Temporary limited appointments are appropriate for meeting a range of staffing requirements when an agency expects there will be no permanent need for an employee. Temporary employees can work on a full-time, part- time, seasonal, or intermittent basis. Federal employers are prohibited from using temporary employees to avoid the costs of employee benefits or ceilings on permanent employment levels. Federal employers also cannot use temporary employment as a “tryout” or trial period prior to permanent employment. In addition, federal employers cannot circumvent the competitive examining process by appointing an individual on a temporary basis when that individual is not among the list of qualified applicants certified for permanent appointment. Finally, under OPM regulations, federal employers generally cannot use a temporary appointment to refill positions that were previously filled with such an appointment for an aggregate of 24 months over the preceding 3 years. OPM states that although agencies have the basic authority to make temporary limited appointments, agencies must document the reason for each such appointment in an employee’s official personnel folder. Agencies can use the appointing authority to: (1) fill a short-term position that is not expected to last longer than 1 year; (2) meet an employment need that is scheduled to be terminated within 24 months for such reasons as abolition, reorganization, contracting of the function, anticipated reduction in funding, or completion of a specific project or peak workload; or (3) fill positions temporarily when the positions are expected to be needed for the eventual placement of permanent employees who would otherwise be displaced from other parts of the organization. Various changes in regulation have been made over the years restricting the length of service of temporary limited employees. Beginning in 1938, temporary employees generally could not continue past 30 days unless OPM’s predecessor, the Civil Service Commission, approved the extension. In 1960, the time a temporary appointment could remain in effect was extended, so that appointments could be made for as long as 1 year. In 1984, OPM increased the length of time an appointment could remain in effect, so that agencies could extend a temporary employee’s service for a total of 4 years from the date of initial appointment without OPM’s approval. In response to this change in policy, MSPB reported in 1987 that although the expanded authority was a positive addition to the management tools available to federal managers, such flexibility could lead to poor management practices that result in continuing staffing needs being met with temporary employees because they were easier to hire administratively. Beginning in 1991, several hearings were held before subcommittees of the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service to receive complaints of temporary employees. The hearings confirmed that federal agencies were retaining employees in an ongoing series of temporary appointments for long periods (8 to 10 years) without benefits or tenure. In a tragic example, a National Park Service employee, James A. Hudson, who had worked in an ongoing series of temporary limited appointments for 8 years, died on July 5, 1993, after suffering a fatal heart attack after working three shifts over a 2-day period during the July 4 weekend. Mr. Hudson, who was a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was a full-time temporary worker whose survivors were not entitled to a pension or government-subsidized health or life insurance benefits. In response to his death, the Congress, as part of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1994, gave Mr. Hudson’s widow a lump-sum payment of $38,400, the amount his family would have received as life insurance benefits had he been a permanent federal employee. In 1994, responding to these hearings and information from other sources, OPM revised its regulations governing agencies’ use of temporary appointments by reducing the time limit from a maximum of 4 years to 2 years and made the requirements uniform for temporary appointments in both the competitive and excepted services. For an extension beyond 2 years, agency officials must request and obtain approval from OPM. In fiscal year 2000, 10 agencies—the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, HHS, the Interior, Justice, State, the Treasury, and VA and FEMA—were the predominant users of temporary limited employees. These agencies also employed 84 percent of all federal employees in that year. Figure 1 shows the percentage of temporary limited employees hired in fiscal year 2000 by the 10 agencies and all other agencies. Over the 10-year period, these 10 agencies accounted for slightly over 90 percent of all temporary limited employees hired governmentwide. Table 1 shows the number and percentage of temporary limited hires that the 10 agencies used each year. The number of temporary limited employees hired governmentwide declined by about 47 percent from fiscal year 1991 to fiscal year 2000. By comparison, CPDF data show that for permanent federal employees, the decline was about 19 percent over the same 10 years. Except for small year-to-year increases in fiscal years 1995, 1997, and 1998, the hiring of temporary limited employees declined annually over these 10 years. Over the 10-year period, the majority