Effective March 6, 2014, the Postal Service™ is revising Handbook EL-312, Employment and Placement, subchapter 75 to incorporate changes related to Examination 642 that were effective July 1, 2013.
Handbook EL-312, Employment and Placement
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7 Assignment, Reassignment, and Promotion
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75 Supervisor Selection Process
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751 Purpose
[Revise the text of 751 to read as follows:]
The Supervisor Selection Process is an assessment and selection process used to fill two initial-level supervisory positions: (a) Supervisor Distribution Operations, EAS-17; and (b) Supervisor Customer Services, EAS-17. The goal is to select applicants who best meet the qualification requirements of the position.
Seminars may be held to provide information to employees interested in becoming supervisors. The seminars will include information on the following topics:***
752 Noncompetitive Selection Procedures
[Revise the text of 752(a), (b), and (c) to read as follows:]
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a. An employee seeking noncompetitive consideration submits a written request to the selecting official.
b. An employee may request noncompetitive consideration before a vacancy is posted, during the time it is posted, or after the posting has closed.
c. A noncompetitive applicant may be selected before the competitive process begins, during the competitive process, or after a competitive package has been considered.***
753 Competitive Process
[Revise the text of 753 to read as follows:]
If a position is not filled through noncompetitive procedures, then it is filled competitively through employee application in response to a vacancy announcement.
The following procedures apply:
a. The employee must submit the eCareer application during the posting open period. (Exception: See 772.1(b) for employees who are not able to apply through eCareer as a result of active military service).
b. An application may be submitted for each position and location for which the employee is eligible for competitive consideration.
c. The employee will be assessed in accordance with the competitive process, including the requirement to qualify on Examination 642, unless one of the following exceptions apply:
1. Employees currently qualified on Examination 642 are not required to retake the examination (inservice examination results are valid indefinitely).
2. Employees grade EAS-17 and above are not required to qualify on Examination 642.
3. Employees who formerly held the position of Supervisor, Customer Services or Supervisor, Distribution Operations are not required to qualify on Examination 642.
d. A selection will be made in accordance with the competitive process.
753.1 Area of Consideration
[Revise the text of 753.1 to read as follows:]
Selecting officials are normally responsible for defining the area of consideration. The area of consideration may be limited during periods of organizational change. The minimum area of consideration is all career employees District-wide and may be expanded Area-wide or Service-wide. All eligible bargaining and nonbargaining unit employees (including Area, Headquarters, and Headquarters field units) may apply if their permanent current work location — where they physically report to work — is physically located within the area of consideration stated in the job posting.
External recruitment may be initiated when vacancies are not filled by internal placement of employees. Note: Current Postal Service career employees are not eligible to apply for external job postings.
753.2 Vacancy Announcement
[Revise the last paragraph of 753.2 to read as follows:]
***If one or more of these elements requires frequent change in order to meet operational requirements, the announcement must state this.
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754 Selection and Placement Process
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754.2 Process Guidelines
[Revise the first sentence of 754.2 to read as follows:]
Application reviews, interviews, and selections are to be: (a) made in accordance with Supervisor Selection Process guidelines provided by Human Resources (Headquarters); and (b) conducted in a manner consistent with the philosophy and methods described in Nonbargaining Selection Methods Web-based Training (Course 10022345).***
755 Roles and Responsibilities
755.1 Review Committees
[Revise the second paragraph of 755.1 to read as follows:]
***A review committee must have at least three members who are EAS employees at a level equal to or higher than that of the vacant position (see 743.523, Restrictions on Membership). It is recommended (but not required) that the committee includes at least one representative from each of the following:***
[Revise the third and fourth paragraph of 755.1 to read as follows:]
***The role of a review committee is to conduct the application reviews, but not the interviews. The selecting official is responsible for conducting the interviews.
If there is no review committee, the selecting official conducts the application review and documentation activities before conducting interviews.
755.2 Local Services
[Revise the text of 755.2 to read as follows:]
Local Services has general responsibilities related to:
a. Posting vacancies,
b. Coordinating examinations for employees who require Examination 642, and
c. Interacting with the HR Shared Service Center (HRSSC) as necessary to process applications.
755.3 Selecting Official
[Revise the text of 755.3(a) to read as follows:]
a. Conduct interviews.***
[Revise the last paragraph of 755.3 to read as follows:]
***If the selecting official does not convene a review committee, then the selecting official must conduct the application review and documentation activities before conducting the interviews.
756 Application Review
756.1 Process
[Revise the text of 756.1 to read as follows:]
The applications are reviewed and rated for all applicants meeting the Examination 642 requirement.
a. If a review committee is convened, the committee conducts the reviews.
b. If there is no committee, the selecting official conducts the reviews.
756.2 Documentation
[Revise the intro text of 756.2 to read as follows:]
The PS Form 5957, Requirement-by-Applicant Matrix, must be completed with ratings for all the applicants, and be retained as an attachment to the posting requisition.***
[Revise the title and text of 756.3 to read as follows:]
756.3 eCareer Questionnaires
The responsibility for completing eCareer questionnaires is as follows:***
757 Recommend for Interview
757.1 Process
[Revise the first two paragraphs of 757.1 to read as follows:]
If a review committee is used, the committee chairperson will recommend for interviews 3 to 5 candidates who best meet the requirements of the position. If more than one vacancy (on the same vacancy announcement) is to be filled, an additional applicant will be recommended for each additional vacancy (6 applicants for 2 vacancies, 7 applicants for 3 vacancies, etc.) as long as there are a sufficient number of qualified applicants.
Under no circumstance should an applicant rated as “Not Qualified” on Examination 642 or on the application review be recommended to the selecting official.***
[Revise the title and text of 757.2 to read as follows:]
757.2 eCareer Questionnaires
The review committee chairperson will indicate the identified applicants as “Recommended” or “Not Recommended” via the eCareer questionnaires.
[Revise the title of 758 to read as follows:]
758 Interview and Selection
758.1 Process
[Revise the text of 758.1 to read as follows:]
The selecting official conducts interviews of the candidates recommended by the review committee. If there is no review committee, the selecting official interviews the entire group of applicants, except those applicants deemed as “No Demonstration” on the application review.
758.2 Documentation
[Revise the text of 758.2 to read as follows:]
The selecting official ensures that PS Form 5957 and any interview notes are submitted to Local Services to attach to the posting requisition (see 743.44).
[Revise the title and text of 758.3 to read as follows:]
758.3 eCareer Questionnaires
The selecting official completes the eCareer questionnaires, indicating the selection.
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These revisions will be published in the next issue of Handbook EL-312, Employment and Placement, which is available on the Postal Service PolicyNet website:
n Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
n Under “Essential Links” in the left-hand column, click PolicyNet.
n Click HBKs.
(The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet website is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.)
— Human Resources (HQ),
Employee Resource Management, 3-6-14
