Post by jagghagg on Apr 8, 2009 5:17:00 GMT -5
PM thinks PatriotsFan's position is "fiction" because he doesn't subscribe to it and PM denigrates most anyone's position with which he does not agree.
The rules are that the "Rule of Three" (5 CFR 332.402) require OPM to refer at least three individuals for each vacancy and that OPM often refers more than three for each to account for declinations, valid by-passes, etc. (Hence on the first certificate, there were 450 names requested by SSA for 135 fills. 135x3=405)
Selection must be made from the highest three eligibles on the certificate who are available for the job--also the "Rule of Three." (5 CFR 332.401)
An agency may only by-pass a preference-eligible on the Cert with OPM’s approval. (5 CFR 332.406) The rules for such a by-pass are also found in the Code of Federal Regulations. 5 CFR 339.101 provides for by-pass of the Rule of Three for medical reasons, and 5 CFR 731.201 provides for bypass to protect the integrity and promote the efficiency of service or "for reasons considered by OPM to be disqualifying for the particular position." These reasons must be recorded and approved by OPM.
Special provisions apply to the proposed disqualification or pass-over for any reason of a preference eligible with a 30% or more compensable disability. (See 5 U.S.C. 3317, 3318 and 5 CFR 332.402, 332.404, 332.405, 332.406, and Parts 339 and 731.) These rules are, essentially:
• If an agency proposes to pass over a disabled veteran on a cert to select a person who is not a preference eligible, or to disqualify a disabled veteran based on the physical requirements of the position, it must at the same time notify both the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the disabled veteran of the reasons for the determination and of the veteran's right to respond to OPM within 15 days of the date of the notification.
• The agency must provide evidence to OPM that the notice was timely sent to the disabled veteran's last known address.
• OPM must make a determination on the disabled veteran's physical ability to perform the duties of the position, taking into account any additional information provided by the veteran.
• OPM will notify the agency and the disabled veteran of its decision, with which the agency must comply. If OPM agrees that the veteran cannot fulfill the physical requirements of the position, the agency may select another person from the certificate of eligibles. If OPM finds the veteran able to perform the job, the agency may not pass over the veteran.
• OPM is prohibited by law from delegating this function to any agency.
The Three Strike Rule (5 CFR 332.405) allows the agency to by-pass any candidate whom they have considered three times prior. The agency may nonselect these individuals from cert to cert to cert and it does not "reset" with a new Register. (Remember, Register=OPM; Cert=Agency.)
Dem ders da rules.
Now the facts, ...ooooo, the facts..... those buggers are something different altogether. The fact is that SSA has, for decades, wanted its own Register of eligible candidates who had agency-specific experience. The fact is that agency-specific experience is not a merit factor. (The fact is that ALJ candidates have to be selected on merit factors. The fact is that merit factors are very specific things and an Agency cannot elevate a preferred type of experience to the level of a "merit factor" just because it wants to do so.) The fact is that 50% of the last three classes were SSA insiders. The fact is that vets were not selected in proportion to their numbers on the cert. The fact MAY be, but I cannot state it as an absolute, that SSA insiders were overselected in proportion to their numbers on the cert. The fact is that it appears the fills were manipulated in such a way, through selective use of the "three strike rule" and the determination as to when to put up a slot and when to hold it back, so as to reach down into the list to reach SSA Regional attorneys, Supervisory attorneys, husbands of SSA employees, and other SSA insiders.
More than once it has been suggested that the high scorers, like PF, were passed over by the SSA because they must surely have been bumbling idiots at the SSA interview, slobbering on their shoes, dragging one foot behind them as they lumbered into the interview room, and interviewing like they had an IQ of around 75. Probably unlikely, given the fact that the reason they ARE high scorers is that - after the scoring of their application and the scoring of their written demonstration - the scoring of their panel interview by OPM placed them on the top of the Register. I sincerely doubt that they went over to Falls Church and performed the Mexican Hat Dance on top of the table so as to have their SSA interview cut them from the herd.
The fact is that PF, who is an outsider, out-powered, out-performed, and out-shined some sitting ALJs to obtain an ALJ slot himself with a pretty prestigious agency in a geographic area preferred by many on the Register.
So when PatriotsFan suggests that if you are not an insider, or do not have SSA-specific experience, you might wish to prepare yourself for a little disappointment, he is only injecting a little reality into this obscured process.
