Competitive time-limited promotions and all subsequent extensions (up to the maximum of five years) will be made in one year increments. The announcement will indicate that it is temporary NTE one year. At the end of the one year (or whenever deemed appropriate), the change to lower grade or extension personnel action will be processed. If the employee was serving on a second time limited promotion known as a stacked promotion (See IRM 6.335.1.10.6) the employee can be returned to complete remaining time associated with the first temporary promotion at management’s discretion. See Exhibit 6.335.1-1 Actions Required When Processing Time Limited Promotions and Extensions

Time-limited promotions can be extended in one year increments when the original temporary promotion was announced under competitive procedures as NTE 1 year with the possibility of extension.

The vacancy announcement must contain a statement that the possibility exists for extending the time-limited promotion in increments of one year, up to not more than 5 years, and/or may be made permanent without further competition when it is expected that the position may be extended or made permanent.

If the vacancy announcement does not contain the required language, the position must be re-announced in order for the time-limited promotion to be extended or made permanent.

Competitive time-limited promotions (and extensions) can be made in increments longer than one year at the onset of the temporary promotion with an approved business case.

Business case approval will be made on a case-by-case basis by the BOD's embedded Human Resource (HR) Director. The business case must certify that the employment need is temporary and meets the regulatory requirements for a temporary time-limited promotion.

Justification must include the following:

Examples of valid business cases could include:

Once the business case is approved, the Embedded HR Office will submit a request for personnel action to the servicing HCO, ETS, EO to announce the vacancy; the length of the temporary promotion, business case approval, and language for the vacancy announcement must be noted in the remarks. The business case, along with the approval, will be filed in the merit promotion file.

The vacancy announcement will include a statement that the position is being filled on a temporary basis, and it will reflect the NTE approval (e.g., NTE two years, five years, etc.). The personnel action will be processed for the anticipated full period of time.

The servicing HCO, ETS, EO will review the personnel action for compliance and document the justification in the comments section of the Personnel Action Request (PAR).

If the initial temporary promotion was announced as NTE one year, may be extended, and there is a need to extend the temporary promotion, management must submit a business case (See IRM 6.335.1.10.3.) to their embedded HR Director for approval within four weeks prior to the NTE date of the current temporary promotion. Business case approval is not required for an extension of a temporary promotion for one additional year.

When the business case is approved, the embedded HR Office will notify (usually by e-mail) the appropriate servicing HCO, ETS, EO within three to five business days. The BOD or embedded HR Office will then submit a request for personnel action to the servicing HCO, ETS, EO to extend the temporary promotion; the length of the extension and business case approval must be noted in the remarks. The business case, along with the approval, will be filed in the promotion file.

Extensions can only be authorized if the vacancy announcement included a statement for an extension provided the total time period of the temporary promotion does not exceed five years.

The servicing HCO, ETS, EO will review the request for personnel action for compliance and document the justification in the comments section of the PAR.

Requests for time-limited promotion beyond five years must be approved by OPM. Requests will be submitted to the official delegated authority to approve extensions beyond one year (see Delegation Order 81). Following review and approval by the appropriate IRS official, requests must be forwarded to HCO, ETS, Policy and Programs Office for submission to OPM. Information concerning the duties of the position, the temporary nature of the job, competitive procedures employed, and the need for extension beyond five years must be included in the request. Consideration will also be given to whether a permanent promotion is more appropriate.

The 5 year limit applies to the total continuous time an employee is temporarily promoted without further competition. If an employee is promoted temporarily and later competes and is selected for another time-limited promotion, a new 5 year period begins at the start of the second time-limited promotion.

Under certain circumstances, management may have a need to temporarily assign an employee already serving under a time-limited promotion to another position at a higher grade. An employee may be competitively or non-competitively temporarily promoted to a second temporary position. This secondary action is known as a stacked or sequential promotion.

