The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is authorized by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), through the Interagency Agreement ((TREAS-1) Exhibit 6.331.1-1) between the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Treasury (under the provision of 5 U.S.C. § 1104, as amended by Public Law 104-52 (1995)), to examine applicants for the positions indicated for its own agency, or for positions at another Federal agency. This IRM provides guidance for establishment and operation of Delegated Examining Units (DEU’s) within IRS.

IRS offices with DEU’s are responsible for adhering to the items listed under "Agency Responsibilities" in the TREAS-1 agreement.

The IRS can examine applicants for all Title 5 competitive service positions for all series and grade levels nationwide, except Administrative Law Judge positions. Any competitive examining for positions covered under the Luevano consent decree will require a separate agreement between Treasury and OPM. IRS offices must use OPM to recruit for positions covered under the Luevano consent decree.

IRS may only contract out for examinations that pertain specifically to individual bureau occupations (e.g., Customs Inspector Examination would apply only for the Bureau of Customs. Customs is covered under the same TREAS-1 agreement as IRS).

OPM will review any competitive examining work performed by contractors to ensure that merit system principles and standards are maintained as required by 5 U.S.C.§ 1104.

IRS must notify Treasury regarding the use of any contract for examining as it occurs (e.g., position(s) covered and contractor).

IRS offices may establish a DEU provided they have obtained all required clearances from within their organization and have:

Each year, AWSS-Personnel Services must send a combined listing of all DEU’s — along with addresses, phone numbers and points of contact — to the Office of Staffing and Worklife Policy by September 30 (for submission to Treasury).

To keep Treasury apprised of the status of IRS DEU’s, the Office of Staffing and Worklife Policy must be notified in writing of any abolishment of delegated examining units.

OPM, based on an established schedule, will recertify members of a DEU to permit them to continue examining.

OPM will also recertify a DEU in delegated examining in order to continue examining as a unit.

No person may sign a certificate unless he or she has been certified and trained by OPM.

Any person working in the unit who is pending training/certification by OPM must have all work reviewed by a certified delegated examining member.

The IRS must maintain an internal accountability system to assure that delegated examining authorities are in compliance with law and merit systems principles, and that annual internal audits are conducted as stated in TREAS-1. The annual internal audit report will meet the internal accountability system requirements.

Discrepancies found during the annual internal review must be documented and maintained for three (3) years.

Each office performing delegated examining must submit a quarterly report on its examining activities to OPM. The quarterly report can be found in the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook (DEOH) on OPM’s web site www.opm.gov/deu.

The Office of Staffing and Worklife Policy will submit to Treasury all the annual internal reports within thirty (30) days of completion.

Each DEU work unit must complete, by September 30, an annual internal audit report that is issued by the Office of Staffing and Worklife Policy.

The report is specific for each year, and reflects criteria that depend on new DEU procedures and IRS policies.

Staff members not associated with delegated examining activities must complete the annual internal audit report.

Any person(s) who conducts the annual internal audit must be trained and certified by OPM prior to performing the annual internal audit.

OPM can revoke delegated examining authority if a review determines that a DEU is not operating within the confines of the authority for which it was granted.

Not adhering to the requirements of the annual internal audit as stated in 6.331.1.8 (above) could result in the revocation of that office’s DEU authority.

IRS offices have the option of having an open public notice period of less than five (5) days. However, the reason(s) the shorter period is necessary (e.g., only a few jobs to fill, inordinately large number of applications expected) must be properly documented.

IRS offices have four (4) basic options available for external competitive filling of vacancies:

There are two (2) supplements to the competitive examining process for external hiring for positions covered under the Luevano Consent Decree:

Outstanding Scholar is a special hiring authority to be used only as a supplement to competitive examining, and not as a stand-alone for filling specific professional and administrative occupations at the GS-5 and GS-7 levels.

IRS offices must not restrict competition to outstanding scholar alone, but must have full competition as stated in 5 U.S.C 2301 (b)(1). IRS offices should refer to the DEOH for further guidance on positions covered and additional procedures.

An Outstanding Scholar selection and job offer need to be made within ninety (90) days from the time a certificate is returned to the personnel office, based on an announcement open to Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) candidates (see 5 CFR 330 Subpart G). If a selection has not been made within those ninety (90) days, the office is required to readvertise the vacancy.

An Outstanding Scholar candidate cannot be appointed until graduation from college.

IRS offices should appoint a candidate to the position within a reasonable amount of time. However, offices may delay appointment up to six (6) months from the date of selection to accommodate special situations (e.g., geographical move, security clearances). If an office has a need to exceed the six months from the date of selection, it must get approval from the OPM Service Center Director.

Bilingual/Bicultural is a special hiring authority to be used as an exception to normal competitive hiring procedures for filling specific professional and administrative occupations at the GS-5 and GS-7 levels.

Bilingual/Bicultural can only be used for positions requiring Spanish.

