On September 10, 2007, the memorandum, “Substitution of Work Performance for Battery Examination Qualification,” was issued. It announced that when a career employee applies for a change in position that requires qualification on Battery Examination 473, Human Resources substitutes 1 year of work in an Examination 473 position for the examination requirement. As a result, the employee does not have to take Examination 473, and Human Resources staff do not have to search for scores in files and systems.
This new rule, effective on October 10, 2007, is limited to career employees applying for the positions that are listed here and require Examination 473. Only these jobs count towards meeting the minimum requirement of 1 year of work experience:
This rule does not apply to any other situation that requires Examination 473, and it cannot be used for any other examination requirement. This article publishes the changes to Handbook EL-312, Employment and Placement, necessary to complete the implementation of the new policy.
Handbook EL-312, Employment and Placement
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2 Recruitment
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23 Sources of Recruitment
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233 Career Recruitment
233.1 Internal Placement of Bargaining Employees
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233.11 Examination Requirements
[Revise the text of 233.11 as follows:]
Employees bidding on or applying for a bargaining position must meet the current entrance examination requirements. Substitution rules that are in effect with regard to qualifying examinations include the following:
a. Demonstrated work performance. Career employees who hold or have held any position for a minimum period of 1 year for which Battery Examination 473 is the examination requirement are deemed as meeting the examination requirement when they apply for another Battery Examination 473 position. When reviewing the qualifications of an employee who requests a reassignment, change to a lower level, or promotion to a position for which Examination 473 is required, the employee’s history is reviewed to determine if he or she has the requisite demonstrated work performance for the substitution. If the employee possesses the minimum period of 1 year of service in an Examination 473 position, then the employee meets the Examination 473 requirement and no further inquiry about the examination requirement should be made.
b. Obsolete examinations. Examinations 400, 440, 450, 710 (when it was given for Markup Clerk, Automated Only), 470 (Group 1), and 470 (Group 2) are obsolete. However, a career employee bidding on or applying for a bargaining position who qualified on an old examination is permanently qualified for the position(s) covered by that examination.
c. Clerk craft interlevel bidding. See current Memorandum of Understanding in American Postal Workers Union National Agreement for bidding without regard to entrance examination of position being bid. Bidders or voluntary transferees must meet all other provisions of the relevant qualification standard.
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7 Assignment, Reassignment, and Promotion
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76 Bargaining Position Qualification Standards
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763 Bqnet
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763.2 Contents of Qualification Standards
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763.24 Examination Requirements
[Revise the text of 763.24 as follows:]
Examination requirements may include a performance test, a rated application, or a written examination. The Examination Requirements section of the qualification standard will indicate if an examination is required. See 233.11, which describes when substitutions for examination requirements are permitted.
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next online update of Handbook EL-312, available on the Postal Service™ PolicyNet Web site:
(The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.)
It is also available on the Postal Service Internet:
- Go to www.usps.com.
- Click on About USPS & News, then Forms & Publications, then Postal Periodicals and Publications, and then Handbooks.
— Selection, Evaluation, and Recognition,
Employee Resource Management, 10-25-07
