The Jobs for Veterans Act, Pub. L. No. 107-288, amended 38 USC § 4214 by making a major change in the eligibility criteria for obtaining a Veterans' Recruitment Appointment (VRA). Those eligible are:

Veterans claiming eligibility on the basis of service in a campaign or expedition for which a medal was awarded must be in receipt of the campaign badge or medal.

In addition to meeting the criteria above, eligible veterans must have been separated with an honorable or general discharge.

Under the eligibility criteria, not all 5-point preference eligible veterans are eligible for a VRA appointment.

Under the eligibility criteria, not all VRA veterans are eligible for 5-point veterans' preference.

VRA eligibles who meet the basic qualification requirements for the position to be filled may be appointed without applying through a job announcement. However, veterans' preference (5 CFR Part 302) applies in making appointments under the VRA authority. If there are two or more VRA candidates and one or more is a preference eligible, the agency must apply veterans' preference. An agency must consider all VRA candidates on file who are qualified for the position.

A VRA appointee may be promoted, demoted, reassigned, or transferred in the same way as a career employee. As with other competitive service employees, the time-in-grade requirement applies to the promotion of VRAs. If a VRA eligible employee is qualified for a higher grade, an agency may, at its discretion, give the employee a new VRA appointment at a higher grade up through GS-11 (or equivalent) without regard to time-in-grade.

After two years of satisfactory performance and conduct, the VRA appointee must be converted to a career or career-conditional appointment, as appropriate.

Employees who do not meet the criteria for conversion to permanent status must be terminated.

Agencies may make a noncompetitive temporary or term appointment based on an individual's eligibility for VRA appointment. The temporary or term appointment must be at the grades authorized for VRA appointment but is not a VRA appointment itself and does not lead to conversion to career-conditional.

VRA appointees have the appeal rights of excepted service employees. This means that VRA employees who are preference eligibles attain full Part 752 adverse action and Part 432 performance action appeal rights after one year of current continuous service in the same or similar position(s). VRAs who are not preference eligibles do not get this protection until they have completed 2 years of current continuous employment in the same or similar position. In addition, any individual serving under a VRA whose employment under the appointment is terminated within 1 year after the date of such appointment, has the same right to appeal that termination as a career or career-conditional employee has during the first year of employment.

There are two groups of VRA applicants.

VRA eligibles, including those with preference, have no right to "reopen" a closed promotion announcement (that is, to apply after the closing date). By law, and under certain conditions, preference eligibles have the right to reopen competitive examinations that were open for applications from the general public.

5 CFR Part 302, Subpart B and 5 CFR Part 307 should be followed to ensure that preference is observed for disabled veterans and other veterans entitled to preference.

Current IRS VRA appointees, like competitive service employees, may apply under an internal merit promotion announcement and are subject to the same requirements. See IRM 6.307.1.2.2(1)(b).

Current IRS VRA appointees may also apply under an internal merit promotion announcement as a"VRA eligible."

If the VRA appointee has less than 15 years of formal education, the Service is required to provide a written training program agreement (signed by the veteran) in which the veteran agrees to pursue a training or educational program during the two year employment period. If the VRA appointee has 15 years of formal education or more, they may participate in the same training programs as other employees. A training program could include on-the-job assignments and/or classroom training. To ensure that this requirement is met, a written training or educational plan must be developed.

The written training or educational plan should include definitive long and short-range objectives. Such objectives are necessary to effectively evaluate on-the-job performance and other training participation in the program.

Use of VRA is not intended to be used permanently to fill low-level positions. Such positions should be used as a means of qualifying for a higher grade level target position.

To be eligible for a VEOA appointment, a veteran must be a preference eligible or veteran separated after 3 or more years of continuous active service performed under honorable conditions. Veterans who were released shortly before completing a 3-year tour are considered to be eligible. Active service, defined in Title 37 USC, means active duty in the uniformed services and includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, full-time National Guard duty, and attendance while in active service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary concerned.

VEOA applicants appointed under the VEOA are subject to a probationary period.

VEOA applicants who are appointed in the competitive service have the appeal rights of competitive service employees.

ZBA-Pub L. No.106-117, Section 511 will be used as the legal authority for any new appointments under the VEOA. This authority code can be used with nature of action codes 100, 101, 500 and 501.