At the end of the stacked time-limited promotion, if management determines the employee’s services are still required under the initial time-limited promotion; the employee may be returned to the initial time-limited promotion. However, if at the end of the stacked time-limited promotion, management determines the employee’s services are no longer required under the initial time-limited promotion, the employee shall be returned to his/her permanent position of record.

Once the employee is returned to his/her permanent position of record, the employee must re-compete for another time-limited promotion. See Exhibit 6.335.1-1 Actions Required When Processing Time-Limited Promotions and Extensions.

The 5 CFR § 335.102(f)(1) requires that employees selected for a time-limited promotion be provided advance notice. The personnel action must be fully documented to show that the employee has full knowledge of the action taken and the conditions of the promotion. If advance notice is not possible, appropriate notice must be provided as soon as possible after the promotion is made. The notice must include the following:

Once notified of the selection for a time-limited promotion, the servicing HCO, ETS, EO must complete an Acknowledgement of Time-Limited Promotion (Exhibit 6.335.1-2, Acknowledgement of Time-Limited Promotion). If the time-limited promotion is a stacked promotion an Acknowledgement of Time-Limited Promotion for Stacked Promotion must also be completed (Exhibit 6.335.1-3, Acknowledgement of Time-Limited Promotion for Stacked Promotion). The appropriate acknowledgement(s) must be forwarded to the gaining manager to share with the employee and retained in the Employee Performance File (EPF); the servicing HCO, ETS, EO must maintain a copy in the promotion file.

In 2004, the Service decided that in order to afford the maximum placement opportunities for employees, the area of consideration for non-bargaining unit positions would not be restricted, subject to the following exceptions.

Positions that are not "true vacancies" offering permanent placement into a continuing position are not subject to the Servicewide area of consideration. Examples of positions that are not considered true vacancies are: training opportunities such as FLRP, collateral duties such as an on the job instructor (OJI), and management cadre.

Both the Office of Chief Counsel (Counsel) and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) employees are eligible to be considered along with IRS employees for non-bargaining unit vacancy announcements; only Counsel employees are eligible for bargaining unit vacancy announcements.

Non-status IRS employees may be included in the merit promotion internal vacancy announcement area of consideration by management to increase their applicant pool.

The decision whether to restrict consideration to Service employees, or to consider, concurrently, persons from outside the Service, or to select from other appropriate sources (e.g. reinstatement eligibles, transfers, persons with disabilities, Veteran’s appointments or those within reach on an OPM/DEU certificate) will be based on the nature of the position to be filled, the likely number of highly qualified candidates available, and the need for fresh ideas and new approaches.

When considering candidates referred from an OPM/DEU register, it will be noted that these candidates have met prescribed qualification standards and have been evaluated by OPM/DEU and determined to be qualified for the position to be filled. Candidates on the OPM/DEU certificate who are within reach for selection will be referred to the selecting official. The selecting official will select from the BQ OPM/DEU or IRS candidates. IRS employees and OPM/DEU register eligibles will be referred on separate lists to the selecting official. The internal list of IRS employees will be referred to the selecting official prior to the external listing when the position is bargaining unit in order to meet the first consideration requirement of the negotiated agreement.

When considering alternative sources of candidates, the provisions of IRM 6.335.1.6, Plan Coverage, and IRM 6.335.1.7, Plan Exceptions, must be followed to determine whether competition is required. To the extent possible, the same evaluation methods will be applied to both IRS employees and outside candidates.

The following indicates the order of consideration when filling IRS positions in accordance with governing law and regulation:

Vacancy announcements will be used for notifying employees of a promotion, or other opportunity. Announcements should be adequately publicized and should remain open for 10 days (or a minimum of 5 days to accommodate unusual situations such as the need to clear special program priorities only) so that all eligible employees have an opportunity to apply for the position.

Vacancy announcements must be concise, clearly written, with sufficient information for the employee to understand the area of consideration, the duties of the position, the qualifications required (including selective placement factors), the evaluation methods to be used and what the employee must do to be considered. If the information cannot be outlined in detail within the announcement, the announcement must inform the employees where it can be obtained.

