2019 Hiring Freeze Guidance
Background
The Commissioner has stated that his highest priority and commitment would be to improve service to the public. His priorities include improving 800 number, hearings, and field office wait times and modernizing our information technology as well as our disability policies. To ensure that agency resources are focused on these commitments, he implemented a hiring freeze on July 31, 2019. This freeze applies to all Headquarters components and their respective regional and field offices. Operations workload positions and their respective management and supervisory positions in the Teleservice Centers (TSC), Processing Centers (PC), Area and Field Offices, and State Disability Determination Services are exempt from the hiring freeze.
He has asked the Deputy Commissioners to marshal all resources to improve public service. Recognizing that there are many other significant positions that support front line service and play a role in achieving his commitments, he has also implemented an exception process to ensure that components are able to fill other critical positions. This guidance aligns with these goals and provides more specific implementation instructions.
The exemption chart summarizes which components or part(s) of a component are exempt.
The following prohibitions apply:
Filling vacant positions by appointment, competitive or non-competitive promotion, reassignment, or detail at all levels of the organization (e.g., Deputy Commissioner, Associate Commissioner, or lower level);
Extending existing appointments or assignments (promotion, reassignment, detail) past the established not-to-exceed date;
Making existing temporary promotions or reassignments permanent;
Extending temporary or term appointments up to the maximum allowable time limit, consistent with the conditions/requirements of the legal authority used to appoint the employee;
Hiring new or extending existing reemployed annuitant appointments;
Appointing Administrative Law Judges, Senior Administrative Law Judges, and Administrative Appeals Judges;
Component re-organization activities, including those pending or previously approved;
Establishing new positions;
Posting new external or internal vacancy announcements; and
Contracting for services currently provided by SSA employees unless approved by the Office of Budget.
Exemptions
Hiring readers, personal assistants, and translators in response to reasonable accommodations requests under the Rehabilitation Act;
Approving reassignments as part of reasonable accommodation requests;
Converting to the competitive service current employees serving under appointments with conversion authority, such as the Veteran’s Recruitment Act (VRA), Pathways Programs (Presidential Management Fellows, Recent Graduates, and Interns), and appointments for individuals with disabilities under 5 CFR 213.3102(u);
Continuing existing temporary assignments (promotion, reassignment, detail) to the established not-to-exceed date;
Continuing existing temporary or term appointments, including reemployed annuitant appointments, to the established not-to-exceed date;
Processing career ladder promotions, within-grade increases, and changes in tenure;
Selecting individuals for non-paid work program positions (e.g., the Volunteer Internship Program, Non-Paid Work Experience program), as long as they are not used to replace regular employees;
Hiring externally for delegated building positions funded by the General Services Administration;
Authorizing hardship reassignments to positions exempt from the freeze;
Permitting compassionate details;
Processing personnel actions covered by a settlement agreement;
Approving over-tour hours for part-time employees where an overtime budget exists;
Continuing activities related to the National Leadership Development Program and regional and component developmental programs; and
Any hiring exemptions approved by the Commissioner.
Obtaining Hiring Exemptions
DC-level components must submit a Hiring Exemption Request Form to ^2019 Hiring Freeze Exemption Requests for review and requested approval.
Exemption requests should NOT be sent directly to the Office of the Commissioner (OC).
The Office of Human Resources will ask components for additional information or clarification when needed and route requests with cost implications through the Office of Budget before sending all requests to OC.
Requests for an exemption must explain:
The duties of the position being filled;
The relationship of the position to SSA’s critical public service requirements;
The internal or external recruitment strategy;
The urgency of the need; and
The consequences of not filling the position within a six-month timeline.
Components may submit multiple similar critical hiring requests using the same request form.
Additional Information
For more information about freeze restrictions, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.