IRS Internal Merit Promotion Vacancy Announcements – Internal merit promotion vacancy announcements, open only to IRS or Treasury applicants only, are not required to include application information for VEOA eligibles because the agency is not recruiting outside its own workforce. ("Agency," in this context, means the parent agency, i.e., Treasury, not the Internal Revenue Service.)

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) Announcements – CTAP is limited to internal agency candidates; therefore there is no requirement to include application information for VEOA eligibles.

Merit promotion Vacancy Announcements Open to Status Applicants Outside Treasury – Merit promotion vacancy announcements open to status applicants outside of Treasury must accept applications from VEOA eligibles, wherever they are located. Current federal employees (along with those seeking initial federal employment) with VEOA eligibility can apply for positions opened to status applicants outside of Treasury. VEOA does not exempt VEOA eligible federal employees from eligibility criteria, such as time-in-grade restrictions. In addition to the standard application instructions on the USAJOBS, external merit promotion vacancy announcements must include the following VEOA specific information:

Delegated Examining Unit (DEU) Vacancy Announcement – VEOA eligibles applying under a DEU vacancy announcement (competitive examining process) are treated in the same manner as any other DEU applicant.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) Vacancy Announcements – VEOA eligibles may apply for ICTAP announcements. When both ICTAP and VEOA eligible applications are received, the "well qualified" ICTAP applicant receives priority over the VEOA applicant. Once the ICTAP candidate has been cleared, the best qualified VEOA eligible candidate can be considered. Veterans' preference does not apply in the ranking. Announcements must include the following VEOA specific information:

VEOA applications from external merit promotion announcements open to status applicants outside of Treasury must be rated and ranked with status applicants, using the same assessment criteria. No distinction is made. VEOA applicants are referred with status applicants on the same certificate. VEOA eligibles referred for consideration are not guaranteed selection.

The VEOA selectee will be given a career or career conditional appointment. A temporary or term appointment may not be offered.

The following describes the special appointment authority (5 CFR § 315.707) used for hiring disabled veterans, and provides instructions for implementing the Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action Program (DVAAP).

The Service may offer a noncompetitive temporary appointment of more than 60 days, or a term appointment, to any veteran:

There is no grade level limitation for this authority, but the appointee must meet all qualification requirements including any written test requirement.

The employee may be non-competitively converted (without a break in service) to a career or career-conditional appointment at any time during the employee’s temporary or term appointment. The appointment can be full-time, part-time, or intermittent. The initial appointment need not be to the same position as the proposed conversion position.

Disabled veterans eligible for training under the VA vocational rehabilitation program may enroll for training or work experience at an agency under the terms of an agreement between the agency and VA. While enrolled in the VA program, the veteran is not a Federal employee for most purposes, but is a beneficiary of the VA.

Training is tailored to the individual’s needs and goals and may be as long as needed. If the training is intended to prepare the individual for eventual appointment in the agency and not only to provide work experience, the agency must ensure that the training will enable the veteran to meet the qualification requirements for the position.

Upon successful completion, the host agency and VA issues the veteran a Certificate of Training showing the occupational series and grade level of the position for which trained. The Certificate of Training allows any agency to appoint the veteran non-competitively under a status quo appointment that may be converted to career or career-conditional at any time.

Reasonable accommodation assistance, if needed, may be coordinated by the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity.

The Service encourages and supports the utilization of all available resources to employ and advance disabled veterans. The Commissioner periodically emphasizes this policy in memoranda and information notices to employees.

The DVAAP program responsibility resides with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM); All agencies are required to develop a DVAAP Plan. Treasury's Plan covers all its Bureaus and is published as Appendix B to Chapter 720 of the Treasury Personnel Manual. It provides for local offices to develop local plans as appropriate.

The IRS DVAAP Plan supplements the Department of the Treasury Plan and provides instructions on responsibilities for affirmative actions to be taken by all offices to promote the employment and advancement of disabled veterans. To fully implement their responsibilities, appointing offices may establish and implement local plans.

