Skip Naviation Bar
USAJOBS Working for America
Help
OPM homepageUSAJOBS is the official job site of the US Federal Government. It's your one-stop source for Federal jobs and employment information.
Search Jobs My USAJOBS Info Center - NEW Veterans - NEW Forms Employer Services
Reinstatement Eligibility
DO YOU HAVE PRIOR CAREER OR CAREER-CONDITIONAL SERVICE WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT?
If so, you may be eligible for reinstatement.

WHAT IS REINSTATEMENT?
Reinstatement allows you to reenter the Federal competitive service workforce without competing with the public. Reinstatement eligibility also enables you to apply for Federal jobs open only to status candidates.

WHAT ARE THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS?
You must have held a career or career-conditional appointment at some time in the past. If so, there is no time limit on reinstatement eligibility for those who:

  • Have veterans' preference, or
  • Acquired career tenure by completing 3 years of substantially continuous creditable service.

If you do not have veterans' preference or did not acquire career tenure, you may be reinstated within 3 years after the date of your separation. Reinstatement eligibility may be extended by certain activities that occur during the 3-year period after separation from your last career or career-conditional appointment. Examples of these activities are:
  • Federal employment under temporary, term, or similar appointments.
  • Federal employment in excepted, non-appropriated fund, or Senior Executive Service positions.
  • Federal employment in the legislative and judicial branches.
  • Active military duty terminated under honorable conditions.
  • Service with the District of Columbia Government prior to January 1, 1980 (and other service for certain employees converted to the District's independent merit system).
  • Certain government employment or full-time training that provided valuable training and experience for the job to be filled.
  • Periods of overseas residence of a dependent who followed a Federal military or civilian employee to an overseas post of duty.
HOW DO I APPLY FOR REINSTATEMENT?
You must conduct your own job search. Reinstatement eligibility does not guarantee you a job offer. Hiring agencies have the discretion to determine the sources of applicants they will consider.

Individuals usually apply to agencies in response to vacancies announced under the merit promotion program. Some agencies accept applications only when they have an appropriate open merit promotion announcement, while others accept applications at any time. If you are seeking a higher grade or a position with more promotion potential than you previously held, generally you must apply under a merit promotion announcement and rank among the best-qualified applicants to be selected. Status applicants include individuals who are eligible for reinstatement.

To establish your reinstatement eligibility, you must provide a copy of your most recent SF 50, Notification of Personnel Action, showing tenure group 1 or 2, along with your application. You may obtain a copy of your personnel records from your former agency if you recently separated. Otherwise, send your request to the address below.

The FEDERAL RECORDS CENTER has been established as a depository for official personnel folders of persons no longer in the Federal service. Federal agencies, generally, transfer employment records to the Federal Records Center thirty days after the employee has been separated from Federal service. Requests for this information should be directed to:

FEDERAL RECORDS CENTER
National Archives and Records Administration
111 Winnebago Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63118
(314) 801-9250

Such inquiries should include your full name under which formerly employed, social security number, date of birth, and to the extent known, former Federal employing agencies, addresses and dates of such employment. The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 USC 552a) and the Office of Personnel Management require a signed and dated written request for information from Federal records. No requests for information from personnel or any other type of records will be accepted by telephone or e-mail.

HOW CAN I FIND OUT ABOUT AGENCY MERIT PROMOTION ANNOUNCEMENTS?
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management makes job announcements available through USAJOBS by Phone at 1/703-724-1850. Our nationwide TDD line is 1/978-461-8404. You should contact the agencies in which you are interested in working for specific application instructions.

CITIZENSHIP
You must be a citizen of the United States.

QUALIFICATIONS
You must meet the qualification requirements for the position. Written tests are not common but if one is required, arrangements will be made for you to take it.

SUITABILITY
You must meet the suitability standards for Federal employment. If you were removed for cause from your previous Federal employment, it will not necessarily bar you from further Federal service. The facts in each case as developed by inquiry or investigation, will determine the person's fitness for re-entry into the competitive service.

AGE
There are no maximum age limits for appointment to most positions in the competitive service. Some jobs, such as law enforcement officers and firefighters, do have limits.

POSITIONS RESTRICTED TO VETERANS
Positions in the competitive service such as guard, messenger, elevator operator, and custodian have been restricted by law to veterans entitled to preference. Generally, a non-veteran may not be reinstated to such positions if qualified veterans are available.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD
A former employee who did not complete a required probationary period during previous service under the appointment upon which his/her eligibility for reinstatement is based is required, in most cases, to serve a complete one-year probationary period after reinstatement.

AS OF: 01-07-2008



REINSTATEMENT ELIGIBILITY can be printed as it appears on your browser. It also can be printed as an exact replica of the official publication (ei-2.pdf). Download the file by clicking on the .pdf file name and follow print help instructions below.
TOP

PRINT TIPS:

To Print your browser File:

*Prints file as it appears on your browser.
Most web browsers support an option to print the document that is displayed on the screen. Simply choose the option to print the document (usually located under the file option) and then choose the option to print. How the document prints is dependent on the printer you are using.

If you are on a local area network (LAN) then you may need to select a printer before you can print. An option to do this is normally available in the same area that you choose to print a document.

You will also need to make sure that the printer is powered on, is on-line, and has paper available.

To Print an *Adobe Acrobat/PDF files:

*Prints exact replica of official publication.
The Adobe Acrobat reader is a freeware product available from Adobe at http://access.adobe.com. There are versions of the Adobe Acrobat reader for several computer platforms. Click here http://access.adobe.com/ to connect to the Adobe Acrobat site. Once there you can obtain the reader for your computer platform. Follow the instructions on the Adobe site to install the reader on your system. Once you have installed the reader you can view or print files that end in .PDF.

Some browsers will allow you to configure a "helper" application that will load the Adobe Acrobat reader whenever you click on a file that ends in .PDF. Please refer to the instructions that came with your web browser on how to set up or install a "helper" application. The Adobe site also contains instructions on how to do this.

The Windows file manager will also allow you to specify an association so that whenever Windows needs to display a file that ends in .PDF it will load the Adobe Acrobat reader.

TOP

Home | Search Jobs | My USAJOBS | Information Center | Veterans | Forms | Employer Services
FAQS | Privacy Policy | Help | Site Map
Contact Us | Privacy Act and Public Burden Information

This is a United States Office of Personnel Management website. USAJOBS is the Federal Government's
official one-stop source for Federal jobs and employment information.
USA.gov - Government Made Easy eGov Working for America