Sooo, just how long will we have to wait......

[JSteele]

Just curious if anyone has an educated guess, inside information, experience from last time (or Magic 8 Ball!) - how long do you think it will be before the folks that were rejected and filed an appeal hear anything? Obviously it won't be until after June 3rd as that is the close of the 30 day period, but aside from that. I think I read on another thread that in the past, appeals were not decided upon, or at least people weren't notified, until after all other applicants had made it through testing and been rejected/accepted. Can anyone verify that is accurate?

[cafeta]

May 24, 2013 15:15:01 GMT -5 JSteele said:

Just curious if anyone has an educated guess, inside information, experience from last time (or Magic 8 Ball!) - how long do you think it will be before the folks that were rejected and filed an appeal hear anything? Obviously it won't be until after June 3rd as that is the close of the 30 day period, but aside from that. I think I read on another thread that in the past, appeals were not decided upon, or at least people weren't notified, until after all other applicants had made it through testing and been rejected/accepted. Can anyone verify that is accurate?

JSteele, is this what you were thinking of from the other thread?

From the announcement:

Appeals Process: An ALJ Appeals Panel (Panel) will be convened to adjudicate any appeals after all final numerical ratings have been assigned to all applicants who applied during this ALJ Job Opportunity Announcement open period. The Panel will accept and adjudicate an appeal from the following four categories of applicants who believe their ratings were assigned in error:

1. An applicant who received a NOR indicating "ineligible" at any stage of the ALJ assessment process.

2. An applicant who received a NOR indicating that his/her SJT, Writing Sample, and Experience Assessment score was not within the range for the higher-scored sub-group of all the eligible applicants and therefore did not receive further consideration for this current ALJ Job Opportunity Announcement.

3. An applicant who did not receive a minimum required score on the WD and/or SI, did not receive a final numerical rating, and was not placed on the ALJ register.

4. An applicant who received a NOR with a final numerical rating, for appeal of the entire examination.

The Panel has the authority to affirm, raise, or lower the rating; change a rating from eligible to ineligible and remove an applicant from the register; or remand for further development. An appeal must be filed by email within 30 calendar days from the date of the NOR. Appeals are adjudicated based on the record. The decision of the Appeals Panel is final, and exhausts further administrative appeal rights. Additional details regarding the appeal process will be provided once the NOR has been issued.

[Deleted]

Thanks Cafeta. That is pretty accurate. All appeals will be reviewed until
All numerical scores have been assigned. It will be one massive clearing house. I would venture to say Early next year 2Q of FY 14

[JSteele]

May 24, 2013 19:40:32 GMT -5 @exafjag said:

Thanks Cafeta. That is pretty accurate. All appeals will be reviewed until
All numerical scores have been assigned. It will be one massive clearing house. I would venture to say Early next year 2Q of FY 14

So how does that affect, if at all, the ones that have been going through the process and have made the cut? Will they be held up until the ones that were granted an appeal go through the process as well? Will there be two "classes" if you will in the event hiring is done before all the ones granted appeals are finished with their testing?

[Deleted]

May 28, 2013 17:02:25 GMT -5 JSteele said:

May 24, 2013 19:40:32 GMT -5 @exafjag said:

Thanks Cafeta. That is pretty accurate. All appeals will be reviewed until
All numerical scores have been assigned. It will be one massive clearing house. I would venture to say Early next year 2Q of FY 14

So how does that affect, if at all, the ones that have been going through the process and have made the cut? Will they be held up until the ones that were granted an appeal go through the process as well? Will there be two "classes" if you will in the event hiring is done before all the ones granted appeals are finished with their testing?

Based on my reading of prior appeal posts it seems that the process moves along despite appeals. If you are successful in your appeal you continue the other phases of testing and if you pass then they give you a final numerical score and put you on the existing register based on your score.

[71stretch]

Right. Hiring does not wait until the appeals are done. Cert lists are drawn from the register existing at the time the list is requested.