All in all, ALJ South is probably more on the money than anyone else, actually.
The rules are that the "Rule of Three" (5 CFR 332.402) require OPM to refer at least three individuals for each vacancy and that OPM often refers more than three for each to account for declinations, valid by-passes, etc. (Hence on the first certificate, there were 450 names requested by SSA for 135 fills. 135x3=405)
Selection must be made from the highest three eligibles on the certificate who are available for the job--also the "Rule of Three." (5 CFR 332.401)
An agency may only by-pass a preference-eligible on the Cert with OPM’s approval. (5 CFR 332.406) The rules for such a by-pass are also found in the Code of Federal Regulations. 5 CFR 339.101 provides for by-pass of the Rule of Three for medical reasons, and 5 CFR 731.201 provides for bypass to protect the integrity and promote the efficiency of service or "for reasons considered by OPM to be disqualifying for the particular position." These reasons must be recorded and approved by OPM.
Special provisions apply to the proposed disqualification or pass-over for any reason of a preference eligible with a 30% or more compensable disability. (See 5 U.S.C. 3317, 3318 and 5 CFR 332.402, 332.404, 332.405, 332.406, and Parts 339 and 731.) These rules are, essentially:
• If an agency proposes to pass over a disabled veteran on a cert to select a person who is not a preference eligible, or to disqualify a disabled veteran based on the physical requirements of the position, it must at the same time notify both the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the disabled veteran of the reasons for the determination and of the veteran's right to respond to OPM within 15 days of the date of the notification.
• The agency must provide evidence to OPM that the notice was timely sent to the disabled veteran's last known address.
• OPM must make a determination on the disabled veteran's physical ability to perform the duties of the position, taking into account any additional information provided by the veteran.
• OPM will notify the agency and the disabled veteran of its decision, with which the agency must comply. If OPM agrees that the veteran cannot fulfill the physical requirements of the position, the agency may select another person from the certificate of eligibles. If OPM finds the veteran able to perform the job, the agency may not pass over the veteran.
• OPM is prohibited by law from delegating this function to any agency.
The Three Strike Rule (5 CFR 332.405) allows the agency to by-pass any candidate whom they have considered three times prior. The agency may nonselect these individuals from cert to cert to cert and it does not "reset" with a new Register. (Remember, Register=OPM; Cert=Agency.)
Dem ders da rules.
Now the facts, ...ooooo, the facts..... those buggers are something different altogether. The fact is that SSA has, for decades, wanted its own Register of eligible candidates who had agency-specific experience. The fact is that agency-specific experience is not a merit factor. (The fact is that ALJ candidates have to be selected on merit factors. The fact is that merit factors are very specific things and an Agency cannot elevate a preferred type of experience to the level of a "merit factor" just because it wants to do so.) The fact is that 50% of the last three classes were SSA insiders. The fact is that vets were not selected in proportion to their numbers on the cert. The fact MAY be, but I cannot state it as an absolute, that SSA insiders were overselected in proportion to their numbers on the cert. The fact is that it appears the fills were manipulated in such a way, through selective use of the "three strike rule" and the determination as to when to put up a slot and when to hold it back, so as to reach down into the list to reach SSA Regional attorneys, Supervisory attorneys, husbands of SSA employees, and other SSA insiders.
More than once it has been suggested that the high scorers, like PF, were passed over by the SSA because they must surely have been bumbling idiots at the SSA interview, slobbering on their shoes, dragging one foot behind them as they lumbered into the interview room, and interviewing like they had an IQ of around 75. Probably unlikely, given the fact that the reason they ARE high scorers is that - after the scoring of their application and the scoring of their written demonstration - the scoring of their panel interview by OPM placed them on the top of the Register. I sincerely doubt that they went over to Falls Church and performed the Mexican Hat Dance on top of the table so as to have their SSA interview cut them from the herd.
The fact is that PF, who is an outsider, out-powered, out-performed, and out-shined some sitting ALJs to obtain an ALJ slot himself with a pretty prestigious agency in a geographic area preferred by many on the Register.
So when PatriotsFan suggests that if you are not an insider, or do not have SSA-specific experience, you might wish to prepare yourself for a little disappointment, he is only injecting a little reality into this obscured process.
All in all, ALJ South is probably more on the money than anyone else, actually.