At a minimum, the vacancy announcement must contain the following information:

Management has the flexibility to advertise vacancies in a career ladder position under the same announcement, separate announcements, or by grade level.

Open continuous announcements will be used primarily for types of positions that have recurring and frequent vacancies. The announcement will contain language that notifies the applicants of the specific cutoff dates for submission of applications. This type of announcement allows applicants to submit their applications at any time; however, they will not be eligible for referral unless the application is received on or prior to the cutoff date specified in the announcement. Applicants are added to the register if they are determined to be highly qualified.

Rosters will be utilized when it is anticipated that a significant number of vacancies will occur within a certain period of time (no longer than one year). Announcements for rosters have specific closing dates and will specify the final date upon which a selection will be made from the roster. Candidates must be eligible by the closing date of the roster announcement or by a date specified on the announcement. Rosters are considered " established" for the purposes of selection once the Highly Qualified determination has been made by the ranking panel/official or ranking has been completed by an automated hiring system.

Forms required for vacancy announcement consideration are, at a minimum:

Employees will complete and ensure that an accurate record of work experience, incentive awards and training are contained on the required application forms. This information will be used to determine qualifications and rank the employee’s potential to perform the position to be filled. Applicants will be notified of their qualifications eligibility determination. This notification will contain the reason for an ineligible determination.

In order to be considered for any vacancy announcement, employees will ensure that all required forms are received (or postmarked) by the HCO, ETS, EO indicated on the vacancy announcement no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date of the announcement (unless otherwise specified in the announcement). A separate application package must be submitted for each vacancy announcement.

The immediate manager ensures that a method is in place to ensure that employees who are temporarily absent from duty (i.e. leave, training, furlough, etc.) are informed of vacancies announced within their area of consideration.

Managers can submit names of employees for vacancies and must inform the referred employee of this referral. Managerial referrals must be submitted by the closing date or dates specified in the announcement of the announcement in order to be considered; however, employees whose names have been submitted as managerial referrals must coordinate receipt of complete application forms with the servicing EOs. Solicitation of managerial referrals must never be used alone, but only as a supplement to other methods previously mentioned.

Servicing EOs are responsible for referring for consideration the name(s) of employees:

Priority Consideration (PC) is the process by which competitive procedures are temporarily suspended for the purpose of correcting or minimizing any injustice resulting from a violation of federal merit promotion procedures. To be entitled to PC, a non-selected employee must have been adversely impacted by the violation of competitive procedures. See EEO requirement in IRM 6.335.1.12.8(5).

Once identified, every attempt will be made to correct the violation as quickly as possible. PC can only be granted as a remedy for violations of the merit promotion regulation or procedures, as outlined in this Plan or under the portion of the negotiated agreement outlining merit promotion procedures.

When a PC is prescribed as an appropriate remedy for a violation of competitive procedures, it must be ordered by the Division Commissioner or the equivalent. The Division Commissioner or the equivalent may re-delegate the approval authority for PC to any executive or senior manager who is a direct report to the Division Commissioner or who is a direct report to an executive. Servicing EOs have the responsibility for administering priority consideration and ensuring it is properly applied in accordance with regulations and procedures.

Below are examples of situations in which PC is an appropriate remedy when regulatory or procedural violations have occurred. Other situations involving procedural or regulatory violations may also warrant PC as a remedy. These examples are not all-inclusive:

PC is also an appropriate remedy in EEO discrimination cases when it is found through formal EEO complaint procedures that discrimination resulted in the improper consideration of the employee. Since it is the practice of the Service to correct identified promotion problems without waiting for the resolution of the EEO complaint, every attempt will be taken to correct the promotion violation as quickly as possible. Absent a finding of discrimination, PC under promotion procedures can only be granted as a remedy if a merit promotion violation has occurred that fully warrants the granting of such a remedy under the guidelines specified in this document.