[keepsake]

That - among other things - is what is wrong with this system of appeals. Given that the first hurdle was one based on licensure and an experience component that was not scored and should have been fairly straightforward - those who were wrongfully excluded from the second phase (and who might have gone onto later phases) are put at a severe disadvantage should things progress with hiring off a new register/cert. OPM's waiting until all scores are issued before generating an appeals panel might result in those who should have been included initially missing the boat on a biggish first hire off the new register. That sounds like significant, unfair and potentially irreprable harm if OPM made a mistake in evaluating applications on the front end. No way to tell what the timing and/or size of an intial cert/hiring will be off the newly created register, but if someone appealed an initial denial and has to wait until the end to have this corrected (which is clearly the system announced) - there is a real risk of having to wait on the sidelines until another, likely much smaller cert/hiring is done at a later time . . . . OPM should make a determination on these intial appeals in a much more expeditious timeframe. But - now we're talking "ifs ands and buts" and I think everyone who is waiting for a determination on their appeal of an initial NOR are stuck. Might not matter in the end, but the real potential is there for damage to one's chances due to OPM's failures.

[trekker]

And welcome to the world of administrative appellate law. Claimants don't like the waits either. I'm not saying anyone on this board does not have a reason to be frustrated if you received an NOR but the system is slow. And has been for at least the last 20 years that I have been practicing. (And I don't have a financial interest in the system being slow.)

[cafeta]

May 29, 2013 11:52:00 GMT -5 trekker said:

And welcome to the world of administrative appellate law. Claimants don't like the waits either. I'm not saying you anyone on this board does not have a reason to be frustrated if the received an NOR but the system is slow. And has been for at least the last 20 years that I have been practicing. (And I don't have a financial interest in the system being slow.)

And, at the risk of sounding too pollyannish[sp?], as the system moves so slow, and the number of succesful appeals will likely not be an overwhelming number for OPM, I would hope that OPM would fast track the successful appellants so anyone that successfully makes it through their remaining tests/steps will be quickly added to the register before the next cert. I think that's feasible.

[71stretch]

May 29, 2013 11:57:39 GMT -5 cafeta said:

May 29, 2013 11:52:00 GMT -5 trekker said:

And welcome to the world of administrative appellate law. Claimants don't like the waits either. I'm not saying you anyone on this board does not have a reason to be frustrated if the received an NOR but the system is slow. And has been for at least the last 20 years that I have been practicing. (And I don't have a financial interest in the system being slow.)

And, at the risk of sounding too pollyannish[sp?], as the system moves so slow, and the number of succesful appeals will likely not be an overwhelming number for OPM, I would hope that OPM would fast track the successful appellants so anyone that successfully makes it through their remaining tests/steps will be quickly added to the register before the next cert. I think that's feasible.

SSA/ODAR is not likely to be concerned about OPM's appeal process. If they determine that they need a cert when the new register is first put together, but before the appeals are fully processed (which will take at best several weeks and more likely months) and they ask OPM for a cert, OPM cannot tell them to wait however long to see who else gets on the register through appeal before OPM gives them the requested cert.

[cafeta]

May 29, 2013 12:36:55 GMT -5 71stretch said:

May 29, 2013 11:57:39 GMT -5 cafeta said:

And, at the risk of sounding too pollyannish[sp?], as the system moves so slow, and the number of succesful appeals will likely not be an overwhelming number for OPM, I would hope that OPM would fast track the successful appellants so anyone that successfully makes it through their remaining tests/steps will be quickly added to the register before the next cert. I think that's feasible.

SSA/ODAR is not likely to be concerned about OPM's appeal process. If they determine that they need a cert when the new register is first put together, but before the appeals are fully processed (which will take at best several weeks and more likely months) and they ask OPM for a cert, OPM cannot tell them to wait however long to see who else gets on the register through appeal before OPM gives them the requested cert.

Thanks Observer53, and now I see the light even more clearly. I just reviewed the ALJ timeline thread, and was surprised that over the last three registers, there appears to be only 2-4 weeks between receipt of your WD/SI scores and a new cert. If that is correct, I would share the appellants' concerns about being disadvantaged by the appellate process.