A. Training will be provided to employees without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, or other factors unrelated to the need for training.

B. For an employee who is qualified to perform the duties of a position with or without accommodation, no restrictions shall be applied on the basis of a physical or mental disability in the selection and assignment of the employee for training related to the duties of that position. Necessary accommodations including, but not limited to, an accessible training site, sign language interpreters or readers, will be provided.

C. Merit promotion procedures must be followed when selecting a career or career-conditional employee for training which is part of an authorized training agreement; part of a promotion program; given primarily to prepare an employee for advancement and is required in order for an employee to be eligible for promotion.

This provision does not apply if merit promotion procedures have already been applied or the training is associated with a promotion not covered by those procedures (See 223 FW 6 for a description of promotions not covered by merit promotion procedures).

D. There are two basic situations that allow Government-sponsored employee training that is provided noncompetitively to the employee.

(1) The first situation is for training to meet identified job performance deficiencies or to enhance performance in the employee's current position. Such training is designed to bring the employee's performance up to an appropriate level as determined by the supervisor or manager.

(2) The second situation is for training to equip the employee with the knowledge or skills needed to perform new duties or responsibilities required in his or her current position. This training may cover revised procedures, products, or processes so that the employee may perform the new duties and responsibilities of his/her current position at an appropriate level.

4.2 General Provisions for the Approval of Training Requests.

A. Factors to be Considered. The selection and assignment of employees for training is based on the Service's current and continuing operational needs and the immediate training needs and career potential of the employee. The following factors should be considered:

(1) The degree of employee's need for training in the present position;

(2) The extent to which the employee's knowledges, skills, attitudes, or performance are likely to be improved;

(3) The degree to which the organization expects to benefit from the employee's improved knowledges, skills, attitude, and performance;

(4) The ability of the employee to pass the training benefits on to others;

(5) The employee's interest and efforts to improve his/her work; and

(6) The potential of the employee for advancement;

(7) The financial capability of the approving office. However, it is the responsibility of management to make every effort to secure funding necessary to ensure that employees have at least basic skills training they need to adequately perform in their jobs.

B. Requests for Training. Requests for training are submitted on Standard Form (SF) 182, Request, Authorization, Agreement, and Certification of Training. The SF-182 can also be used for a group of employees attending the same course. See Chapter 5 for detailed instructions.

C. Authority to Approve Training.

(1) Assistant and Regional Directors may authorize Government and non-Government training for up to 120 training days (960 hours). Regional Directors may further redelegate this authority to Assistant Regional Directors. In Washington, Deputy Directors and Assistant Directors may redelegate this authority to division and office chiefs. All competitive long-term training (over 120 days) must be forwarded to the Office of Training and Education (OTE) for review and concurrence. The Deputy Director - Staff approves all competitive long-term training.

(2) Prior approval of all training must be obtained in writing on the SF-182. There is no provision or authority to retroactively approve or pay for training which was not approved by the authorizing official prior to the commencement of the training course.

D. The Approval Process. The procedure for requesting and approving training is as follows:

(1) The SF-182 is completed and sent to the immediate supervisor for concurrence.
 
(2) The SF-182 is submitted through appropriate channels for concurrence/approval as required.

(3) The SF-182 is submitted to the servicing personnel office for regulatory review and processing, or reviewed and processed by the administrative staff of the division or office.

E. Payment of Training Costs. After completion of the approval process for training conducted outside of the Service/Department, Copy 7-Agency (Finance) of the SF-182 must be forwarded to the Service's Finance Center, Attention: Vendor Payments, to ensure vendors receive payment in a timely manner. See also Chapter 5.

4.3 Allocating Time for Training. Training may be full-time or part-time, during work hours, evening or after hours, or by correspondence. An office may reschedule an employee's workweek to allow him/her to take courses not sponsored or paid for by the Service if completion of the course will better equip the employee for work in the Service; and there will not be an appreciable interruption of work.

4.4 Computing Length of Training Time.

A. Full-Time Training time is computed as the same number of hours in pay status up to a maximum of eight hours a day or 40 hours a week.

B. Part-Time Training time is computed based upon the hours spent in class.

C. Correspondence Courses and After-Hours Training time is computed only for the time, if any, that the employee spends during duty hours on the correspondence course.

4.5 Short-Term Training. Short-term training is no more than 120 training days or 960 training hours. Most formal training falls into this category. There is no regulatory requirement that selections for short-term training be made on a competitive basis, except as outlined in 4.1C, but a uniform selection process is recommended to ensure that all eligible employees receive equal consideration or have an opportunity to apply for training.

4.6 Long-Term Training. It is the Service's policy to utilize long-term training to meet current and projected staffing needs and to maintain and develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) necessary to carry out the organizational mission. Long-term training should be considered as a means of obtaining needed KSA's not otherwise available and for updating professional expertise. The use of long-term training within the Service is governed by those regulations set forth in 370 DM 410, 3.5, 6, and 7.

4.7 Completion of Training. Upon completion of training, the employee and his/her immediate supervisor will complete copy nine of the 10 part training form (or copy four of the five part training form), evaluation of completed training, and forward it to the appropriate servicing personnel office for inclusion in the employee's Official Personnel Folder (OPF). Upon certification of completion of training, servicing personnel offices are required to send a photocopy of copy 2 of the SF 182 (part 5 or 10) to the contractor responsible for data input into the PAY/PERS training subsystem.

4.8 Failure to Complete Training. An employee who fails to complete approved training shall notify his/her supervisor in writing of the circumstances and reason(s). If the employee is at fault, the supervisor shall submit the case to the official approving the training with comments and a recommendation about any action to be taken including recovery of all or part of the expenses of the training. The employee may appeal the determination of the approving official to the next higher level.