(a) General authority. (1) A hiring agency may share a competitive service certificate issued under its delegated examining authority with one or more hiring agencies for a position(s) to be filled on a permanent or term basis. Positions filled on a term basis are subject to the provisions of 5 CFR part 316, subpart C. Positions may be full-time or other than full-time (i.e., part-time, seasonal, on-call, and intermittent).
(2) Another Federal agency may make a selection from a certificate shared with it under paragraph (b) of this section only after it has considered individuals it is required to consider when filling positions from within its own workforce and other internal applicants under paragraph (c) of this section.
(3) All actions taken on a shared certificate must be made within the 240-day period beginning on the date the original hiring agency issued the certificate of eligibles. This period cannot be extended.
(4) The original hiring agency and any receiving agency using a shared certificate must each maintain case file documentation sufficient for each agency to reconstruct its own use of the certificate in accordance with the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook, and must safeguard testing and examination materials, examination results, and the names of applicants from disclosure to other persons in accordance with § 300.201 of this chapter.
(5) All actions taken on competitive certificates must be done in accordance with the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook and all applicable regulations in this part and part 337 of this chapter.
(6) Agencies sharing certificates must keep records of the instances of sharing certificates and/or using shared certificates.
(b) Requirements for the original hiring agency. (1) A hiring agency may share a competitive certificate it has issued under § 332.402 (for traditional rating and ranking) or under 5 CFR 337.303 (for category rating) with one or more hiring agencies for use in filling a position(s) if:
(i) The original hiring agency intends to use the certificate for its own hiring;
(ii) The original hiring agency has provided notice within the job opportunity announcement for the original vacancy that the resulting list of eligible candidates may be used by one or more hiring agencies;
(iii) The original hiring agency has provided an opportunity for applicants to opt-in to have their applications and other personal information shared with one or more hiring agencies;
(iv) The original hiring agency's objections to eligibles or requests to pass over preference eligibles on the certificate under § 332.406 or § 337.304 of this chapter have been resolved by that agency's Delegated Examining Unit;
(v) The original hiring agency has either made a selection from the certificate or has made no selection from the certificate, and has documented its reason for non-selection; and
(vi) The Delegated Examining Unit of the original hiring agency has closed and audited the certificate in accordance with the procedures in the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook.
(2) When sharing a certificate of eligibles, the original hiring agency must share all documentation pertaining to the creation of that certificate, including but not limited to the job analysis, testing and examination materials, the job opportunity announcement, and applications, as relevant, and must safeguard any personally identifiable information not needed for effective use of the certificate by the receiving agency. The original hiring agency must share the certificate of eligibles in its original form in order to retain the original ordering of the certificate; must safeguard any personally identifiable information from unauthorized access during the transmission process; and must redact the names of applicants who did not opt-in to the shared certificate, and who therefore may not be considered by the receiving agency.
(3) The original hiring agency may share a certificate of eligibles with one or more agencies.
(4) If the original hiring agency determines that it has made an error that may affect selections by a receiving agency or agencies, it must notify each affected receiving agency.
(c) Requirements for the receiving agency—(1) Vacancies that may be filled. A receiving agency may use a shared certificate to fill a vacancy in the same occupational series, at the same grade level (or a corresponding rate or level of pay for a position excluded from the General Schedule), with the same full performance level, and in the same duty location as was listed on the original hiring agency's certificate. If the original hiring agency's certificate is for an interdisciplinary position as described in the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook, the receiving agency may use it to fill an interdisciplinary position. The receiving agency must verify through its job analysis that the minimum qualification requirements (including use of any selective placement factors) and the competencies, or knowledge, skills, and abilities, that were used for the original position are appropriate for the position to be filled.
(2) Notification to individuals who applied to the original vacancy. Before using a shared certificate, a receiving agency must notify the list of candidates of its receipt of their names and application materials and its intention of considering them for a position. The receiving agency must also inform these individuals of its requirement to consider its own employees as well as other individuals the agency is required to consider before consideration of anyone on the shared certificate. At a minimum, the notification must include the agency, position title, series, grade level or equivalent, and duty location.
(3) Consideration of internal candidates. Before making a selection from a shared certificate, a receiving agency must provide notice of its intent to fill the available position(s) to its own employees and other individuals the agency is required to consider, to provide these internal candidates the opportunity to apply consistent with the provisions of part 335 of this chapter, and to review the qualifications of the internal candidates.
(i) This notice and opportunity for internal candidates to apply is subject to applicable collective bargaining obligations (to the extent consistent with law). Nothing in this paragraph affects agencies' right to fill a position from any appropriate source under §§ 330.102 and 335.103 of this chapter.
(ii) Agencies are prohibited from providing an application period any longer than 10 days for internal candidates. This time limit cannot be waived or extended.
(iii) Before considering other candidates, a receiving agency must first provide for the consideration for selection required for individuals covered under its Career Transition Assistance Program and its Reemployment Priority List under part 330, subparts B and F, of this chapter.
(4) Selection from the shared certificate. After considering internal candidates, a receiving agency may consider candidates referred on the shared certificate.
(i) The receiving agency must consider candidates on a shared certificate independently of the actions of any other agency with which the certificate is simultaneously shared under paragraph (b)(3) of this section.
(ii) The receiving agency may not reassess the applicants for purposes of rating/ranking.
(iii) The receiving agency must provide selection priority to individuals eligible under the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program under part 330, subpart G, of this chapter who applied to the original job announcement.
(5) Time limit on selection from a shared certificate. The receiving agency has 240 days from the date the certificate was issued (in the original hiring agency) to select individuals from the shared certificate.
(6) Limit on further sharing by the receiving agency. The receiving agency may not share or distribute the shared certificate to another Federal agency.
