we have
been inundated with Congressionals and other contacts from these folks
regarding their classification. We have deferred looking at this
classification issue until OPM completed its development of a new
standard covering Engineering Techs but at this point OPM continues to
delay in getting this standard out for review and OPM has told us that
we cannot defer much longer. Over the next few months, OHRM in
collaboration with VHA HR and program staff will be conducting
fact-finding on BMETs in about 6 sites throughout the country\...at
least 2 of which will be completed before June of this year. Our focus
will be on the impact of technology on these occupations and to
determine whether that impact affects the knowledge and skills of these
occupations and the degree and manner that such knowledges and skills
are used. We plan to use the information to provide guidance to the
field. We also plan to invite OPM to go along with us on these trips as
a way to encourage them to speed up the development of the Engineering
Tech standard and to demonstrate that we are taking steps to ensure that
positions are appropriately classified. We will provide more information
about this project including sites selected for fact-finding in future
calls.\
\
**Appeals Routing**

Note that on the SSC website that there is a reference to routing
appeals through the SSC\...that is no longer the case\...a flyer was
sent out in July under 051-331 indicating that appeals are to be routed
here in CO. Our address is the Department of Veterans Affairs, HR
Programs and Policies Service, Compensation and Classification Division
(051A), 810 Vermont Ave NW, Washington DC 20420.

**Drug Free Workplace --** [Catherine
Baranek](mailto:catherine.baranek@mail.va.gov) (336-631-5019)

The random testing component of the Drug Free Workplace Program is up
and running as of 2-1-03. However, implementation for NAGE employees
remains pending. HRMOs for NAGE facilities should have received on
February 12, 2003, email instructions regarding an additional notice to
be issued to NAGE employees. Questions regarding this notice can be
forwarded to John Murry at (202) 273-9835 or John Haltigan (202)
273-4928.

The names of individuals occupying testing designated positions, who
have been randomly identified for testing in the month of February, are
listed on the VA Drug Testing Notification Site. This web page is
located at <http://vaww.ohrmdtp.va.gov/>. There is also a link to the
notification site from the OHRM home page
(<http://vaww.va.gov/ohrm.index.htm>). The web page is set up so you can
quickly scan each month to identify if your station is listed. Not every
station will have names every month.

Every VBA and VHA facility should have a designated drug program
coordinator checking the web page, if they haven\'t done so already, and
should be accessing the names to proceed with testing. Also, each VHA
facility drug program coordinator must remember to check the
notification site for any NCA facilities which are serviced by their MC.
Cemetery employees identified for testing will be listed, not under the
VHA facility ID, but under the cemetery station ID number. NCA station
numbers are in the 800 and 900 series. So while they probably won\'t
appear very often, they can be easily identified on the notification
site web page. So our VHA DPCs just need to remember to do this each
month.

If you need any assistance in accessing the notification site (such as
password problems, etc.) or have any other problems regarding the site,
please email the site administrator at \"VACO VA Drug Testing Site
Admin.\" Also, if you previously sent a request for assistance or
correction and have not received a response, to please re-send your
request. Due to the initial volume of requests, we are afraid some might
have been overlooked.

Finally, the next DFWP conference call is scheduled for February 18th,
1:00 EST. The number to call is 1-800-767-1750 and the access code is
44467. Questions regarding the Drug Free Workplace Program can be
directed to Bob MacDonald at (202) 273-9707 or Catherine Baranek at
(336) 631-5019.

**Federal Wage System and the FY 2003 Pay Cap** -- [Bill
Soults](mailto:william.soults@mail.va.gov) (202-273-9812)

Last week we issued Federal Wage System schedules with retroactive
effective dates as early as October 6, 2002. Increases in those
schedules were limited to the current 3.1% pay cap for FY 2003.

OPM believes that the eventual pay cap for GS schedules will be 4.1%. In
that event and depending on how much of the additional one percent is
for locality, at least two things will happen --

1 -- There will be retroactive pay for some GS-related schedules back to

January 12.

2 -- There will be another set of retroactive pay FWS schedules subject
to a higher cap.

None of this is official, but it does appear likely.

6.  **\"A little bit of this...a little bit of that...\"....** Gary King

**Suitability, Clearances and Fingerprints** -- [Chuck
McClellan](mailto:charles.mcclellan@mail.va.gov) (202-273-8262)

VA Handbook 0710, on "Personnel and Classified Information Security" was
received for concurrence in Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM)
last week. The Staffing Division is reviewing it along with
Classification and Employee Relations Divisions. Also, as discussed in
the January 31, 2003, conference call, OHRM is working with other
offices on a procedure for getting fingerprint checks in advance of
complete NACIs and for some certain types of appointments that do not
require NACIs. We will provide more information when available on these
topics in future calls.

**Social Work HRM Letter** -- [Jim
Halliday](mailto: james.halliday@mail.va.gov) (202-273-4973)

This is to update all of you that there is a Human Resource Management
Letter which is going through the review process here in Central Office
concerning Classification Guidance for Social Worker positions that have
program responsibilities and we do not know when it will be released.
This HRML was mentioned at the last Social Work Conference call so if
you receive any inquires from your social workers concerning this
guidance please advise them that it is still in the review process and
has not been issued yet. We will publicize this HRML when it has been
officially approved.

**Status of New Performance Management and Award Program** -- [John
Murray](mailto:john.a.murray@mail.va.gov) (202-273-9835)

The Secretary and VA Executive Board have asked for the following:

A VA work group comprised of members of the administrations and VACO
staff offices has met on several occasions to

> **·** determine implementation issues, e.g., the transition procedures
> for closing out performance
>
> appraisals under the 2-level program;
>
> **·** identify marketing and communications strategies;
>
> **·** identify funding sources for training and marketing; and,
>
> **·** draft changes to the VA performance management and incentive
> awards policies and obtain formal
>
> organizational concurrences on revised policies by March 31, 2003.

Concurrently, a cross-departmental Training team consisting of members
from OHRM, VBA, NCA, EES and VALU has been convened to develop a
detailed training plan. The plan will include projected costs and
milestones, and allow for sufficient training. The team has had several
meetings and will meet again in late February. Their work product should
be completed by the end of March 2003.

We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.