When PC is ordered, it will apply to the specific position for which the employee was not given proper consideration, if that position is vacant. However, if the position is encumbered, the employee who was not given proper consideration in the original promotion action and who has not already been promoted is entitled to PC for the first appropriate vacancy that becomes available.

An appropriate vacancy is one for which the employee meets basic qualifications and is a reasonable candidate. An appropriate vacancy is linked to the actual vacancy for which the employee was not given proper consideration and should include the same:

A Remain in POD vacancy is an appropriate vacancy only if the employee with the PC is currently in the same POD as when he/she received priority consideration.

An appropriate vacancy is generally in the same area of consideration as the position for which the employee was not given proper consideration. In those circumstances where no appropriate vacancy is anticipated in the original area of consideration within two (2) years from the date priority consideration is granted, the employee’s priority consideration will be extended to apply to similar vacancies within the original area of consideration, provided the employee meets basic eligibility requirements. The employee entitled to PC will usually be consulted as to their job preferences and must always be informed in advance that PC is being given. If possible, the employee’s wishes will be accommodated, but management makes the final decision. The employee will receive PC only in the Division that had the vacancy. In unusual cases, at the discretion of management, PC may be allowed for a position in a different Division with concurrence of the other Division Commissioner. It is recommended that agreements that cross business unit lines be documented with the names of the manager’s involved.

PC is granted once for each time proper consideration was missed.

Employees eligible for PC for a position that was previously located in an organization that no longer exists as a result of reorganization must be considered for vacancies in the business unit where these positions were realigned. If the position was realigned to more than one business unit, employees are entitled to priority consideration in the business unit that announces the first vacancy.

PC granted, as a result of a legal settlement agreement, must adhere to the conditions identified in this IRM.

Candidates entitled to PC do not compete with nor will they be considered with, any candidates who are not also entitled to the same level of PC. Candidates entitled to PC must be given consideration in accordance with the order of consideration described in IRM 6.335.1.12.4.

The selecting official must provide written and signed certification that the employee was given full and fair consideration for the vacant position as if he or she had been considered on a regular BQ list. PC is intended to assure that the applicant receives bona fide consideration, which entails the PC applicant being referred alone or with other PC applicants on a certificate prior to lesser priorities in the order of consideration outlined in IRM 6.335.1.12.4.

Since PC represents granting an exception to normal merit promotion competitive procedures, it can be authorized only under the conditions that have been described above. It cannot be granted to provide relief to an employee because of poor personnel practices or to settle disputes (such as grievance issues) not in violation of EEOC regulation or merit promotion requirements.

Candidates must meet all minimum eligibility (e.g.,TIG, time after competitive appointment restriction, etc.) and qualification requirements before they may be promoted. Minimum qualification standards used for filling positions according to this Plan are standards established or approved by OPM and may be found in OPM Operating Manual, Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions, Job Qualification System for Trades and Labor Occupations (Handbook X-118C) and IRM 6.338.1, Qualification Requirements. The EOs are responsible for the application of these standards and the determination of a candidate’s basic eligibility for specific positions. The qualification standard used in filling the position must be documented in the promotion records. Documentation of each candidate’s qualification determinations must also be maintained in the promotion records.

Employees rated below fully successful in a particular performance aspect will be determined ineligible for competitive promotion to a vacant position that requires the same or similar performance aspect.

Candidates may also meet qualification requirements under the specific provisions of an appropriately approved training agreement, which makes it possible to substitute the successful completion of intensive and accelerated training for a portion of the normal qualification requirements. Documentation related to these requirements must be maintained in the promotion records.

Selective placement factors will be applied in the same manner as minimum qualification requirements. However, they cannot be used merely because they would be desirable.

Candidates will be evaluated without regard to race, color, religion, age, gender, national origin, political affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, marital or family status (except as may be required to comply with restrictions on employment of relatives in IRM 6.300.1, Employment (General), or other differences.

Written tests may not be used to determine basic eligibility unless specifically required by OPM standards.

