Clearance termination for temporary workers
To strengthen and standardize its clearance policy throughout the complex, the Department of Energy now requires the Laboratory and other sites to terminate the clearance of any worker who does not use his or her clearance at least once every 90 working days.
Previously, the Laboratory was permitted to deviate from the DOE policy (DOE Manual 470.4-5, Personnel Security), allowing select groups of temporary workers at the Laboratory to maintain their clearance for up to a year as long as they worked at least one day within that year. DOE’s cancellation of this deviation went into effect January 1.
Managers and subcontracting organizations now must document instances of clearance use by workers who do not routinely and regularly work at the Laboratory. Clearance use is defined as performing legitimate work that requires a clearance, as opposed to simply swiping a badge through a badge reader.
"This policy change will reduce risk to the department by eliminating clearances of our temporary workforce who do not require even minimal use of their clearance. Additionally, we have been in close contact with the NNSA Service Center, which has indicated it will reinstate clearances quickly, as needed, for employees who require them in the future, ” said Larry Freestone of Personnel Security (PS-3). PS-3 requests that organizations wishing to reinstate previously cleared workers give them 45 to 60 days advance notice.
Under the DOE policy, workers also are required to surrender badges to PS-3 before an extended absence or after a limited-term work assignment, as organizations are not permitted to retain workers’ badges for safekeeping.
More information on these personnel security changes is on the PS-3’s Clearance Processing Web site.
