HANDBOOK EL-312 REVISION

Changes to Employment Programs

Effective February 15, Handbook EL-312, Employment and Placement, is revised to reflect changes to employment programs.

Summary of Changes to Handbook EL-312

514.33, Obtaining Police Records, is renamed Obtaining Criminal Record Checks. New text changes policy to require a criminal record check in each county where the applicant resided for the past 5 years. Also references subchapter 56, which is renamed OPM Investigations.

56, Special Agency Check, is renamed OPM Investigations and revised to state that (a) an OPM National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI) must be requested for newly selected career employees, and (b) a Special Agency Check with Inquiries (SACI) must be requested for newly selected noncareer employees.

561, Elements, is renamed National Agency Checks with Inquiries. Text is added to list the elements of a NACI investigation and the procedures for requesting it.

562, Processing OPM-IS Form 86C, is renamed Special Agency Checks with Inquiries and revised to (a) incorporate text from part 561, (b) clarify for whom SACIs must be requested, and (c) state that fingerprints can be submitted either electronically or manually on a fingerprint chart.

563, OPM Results, is renamed OPM Investigation Results and revised to (a) state that a Certificate of Favorable Adjudication is to be prepared for favorably adjudicated NACI investigations, copied for the employee, and filed in the Official Personnel Folder; and (b) clarify that information filed in the individual's preemployment investigation folder includes reports, statements, and correspondence related to the investigation.

Handbook EL-312, Employment and Placement

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5 Suitability

51 Employment Eligibility and Suitability

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514 Application for Employment

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514.3 Assessing Criminal Conviction History

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[Revise 514.33 to read as follows:]

514.33 Obtaining Criminal Records Checks

The appropriate Postal Service official must obtain a criminal records check in each county where the applicant resided for the past 5 years. If fees are charged for furnishing copies of records, use Account Number 52519, Postal Operations - Fees for Services, to pay the fees. The National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI) and Special Agency Check (SAC) performed by OPM for individuals who are selected involves additional criminal records checks (see 56, OPM Investigations).

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[Revise 56 to read as follows:]

56 OPM Investigations

For all newly selected employees in nonsensitive positions, request a National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI) for newly selected career employees and a Special Agency Check with Inquiries (SACI) for noncareer employees.

561 National Agency Check With Inquiries

OPM's National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI) consists of checks of:

a. OPM's Security/Suitability Investigations Index (SII).

b. Defense Clearance and Investigations Index (DCII).

c. Federal Bureau of Investigation Fingerprint Classification (FBIF).

d. Employment history (except Postal Service employment) for the last 5 years.

e. Criminal conviction history in locations where the employee resided, worked, and went to school.

f. FBI Name Check (FBIN).

g. Education verification.

h. References.

i. Residence verification.

OPM also performs automatic checks of military personnel records (MILR) if military service (including National Guard service) was performed in the last 10 years.

OPM-IS Standard Form (SF) 85, Questionnaire for Non- Sensitive Positions, dated September 1995 or later, must be completed by all newly selected career applicants after receiving a bona fide job offer. Fingerprints must be collected either electronically on a livescan fingerprint system or on SF 87, Fingerprint Chart, dated April 1984 or later, with OPM's originating identifier (ORI) USOPMOOOZ FIPC.

To request a NACI, hiring officials submit an SF 85, a copy of the employee's PS Form 2591, and fingerprints (electronically or on one SF 87 chart) to:

OPM-IS
FEDERAL INVESTIGATIONS PROCESSING CENTER
BOYERS PA 16018-0618

If a NACI was completed for the initial appointment, a new NACI is not required when an individual is reappointed or reinstated as a career employee, unless the individual had a break in service of more than 90 days.

Note: If fingerprints are returned as unclassifiable, another set of fingerprints must be taken immediately and sent to OPM, along with the unclassifiable chart and a copy of the closing case transmittal (CCT).

562 Special Agency Check With Inquiries

OPM's Special Agency Check with Inquiries (SACI) consists of checks of:

a. OPM's Security/Suitability Investigations Index (SII).

b. Defense Clearance and Investigations Index (DCII).

c. Federal Bureau of Investigation Fingerprint Classification (FBIF).

d. Employment history (except Postal Service employment) for the last 5 years.

e. Criminal conviction history in locations where the employee resided, worked, and went to school.

As needed, OPM also performs checks of military personnel records (MILR).

OPM-IS SF 86C, Special Agreement Check, August 1995 or later, must be completed by all newly selected noncareer applicants. Fingerprints must be collected either electronically on a livescan fingerprint system or on SF 87, Fingerprint Chart, dated April 1984 or later, with OPM's originating identifier (ORI) USOPMOOOZ FIPC. Submit SACI requests to OPM once an individual has been given a bona fide job offer.

To request a SACI, hiring officials submit an SF 86C, a copy of the employee's PS Form 2591, and fingerprints (electronically or on one SF 87 chart) to:

OPM-IS
FEDERAL INVESTIGATIONS PROCESSING CENTER
BOYERS PA 16018-0618

If a SACI was completed for the initial appointment, a new SACI is not required when an individual is reappointed as a noncareer employee, unless the individual had a break in service of more than 90 days.

Note: If fingerprints are returned as unclassifiable, another set of fingerprints must be taken immediately and sent to OPM, along with the unclassifiable chart and a copy of the closing case transmittal (CCT).

563 OPM Investigation Results

If sending fingerprints electronically, or if the fingerprint submission is initiated first and the NACI or SACI submitted subsequently, two separate cases are set up in OPM's system. Therefore, Human Resources will receive a separate closing case transmittal for each. The fingerprint request will be closed out by OPM and forwarded to Human Resources as soon as the fingerprint results are received from the FBI. The final case closing transmittal will integrate results from the initial fingerprint search with results of the other searches and inquiries.

Office of Personnel Management - Investigative Services (OPM-IS) bills submitting offices monthly for services rendered during the previous month. OPM-IS will forward all results - except those that have potentially actionable issues from the Security/Suitability Investigations Index (SII) and the Defense Clearance and Investigations Index (DCII) - directly to the submitting Human Resources office in a single document within 60 calendar days. Human Resources verifies the disposition of any arrest record including those shown as pending and determines if additional investigation is necessary. OPM-IS will forward all results from the checks of the SII and DCII containing pertinent issues to the Inspection Service for follow-up attention.

A Certificate of Favorable Adjudication is prepared for favorably adjudicated NACI investigations. The employee receives a copy, and the original is placed on the permanent side of the Official Personnel Folder. The Inspection Service should be notified in all instances where administrative action such as termination or removal is taken, and the information becomes part of the disciplinary file. When information requires no action, the investigation documents, including any reports, statements, and correspondence, are placed in the employee's preemployment investigation file. A log of OPM requests and results should be maintained and available to the Inspection Service at least semi-annually for review.

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We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of Handbook EL-312 and also into the next online update, available on the Postal ServiceTM PolicyNet Web site:

• Go to http://blue.usps.gov.

• Under "Essential Links" in the left-hand column, click on References.

• Under "References" in the right-hand column, under "Policies," click on PolicyNet.

• Click on HBKs.

(The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.)

— Selection, Evaluation, and Recognition,
Employee Resource Management, 2-15-07