of temporary limited employees were full-time hires in white-collar occupations. These employees received some benefits, including annual pay adjustments, overtime pay, and premium pay. Temporary limited employees can work a full-time, part-time, seasonal, or intermittent work schedule. From fiscal years 1991 through 2000, the majority of temporary limited employees were full-time hires. Figure 2 contains data on temporary limited employees hired governmentwide for fiscal years 1991 through 2000 by work schedule. Over the 10-year period, the majority of temporary limited employees hired were in white-collar occupations. White-collar occupations include professional, administrative, technical, and clerical occupations. The remaining occupations were blue collar, comprising the trades, crafts, and manual labor. Blue-collar occupations include foreman and supervisory positions entailing trade, craft, or laboring experience and knowledge as the paramount requirement. For fiscal year 2000, about 65 percent of temporary limited employees belonged to 10 occupational series: (1) the miscellaneous clerk and assistant series; (2) fabric and leather, instrument, machine tool, metalwork, audio visual/television/video, etc. series; (3) miscellaneous administrative and program series; (4) forestry technician series; (5) office automation clerical and assistant series; (6) general education and training series; (7) biological science and technician series; (8) educational and vocational training series; (9) education and training technician series; and (10) park ranger series. Figure 3 shows the percentage of temporary limited employees hired governmentwide by occupation category for the 10-year period. Most of the white-collar occupations were in the general schedule (GS) pay plan, which consists of 15 grades of annual rates of basic pay. Table 2 shows the numbers of white-collar GS temporary limited employees hired governmentwide by grade level. Temporary limited employees receive some rights and benefits but are not entitled to many of the rights and benefits available to permanent federal employees. Temporary limited employees, like permanent employees, receive full salary based on the grade and step of the position they occupy, annual pay adjustments, and overtime and premium pay. They also generally earn annual and sick leave if they work a full-time or part-time schedule. Part-time employees earn annual and sick leave on a prorated basis. Seasonal employees can work full time or part time. Because intermittent employees have no fixed work schedule, they do not earn annual and sick leave. Temporary limited employees are not eligible for military leave or family and medical leave. Retirement and life insurance benefits are not provided to temporary limited employees. These employees cannot participate in the Thrift Savings Plan. To be eligible for health insurance benefits, they must complete 1 year of current continuous employment, excluding any break in service of 5 days or less. Once eligible, they must pay the entire cost of the insurance premium. The government does not contribute toward the cost of health insurance for temporary limited employees as it does for permanent federal employees. Temporary limited employees in the GS pay plan also do not receive within- grade pay increases. However, some blue-collar temporary limited employees are eligible for within-grade pay increases. Temporary limited employees cannot be converted to permanent positions, and the time served in a temporary limited position is not creditable service for federal retirement. According to the results of our survey of the 10 agencies that were the predominant users of temporary limited employees, seasonal work was the primary reason agency officials gave for using such employees. Agency officials’ responses indicate that 37 percent of the temporary limited employees hired in fiscal year 2000 in their agencies were for seasonal work. Those officials’ responses indicate that 20 percent of temporary limited employees were hired in fiscal year 2000 because of peak workload. Overall, 18 percent of the temporary limited employees hired in fiscal year 2000 were students, including students in associate, graduate, or professional degree programs. Figure 4 shows the percentage of temporary limited employees hired in fiscal year 2000 for each reason provided. Figure 5 shows, by reason, the most prevalent occupations identified by our survey of the 10 agencies that were the predominant users of temporary limited employees. The most often reported occupational series for fiscal year 2000 was the office automation clerical and assistance series. We reviewed reports and studies published over the past 15 years that discussed aspects of temporary employment in the public and private sectors. Although studies indicate that some differences exist between the federal government’s use of temporary limited employees and that of the private sector, they also indicate that the reasons federal agencies and private sector firms use temporary employees are generally similar. The primary use for both sectors concern scheduling flexibility for staffing so that employers could use temporary employees in such instances as to fill in for absent regular employees; to fill seasonal needs; and to provide needed assistance at times of unexpected increases in business or to meet fluctuations in workload.