Crediting leave without pay (LWOP) for meeting length and quality of experience requirements will be determined in accordance with IRM 6.338.1, Qualification Requirements.

Developing the Evaluation Process: A comprehensive job analysis must be used in developing the specific evaluation criteria that will provide the basis for the evaluative process. Vacancies must be analyzed to determine what knowledge, skills, abilities and other personal characteristics (KSAOs) (i.e., professional certification), or competencies are needed and at what level they are required for successful and highly successful job performance. The result of the job analysis is the development of specific evaluation criteria and standardized instructions for their use. Guidance on conducting a job analysis can be found in 5 CFR Part 300.

Evaluation methods must also be developed that will effectively measure the stated criteria. Methods must be valid, objective, reliable and job-related in accordance with the requirements described in the Scope and Authority portion of this Plan.

Evaluation criteria are stated requirements of knowledge, skills, abilities, other personal characteristics (KSAOs) (i.e., professional certification), or competencies necessary for superior performance in the position to be filled. Evaluation criteria are developed jointly between the BOD and HCO, ETS, EO and must be established and documented prior to the beginning of the competitive process. Criteria cannot be changed during the course of the promotion action. Evaluation criteria will be documented in the promotion file. Documentation pertaining to Servicewide evaluation criteria will be maintained by HCO, TAE.

The vacancy will be analyzed to identify those KSAOs and/or competencies most likely to produce superior performance. Current PDs well as knowledge of the specific duties of the positions will be used as a base from which the criteria can be established. Criteria must also be measurable (i.e., there must be a method available to provide the required information). These criteria may be unweighted or weighted, but it must be ensured that the relative weight of each is proportionate to its relative importance in the performance of the job. If numeric scoring is used, cut-off scores for highly qualified will be established in advance.

A crediting plan will be developed for each criterion identified through the job analysis/job profiling (unless the criteria and plan were developed nationally). Scores for each criterion will be given equal weight unless a determination is made during the job analysis that weighting of specific criterion is necessary.

For career ladder positions rating and ranking criteria must be developed for each grade level up to the target grade of the position. For example, when ranking the Human Resources Specialist (Recruitment), GS 201-5/7/9/11 position, rating and ranking criteria must be developed at all four grade levels.

A complete record of all pertinent information used in the development of criteria, the actual information obtained, and the conclusions supported by this information must be maintained either in the promotion file or a notation must appear in the promotion file that would indicate where such information is maintained.

Evaluation methods are the sources of information considered by a ranking official/ panel, or during an automated ranking process, according to pre-established criteria for a specific vacancy, to determine the BQ candidates. The selecting official in conjunction with the servicing HCO, ETS, EO must examine the evaluation criteria, determine the appropriate methods to be used to secure needed information and include them on the vacancy announcement. If appropriate methods are not available, new methods may need to be developed, or consideration given to combining pertinent available methods in a manner that furnishes the best combination of necessary information to evaluate the candidates against the criteria. The major consideration in selecting and using any evaluation method is its effectiveness in measuring the degree to which a candidate possesses the KSAOs and/or competencies that would enable the applicant to perform in a fully successfully manner in the position within a reasonable time frame. Methods used must also be documented in the promotion file.

The following evaluation methods are required:

The following methods may be used at the Selecting Official’s option in addition to the mandatory methods listed above:

Ranking of applicants may be conducted by an automated system, or a ranking official/panel.

Ranking completed in the automated system will include the applicant’s current performance appraisal, related awards, and responses to questions based on the KSAOs and/or competencies of the position to be filled to determine the applicant’s overall ranking score.

When a manual ranking process is used, the use of a ranking official or panel is mandatory in identifying highly qualified (HQ) and best qualified (BQ) candidates. Ranking officials and panel members must be at or above the grade level of the position to be filled. It is recommended but not required that ranking panels be used for all professional and technical occupations. Ranking officials are generally used for clerical and paraprofessional occupations.

