USAJOBS

Temporary and term appointments are used to fill positions when there is not a continuing need for the employees' services. Neither type of appointment is a permanent one, so they do not give the employee competitive status or reinstatement eligibility. Because temporary and term employees do not have status, they may not apply for permanent appointments through agency internal merit promotion procedures, which are used for filling positions from the ranks of current and former permanent Federal employees. However, qualifying experience gained while employed in a temporary or term position is considered when applying later for a permanent position.

WHAT IS A TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT?

A temporary appointment is an appointment lasting one year or less, with a specific expiration date. It is appropriate when an agency expects there will be no permanent need for the employee. An agency may make a temporary appointment to:

• fill a short-term position that is not expected to last more than one year; or,
• meet an employment need that is scheduled to be terminated within one or two years for reasons such as reorganization, abolishment, or the completion of a specific project or peak workload; or,
• fill positions that involve intermittent (irregular) or seasonal (recurring annually) work schedules.

A temporary employee does not serve a probationary period and is not eligible for promotion, reassignment, or transfer to other jobs.

What are the time limits of temporary employment?

Generally, an agency may make a temporary appointment for a specified period not to exceed one year. The appointment may be extended up to a maximum of one additional year. Appointments involved with intermittent or seasonal work may be extended indefinitely if extensions are made in increments of one year or less and the employment totals less than six months (1,040 hours) in a service year.

How are temporary employees selected?

Most vacancies are filled through open competitive examination procedures. However, an agency may give a temporary appointment noncompetitively to certain individuals, e.g., a reinstatement eligible, certain present and former Peace Corps employees, a 30% disabled veteran, and veterans eligible for a veterans recruitment appointment.

Do temporary employees receive benefits?

Temporary employees are eligible to earn leave and are covered by Social Security and unemployment compensation, but do not receive the other fringe benefits provided to career civil service employees. Current law allows temporary employees to purchase health insurance after they have one year of temporary service, but the employee must pay the full cost with no Government contribution. Employees are not eligible for coverage under the Federal Government Life Insurance program or the Federal Employees Retirement System.

WHAT IS A TERM APPOINTMENT?

Under term employment, the employing agency hires the term appointee for work of a project or non-permanent nature and for a limited period of time, lasting for more than one year but not to exceed four years. Reasons for making a term appointment may include:

• project work;
• extraordinary workload;
• scheduled abolishment of a position;
• reorganization;
• uncertainty of future funding;
• contracting out of the function.

How are term employees selected?

Most vacancies are filled through open competitive examination procedures. However, an agency may give a term appointment noncompetitively to certain individuals, e.g., reinstatement eligibles, veterans eligible for a Veterans' Recruitment Appointment, and 30% disabled veterans. The employment of a term employee ends automatically on the expiration of their term appointment. The first year of service is considered a trial period and the agency may terminate a term employee at any time during the trial period.

Are term employees eligible for benefits?

Term employees are eligible to earn leave and generally have the same benefits as permanent employees including health and life insurance, within-grade increases and Federal Employees Retirement System and Thrift Savings Plan coverage.

WHERE DO I FIND OUT ABOUT JOB OPPORTUNITIES?

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) provides employment information through USAJOBS, the Federal Government's Employment Information System.

USAJOBS consists of:

Internet - www.usajobs.gov

Applicants may also contact the agencies in which they are interested in working for specific application instructions.

AS OF: 01/15/2009

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