References:

Current IRS employees who perform active military duty are able to leave their employment temporarily with the knowledge that their affairs are in order and their rights are protected. Federal law provides many important rights and benefits, as required by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

The following addresses rights, benefits, and processing instructions for employees who leave their jobs to serve on active duty, either on a voluntary or involuntary basis, in a uniformed service. This includes active duty, active duty for training, initial active duty for training, inactive duty training, full-time National Guard duty and a period that a person is absent from employment for the purpose of examination to determine fitness for duty.

The OPM Vet Guide can be found at: http://www.opm.gov/veterans

Before an employee leaves for military duty, he or she must be advised of his or her restoration rights, the process to exercise those rights, the time limitations, employee benefits, appeal rights, and any other obligations. A sample letter is shown in See Exhibit 6.307.1-1.

Employees are not harmed when they leave their employment temporarily to perform active military duty. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) generally requires the employee be placed on Leave Without Pay (LWOP) when entering the military, unless they choose to be placed on military leave or annual leave, as appropriate, or the employee requests to be separated. The Department of Labor, Veterans' Employment and Training Service, has issued comprehensive guidance as mandated by USERRA. This document has been posted in the Federal Register and can be found at: http://www.dol.gov/elaws/userra.htm

See IRM 6.630.1, Absence and Leave, for additional guidance on absence and leave.

Permanent or temporary civilian — Federal employees who are called to active duty (or volunteer for active duty) are entitled to the rights and benefits contained in this subsection.

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) -- Employee Assistance Programs can be very helpful to employees and their families in coping with the stress and disruption associated with a call to active military duty. EAPs provide short-term counseling and referral services to help with financial, emotional, and dependent care problems. These services are available to employees who are family members of those who are performing active military duty. In addition, many EAPs offer services to family members of employees.

Pay — Employees performing active military duty receive compensation from the Armed Forces in accordance with the terms and conditions of their military enlistment or commission. They do not receive any compensation from their civilian-employing agency unless they elect to use military leave or annual leave as described in paragraphs 5 and 8, below. Agencies should continue the payment of availability pay for criminal investigators and annual premium pay for administratively uncontrollable overtime (AUO) work, or regularly scheduled standby duty, on days of military leave or annual leave.

Military Leave — Employees who perform active military duty may request paid military leave, as specified in 5 USC § 6323(a). Under the law, an eligible full-time employee accrues 15 days (120 hours) of military leave each fiscal year. In addition, an employee may carry over up to 15 days (120 hours) of unused military leave from one fiscal year to the next. When the 15 days of military leave that are carried over are combined with the 15 days of military leave accrued at the beginning of the new fiscal year, this produces a maximum military leave benefit of 30 days in a fiscal year. These extra days of carry over military leave must be used in the new fiscal year to avoid forfeiting since an employee cannot carry over more than 15 calendar days to the next fiscal year. Part-time career employees accrue military leave on a prorated basis. Employees who elect to use military leave will receive full compensation from their civilian position for each hour charged to military leave, in addition to their military pay for the same period. Military leave can only be charged for hours the employee would have worked and does not apply to weekends and other non-workdays. Additional information on charging military leave can be found on the OPM website at: https://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/html/MILITARY.asp . Employees who perform active military duty may be granted an additional 22 days of military leave under 5 USC § 6323(b) for emergency duty as ordered by the President, Secretary of Defense, or a State Governor. This leave is granted for the purpose of providing military duty in support of civil authorities in the protection of life and property or who perform full-time military service as a result of a call or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation as defined in 10 USC §101(a)(13).

Annual Leave — Employees who perform active military duty may request the use of accrued and accumulated annual leave to their credit (under 5 USC § 6303 and § 6304), and such requests must be granted by the agency. In addition, requests for advanced annual leave may be granted at the agency’s discretion. Employees who use annual leave will receive compensation in addition to their military pay for the same period — from their civilian position for all hours charged to annual leave.

LWOP — USERRA generally requires an agency to place an employee entering the military on LWOP unless the employee chooses to be placed on military leave or annual leave, as appropriate, or the employee requests to be separated. Full-time employees do not earn annual or sick leave in a pay period in which they have accumulated 80 hours of LWOP. In addition, part-time employees on LWOP also earn less annual and sick leave, since they earn leave based on the number of hours in a pay status.