A ranking official must be someone other than the selecting official and must have an in-depth knowledge of the requirements and functions of the position to be filled.

Panels must consist of at least three voting members, including at least one member who has direct working knowledge of the position to be filled. A representative of the HCO, ETS, EO should also participate as a non-voting member to ensure that control and documentation of panel actions meet validity and job-relatedness requirements. Ranking officials/panels will be designated by the selecting official unless specified by other National Program requirements. Women and/or minorities should be included as ranking panel members, whenever feasible. Although not recommended, selecting officials can serve as a ranking panel member but not as a ranking official. There should not be one evaluation panel for all jobs in one function; panels should be established for specific lines of work.

Ranking officials and panel members should be carefully selected and trained in their responsibilities and in the merit promotion process so that evaluations by different raters will be comparable and consistent. Ranking officials and panel members should be rotated periodically to provide all officials with an opportunity to develop expertise in promotion operations. Ranking officials and panel members should be instructed by the HCO, ETS, EO to avoid discriminatory non-merit considerations (See 5 CFR § 335.103, Requirement 1).

The application of the evaluation methods measuring the applicants against the evaluation criteria during the ranking process should provide a meaningful distinction between the candidates and allow for the identification of the highly qualified (HQ) and best qualified (BQ).

All candidates found to be basically eligible to compete for the position will be referred for ranking to be evaluated against the evaluation criteria using the mandatory methods and other job-related methods designated by the selecting official.

Ranking panels/officials are not permitted to make changes to supervisory appraisals in the process of evaluating candidates. The ranking panels/officials will reflect and record the rating of potential for each candidate against all evaluation criterion for the position to be filled. Information from as many methods as possible is to be used by the ranking panel/official to assign individual criterion rating scores for each of the candidates. Scores on the criteria will be combined to form an overall score for each candidate. Candidates attaining the score previously identified in the crediting plan will be identified as HQ. Those applicants meeting the established level will be designated ″HQ″ and will be identified by the ranking panel/official, on the appropriate form.

When a promotion package has 10 or fewer candidates for a non-bargaining unit vacancy, a simplified ranking process may be used. The simplified ranking will be conducted by the servicing HCO, ETS, EO with approval from business unit management. This abbreviated process eliminates the need for ratings to be assigned and allows for candidates to be grouped by quality level for selection.

The simplified ranking process meets the requirement that applicants determined "BQ" be evaluated based on job-related criteria that has been applied fairly and consistently in all cases. (See Exhibits 6.335.1-8, 6.335.1-9, and 6.335.1-10 for additional information). At a minimum, the following must take place:

The promotion file will be documented to show how the evaluation procedures were followed, how the methods were interpreted/used and the procedure for combining the results of the individual criterion ratings to arrive at the total score for each candidate.

If the number of HQ candidates is five or fewer, all may be certified as BQ. If the number of HQ candidates exceeds five, the BQ will be the top three to five ranked HQ candidates. Up to 10 candidates may be certified if meaningful distinctions cannot be made from among a smaller number of HQ candidates. However, if additional applicants have tied scores with the 10th candidate—all may be referred. If the application methods repeatedly fail to indicate meaningful distinctions between candidates, the methods and criteria will be reevaluated to determine if modifications are necessary.

BQ candidates will be referred to the selecting official in alphabetical order. Three to five BQ candidates may be certified for a single vacancy plus one additional candidate for each additional vacancy. However, candidates will not be arbitrarily eliminated from the best-qualified list when meaningful distinctions do not exist.

BQ referrals for positions announced at multiple grade levels may be referred either:

Candidates who have been determined to not meet the " HQ" cut-off can be referred for selection. However, they may be referred only if there are no highly qualified candidates even after the area of consideration has been expanded and there are no HQ candidates from outside of IRS.

Qualified candidates who have applied for reassignment, transfer and reinstatement to the position to be filled and who are not required to compete for the position, can be listed separately and referred to the selecting official for consideration.