A Bilingual/Bicultural selection and job offer need to be made within ninety (90) days from the time a certificate is returned to the personnel office, based on an announcement open to ICTAP candidates. If a selection has not been made within those ninety (90) days, the office is required to readvertise the vacancy.

Offices may hire candidates who are: rated eligible in the appropriate competitive examination for the position to be filled, and have demonstrated through an assessment that they have the required level of language proficiency or knowledge of Hispanic culture.

A position to be filled under Bilingual/Bicultural must be a position in which having the acquired skills would enhance interaction with the public or enhance job performance.

IRS offices performing delegated examining must adhere to the operating guidance contained in the OPM DEOH, IRM 6.331 and TREAS-1.

IRS offices should maintain IRM 6.331, along with the above-mentioned documents, as their Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) — along with other SOP’s and Policies under which the delegated examining unit operates. These documents should be readily available for reviews done either by OPM or AWSS-Personnel Services.

IRS offices performing delegated examining are subject to an audit performed by OPM and AWSS-Personnel Services.

IRS offices should notify AWSS-Personnel Services and the Office of Staffing and Worklife Policy when OPM is planning to conduct a review. The final report of findings should be sent to both offices if they are not listed on the OPM memorandum.

An SF-39, Request for Referral of Eligibles and certificate, must be returned within thirty (30) days unless the issuing office has authorized an extension.

A certificate ranking the highest-ranked eligibles in score order and with veterans preference order can be either manual or automated through the Competitive Automated Recruitment System (CARS). A certificate can also be generated through another automated system that has met all of IRS internal security procedures and certification requirements.

IRS offices have the option of notifying candidates of their assigned rating only when requested by candidates.

Although OPM recommends auditing all certificates within three (3) days, it is IRS’ policy to audit all certificates within seven (7) days after return of the certificate.

In determining an applicant’s appropriate audit code, all available codes should be considered. IRS offices should use the audit code that most clearly defines the action and/or reason for action taken on an applicant.

IRS offices are to use the audit codes listed on the back of the SF 39, "Request for Certificate of Eligibles."

In addition to the codes on the back of the SF 39, IRS offices should use the following codes:

IRS offices do not have to change an audit code "A" (Selected Eligibles) to "FR" (Failed to Respond) when an applicant who was selected does not report for duty as scheduled.

The NS code (non-select) is used for all non-selects.

The NN code (not selected/non contacted) is to be used for applicants at the bottom of a partially used certificate because no communication, including an Optional Form 5, Inquiry As To Availability, was sent to the applicant. Therefore, there should be no selections, declinations, failures to reply, etc., coded below a candidate coded NN.

OPM, utilizing the authority under Title 5 U.S.C § 1104, requires agencies to keep appropriate records related to delegated examining.

IRS offices must maintain certificate case files with sufficient documentation to allow for a complete reconstruction of the examination process in the event of appeal or legal action.

The time limit for using a case-examining file is ninety (90) days from the time a certificate is issued. After ninety (90) days, offices must re-advertise for ICTAP.

All case files should be audited and closed within thirty (30) days of receiving the completed SF 39.

Each certificate case file should, at a minimum, contain the information listed in the DEOH under Records Retention and Disposition Schedule for a certificate case file.

Each certificate case file should, at a minimum, include the items in the DEOH appendix entitled "Delegated Examining Checklists."

IRS offices should pursue a suitability determination if the applicant’s circumstances meet the established criteria for referral, rather than simply "non selecting" and working within the "rule-of-three" for consideration (see 6.331.1.21 below). Please refer to 5 CFR 731 and IRM 6.731 for further guidance.

If an applicant is kept in a suspense (SS) file, document the reason the applicant remains suspended either in the comments field in the applicant record in CARS, or in the applicant case file for case examining for offices not using CARS.

The White House lifted the bar on rehiring Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers who went on strike in 1981. IRS offices who have external applicants from the above cannot use this against the applicant in suitability adjudication.

Pursuant to Title 5 U.S.C § 3317, § 3318 & DEOH § 8.12C, an applicant on a certificate may be eliminated from further consideration for the position to which certified when the applicant has been within reach for selection and three other candidates were selected instead. The certificate must have been issued by the same appointing office, from the same examination, for the same type and grade of position, and for the same or identical type of appointments.

IRS offices using CARS should print a Complete Applicant Record Printout (CARP) on each non-selected applicant to ensure appropriate maintenance is performed on the applicant’s record. This insures that applicants are not improperly inactivated for other positions, grades or locations.

IRS offices using CARS must print the night process report showing data validation, and correct any errors on a daily basis.

IRS offices recruiting externally are required to collect gender and race and national origin (RNO) data on applicants.

IRS offices using CARS will collect the information on Form A, "Internal Revenue Service Qualifications & Availability," IRS Form 12653, Catalog Number 29255P.

IRS offices not using Form A will collect the information using Form 9620, Catalog Number 20517S.