HIRE EMPLOYEES. A right reserved to management by § 7106(a)(2)(A). As the Authority noted in footnote 5 of   52 FLRA No. 106, the term "hire" had not yet been defined by the Authority. (In his dissenting opinion, former Member Armendariz defined the term as "relating to the specific process that results in the establishment of the employment relationship.")

Because an agency's use of personal services contracts is inseparable from the decision to hire, proposals stating that employees won't be required to enter into personal services contracts as a condition of employment interfere with the right to hire. 30 FLRA No. 69, #2; 29 FLRA No. 123, #1. Proposals affecting the right to hire have been found to also affect other rights related to the filling of vacancies. For example, in 25 FLRA No. 9, #35, the Authority, after noting that "the decision whether to fill vacant positions is encompassed within an agency's rights to hire and assign employees under section 7106(a)(2)(A)," went on to find that a proposal obligating the agency to hire a specific number of applicants responding to certain agency vacancy announcements violated management's rights to hire and assign employees. See SELECT for a discussion of the much more frequently utilized right of management, in filling positions, to make selections for appointments from any appropriate source.