[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR317.501]

[Page 182-183]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
                CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
 
PART 317_EMPLOYMENT IN THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart E_Career Appointments
 
Sec. 317.501  Recruitment and selection for initial SES career 
appointment be achieved from the brightest and most diverse pool 
possible.

    Source: 54 FR 9758, Mar. 8, 1989, unless otherwise noted.


    (a) Executive Resources Board (ERB). The head of each agency shall 
appoint one or more ERBs from among employees of the agency or 
commissioned officers of the uniformed services serving on active duty 
in the agency. The ERB shall, in accordance with the requirements of 
this section, conduct the merit staffing process for initial SES career 
appointment.
    (b) Recruitment. (1) As a minimum, the source of recruitment to fill 
a SES position by career appointment must include all groups of 
qualified individuals within the civil service (as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
2101). It may also include qualified individuals outside the civil 
service.
    (2) Before an agency can fill an SES vacancy by career appointment, 
it must post a vacancy announcement in USAJOBS for at least 14 calendar 
days, including the date of publication. Each agency's SES vacancy 
announcement must comply with criteria in Sec. 330.707 of subpart G of 
this chapter.
    (c) Merit staffing requirements. As a minimum, agencies must--
    (1) Provide that competition be fair and open, that all candidates 
compete and be rated and ranked on the same basis, and that selection be 
based solely on qualifications and not on political or other non-job-
related factors. If

[[Page 183]]

a candidate is a current SES career appointee or an SES reinstatement 
eligible, an agency may consider the candidate either competitively or 
noncompetitively.
    (2) Provide that the ERB consider the executive and technical 
qualifications of each candidate, other than those found ineligible 
because they do not meet the requirements of the vacancy announcement. 
Preliminary qualifications screening, rating, and ranking of candidates 
may be delegated by the ERB.
    (3) Provide that the rating procedures sufficiently differentiate 
among eligible candidates on the basis of the knowledges, skills, 
abilities, and other job-related factors in the qualifications standard 
for the position so as to enable the relative ranking of the candidates. 
For this purpose, eligible candidates may be grouped into broad 
categories, such as highly qualified, well qualified, and qualified. 
Numerical rating and ranking are not required.
    (4) Provide that the record be adequately documented to show the 
basis of qualifications, rating, and ranking determinations.
    (5) Provide that the ERB make written recommendations to the 
appointing authority on the eligible candidates and identify the best 
qualified candidates. Rating sheets may be used to satisfy the written 
recommendation requirement for individual candidates, but the ERB must 
certify in writing the list of candidates to the appointing authority.
    (6) Provide that the appointing authority select from among the 
candidates identified as best qualified by the ERB and certify the 
candidate's executive and technical qualifications.
    (7) Provide that the appointing authority or the ERB certify in 
writing that appropriate merit staffing procedures were followed.
    (d) Retention of documentation. Agencies must keep such 
documentation as OPM prescribes for 2 years to permit reconstruction of 
merit staffing actions.
    (e) Applicant inquiries and appeals. Individuals are entitled to 
obtain information from an agency regarding the process used to recruit 
and select candidates for career appointment to SES positions. Upon 
request, applicants must be told whether they were considered qualified 
for the position and whether they were referred for appointment 
consideration. Also, they may have access to questionnaires or other 
written material regarding their own qualifications, except for material 
that would identify a confidential source. There is no right of appeal 
by applicants to OPM on SES staffing actions taken by ERBs, 
Qualifications Review Boards, or appointing authorities.
    (f) OPM review. OPM may review proposed career appointments to 
ensure that they comply with all merit staffing requirements and are 
free of any impropriety. An agency shall take such action as OPM may 
require to correct an action contrary to any law, rule, or regulation.

[54 FR 9758, Mar. 8, 1989, as amended at 58 FR 58261, Nov. 1, 1993; 60 
FR 6385, Feb. 2, 1995; 65 FR 33740, May 25, 2000; 66 FR 63906, Dec. 11, 
2001]