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Home > About USPS & News > Forms & Publications > Postal Periodicals and Publications > Manuals > Employee and Labor Relations Manual - Issue 18 > 3 Employment and Placement > 340 Suitability, Selection, and Appointment
341 Positions Restricted to Preference Eligibles
The Postal Service restricts certain positions to preference eligible applicants
under the Veterans' Preference Act of 1944, as amended. This restriction
applies only to appointments made from external recruitment sources. See
Handbook EL-312, 232.52, Positions Restricted to Applicants Eligible for
Veterans' Preference, for more information.
342 Preemployment Suitability Determinations
To maintain public trust and confidence in the reliability and integrity of its
employees, the Postal Service must evaluate the overall suitability of
applicants for postal employment prior to consideration and selection.
It is the policy of the Postal Service not to discriminate in personnel decisions
on the basis of (1) race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability
as provided by law, or (2) other nonmeritorious factors such as political
affiliation, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. See Handbook
EL-312, chapter 5, for more information.
343 Applicants Separated for Cause
Prior approval of the Manager, Human Resources (District), the Manager,
Human Resources (Area), or the vice president, Employee Resource
Management, must be obtained before employing any former postal or
federal employee who was removed from the Postal Service or other federal
employment for cause or who resigned after being notified that charges
proposing removal would be, or had been, issued. See Handbook EL-312,
514.11, Handling Removals From Postal Service or Other Federal
Employment, for further information.
344.1 When to Issue Hiring Worksheets
When necessary to hire from a register, the appointing official authorizes the
district Human Resources office to issue a PS Form 5900, Hiring Worksheet,
or an electronic equivalent.
344.2 Interviewing Applicants
A trained and certified interviewer must conduct face-to-face interviews with
applicants. See Handbook EL-312, 54, Preemployment Interview, for further
information on conducting this type of interview.
344.3 Appointing Official Responsibilities
The appointing official must make selections for appointment. Selections
must be made on the basis of merit. It is the policy of the Postal Service not
to discriminate in personnel decisions on the basis of (1) race, color, religion,
sex, national origin, age, or disability as provided by law, or (2) other
nonmeritorious factors such as political affiliation, marital status, sexual
orientation, or gender identity.
344.4 Rule of Three
Appointing officials select from among the three highest ranked and available
eligibles from the appropriate register for the type of appointment being
offered. This selection method is known as the rule of three.
344.5 Nonselection of a Veteran
A veterans' preference eligible may not be passed over to select a
nonpreference eligible who is lower on the Hiring Worksheet, unless the
selecting official objects to the veteran and the objection is sustained. See
Handbook EL-312, 627, Objection to or Pass Over of Preference Eligible, for
requirements for passing over a veteran.
345 Auditing Hiring Worksheets
After the appointing official has made all selections and each action has been
properly documented, the selections are audited according to provisions
found in Handbook EL-312, 63, Auditing Selection Actions. District Human
Resources officials keep PS Forms 5900 on file for 5 years.
346 Offer of Appointment
When an eligible is selected, the appointing official makes an offer of
appointment that includes:
a. Full particulars regarding the position, including title, duties, level,
salary, location of employment, nature, and duration of appointment.
b. Instructions for making an appointment for a medical assessment
before entrance on duty.
c. Any required conditions the appointee must fulfill after entrance on duty,
e.g., serving a probationary period and being subject to investigation.
347 Former Postal or Federal Employees
For applicants selected and hired for temporary or casual jobs after having
previously served in a position in the Postal Service or other federal agency,
wherein they were covered by civil service retirement, health benefits, or life
insurance, such persons must have at least a 4-day break between such
service and their appointment as a casual or temporary employee. For more
information on restrictions on hiring a postal or federal employee covered by
benefits into a temporary postal position, see Handbook EL-312, 233.34,
Dual Employment.