Lump-Sum Leave Payments — Employees who enter into active military duty may choose to have their annual leave remain to their credit until they return to their civilian position or receive a lump-sum payment for all accrued and accumulated annual leave. However, an agency must make a lump-sum payment for any restored annual leave under 5 USC § 6304(d). There is no requirement to separate from a civilian position in order to receive a lump-sum leave payment under 5 USC § 5552.

Health Benefits — Employees who enter the uniformed services (active duty or active duty for training beyond 30 days) may elect to have their health insurance coverage continue for up to 24 months, and the employee continues to pay their share of the premium. Employees who remain in the uniformed services beyond 12 months may continue their health insurance for an additional 12 months by paying 102 percent of the premium, i.e., the employee’s share, the Government’s share, and a 2 percent administrative fee. Employees are entitled to a free 31-day extension of coverage during which they can convert to a non-group policy. These employees are not eligible for TCC (Temporary Continuation of Coverage). If an employee does not wish to continue the FEHB coverage while he/she is in non-pay status, the employee can elect in writing to have the FEHB coverage terminated (the employee is still entitled to the free 31-day extension and the right to convert).

When an employee who has been on military duty returns to active Federal Service, he or she can enroll in a FEHB plan within 60 days of the return to service, (as long as the position is not excluded from coverage).

Life Insurance — Employees who are put in a non-pay status while on military duty can keep their Federal Employee’s Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) coverage for up to 24 months. This coverage is free. At the end of 12 months in non-pay status, the coverage terminates. Employees receive a free 31-day extension of coverage, and have the right to convert to a non-group policy.

Federal employees with FEGLI who are called to active duty retain and have the same entitlements; death benefits are payable to the employee’s beneficiaries. Accidental death and dismemberment benefits are also payable under Basic insurance (and Option A, if the employee had that coverage) unless the employee was in actual combat at the time. Accidental death benefits are in addition to regular death benefits. Even if accidental death benefits are not payable, regular death benefits are payable.

When an employee who has been on military duty returns to active Federal Service, he or she resumes the same life insurance he or she had before going into nonpay status (as long as the position is not excluded from coverage).

Retirement — An employee who is placed in a LWOP status while performing active military duty continues to be covered by the retirement law either the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Death benefits will be paid as if he or she were still in the civilian position. If the employee becomes disabled for his or her civilian position during the LWOP period and has the minimum amount of civilian service necessary for disability benefits (5 years for CSRS, 18 months for FERS), the employee will become entitled to disability benefits under the retirement law. Upon eventual retirement from civilian service, the period of military service is creditable under either CSRS or FERS, subject to the rules for crediting military service.

If an employee separates to enter active military duty, he or she generally will receive retirement credit for the period of separation when the employee exercises restoration rights to his or her civilian position. If the separated employee does not exercise the restoration right, but later reenters Federal civilian service, the military service may be credited under the retirement system, subject to the rules governing credit for military service. However, if an employee covered by CSRS is separated to enter active military duty during a period of war or national emergency (as declared by Congress or proclaimed by the President), the employee is deemed not to be separated from his or her civilian position for retirement purposes (unless the employee applies for and receives a refund of their retirement deductions).

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) — Federal civilian personnel who are also in the military may contribute to TSP, both as a member of the uniformed service and as a Federal civilian employee. Enrollment into a uniformed service TSP account must be done through the uniformed services’ personnel office. The uniformed service account will be maintained separately from the civilian account, and contributions to the uniformed service account can only be made from uniformed service pay. Similarly, contributions to the civilian account can only be made from civil service compensation. Once separated from either the uniformed service or Federal civilian service, TSP accounts can be combined. Specific information on the TSP rules governing uniformed service can be found at: http://www.tsp.gov/.

Return to Civilian Duty — An employee who enters active military duty (voluntary or involuntary) from any position, including a temporary position, has full job protection (as covered under USERRA) provided they apply for reemployment within the following time limits:

Appeal Rights — An employee or former employee of an agency in the executive branch who is entitled to restoration in connection with military duty may appeal an agency’s failure to properly carry out the law directly to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Alternatively, the employee may first submit a complaint to the Department of Labor (DOL), which will attempt to resolve it. If resolution is not possible, DOL can present the case to the Office of Special Counsel, which may represent the employee in an appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board. Further information is contained in the DOL USERRA regulations as cited in IRM 6.307.1.5.1(6).