348.1 Dual Employment Within the Postal Service
348.11 General Explanation
Under certain circumstances, as described in this chapter, an employee may
be appointed to more than one position in the Postal Service. This type of
employment is known as a dual appointment. Only one of the appointments
may be to a position in the career workforce. The primary purpose of dual
appointments is to improve the opportunity of career part-time employees
and noncareer employees who provide relief or leave replacement service on
rural routes and in small Post Offices™ to gain additional employment and to
minimize unemployment compensation expense. Substitute rural carriers
(72-0 and 73-0) may be given a dual appointment to a career part-time
position or noncareer position. Rural carrier relief (RCRs), rural carrier
associates (RCAs), and postmaster relief/leave replacements cannot be
given a dual appointment to a career position. Dual appointments also allow
the Postal Service to use experienced employees instead of hiring new
employees.
348.12 Consideration Factors
Installation heads must ensure that all dual appointments are cost effective
and in the best interest of the Postal Service. Before deciding to make dual
appointments, installation heads should consider the following factors:
a. Estimated daily workload requirement (hour by hour) in each craft.
b. Workload that can be covered by increasing the hours of part-time
flexible employees currently on the rolls, by the judicious use of
overtime hours.
c. Workload that can be covered by using employees from another craft,
in accordance with applicable provisions in collective bargaining
agreements.
d. Practicality of using part-time employees from nearby Post Offices.
e. Installation flexibility to make necessary leave replacements if dual
appointments are made.
f. Average weekly workhours for each employee on the rolls and dual
appointment reduction in the Postal Service's liability for state
unemployment compensation benefits.
g. Combined hours of the dual appointment totaling more than 8 hours a
day or 40 hours a week.
348.13 Appointment Authority
The district manager or designee has authority to make dual appointments,
as appropriate.
348.14 Appointment Requirements
Employees considered for dual appointments must meet all qualification
requirements for both positions, including examination requirements, if any.
Likewise, substitute rural carrier employees may be appointed to entry-level
career positions noncompetitively. All other procedures for conducting
examinations, maintenance of registers, selections, and promotions are
included in Handbook EL-312, Employment and Placement.
348.15 Compensation, Benefits, and Other Rights
An employee serving under a dual appointment is compensated for the work
performed in a particular position at the appropriate rate for that position. If
one of the positions of a dual appointment carries the right to benefits, the
employee accrues the rights immediately upon appointment to that position
and retains the rights even while working in another position that does not
have such benefit rights. Other rights, which accrue to a position under the
terms of a collective bargaining agreement, are accorded to the employee.
348.16 Change to Full-Time Status
An employee's change to full-time status requires termination of the dual
appointment.
348.2 Between Postal Service and Other Federal Agencies
An employee may serve and receive pay concurrently as an employee of the
Postal Service (other than as a member of the Board of Governors or of the
Postal Rate Commission) and as an employee of any other federal agency.
See Handbook EL-312, 233.34, Dual Employment, and 234.23, Dual
Employment, for information on restrictions on dual employment.
348.3 Between Postal Service and Private Industry
A Postal Service employee may be employed concurrently as an employee in
the private sector unless such employment has an adverse impact on postal
operations or where conflicts of interest may be generated between the
private employer and/or employee and the Postal Service. See 662.1
for further information.
The Official Personnel Folder (OPF) documents the employment history of
individuals employed by the federal government. The records included in the
OPF protect the legal and financial rights of the government and the
employee. An OPF is established and maintained for each Postal Service
employee, regardless of appointment type or duration.
The OPF contains personnel records that reflect the employee's official
status, benefits, and service and includes other documents that are
significant in the employee's Postal Service career. When an employee has
former postal or federal civilian service, the OPF for that service must be
merged into a single OPF.
The official record of a document in an OPF is the hard copy until the
document is scanned and accepted into the Postal Service's electronic
Official Personnel Folder (eOPF) system. At that point, the scanned image
contained in the eOPF system is the official record of the document, and the
hard copy ceases to be the official record.
Exceptions:
a. If a PS Form 50, Notification of Personnel Actions, (1) has been created
electronically and stored in the Postal Service's human resources
information system, and (2) has not been printed out in hard copy and
placed in the OPF, then the official record is the electronic version of
the PS Form 50 stored in the human resources information system.
b. If a document has been created electronically and stored in the Postal
Service's eOPF system, the official record is the electronic version of
the document stored within the eOPF system.
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