[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR351.501]

[Page 247-248]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
                CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
 
PART 351--REDUCTION IN FORCE--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart E--Retention Standing
 
Sec. 351.501  Order of retention--competitive service.


    (a) Competing employees shall be classified on a retention register 
on the basis of their tenure of employment, veteran preference, length 
of service, and performance in descending order as follows:
    (1) By tenure group I, group II, group III; and
    (2) Within each group by veteran preference subgroup AD, subgroup A, 
subgroup B; and
    (3) Within each subgroup by years of service as augmented by credit 
for performance under Sec. 351.504, beginning with the earliest service 
date.
    (b) Groups are defined as follows:
    (1) Group I includes each career employee who is not serving a 
probationary period. (A supervisory or managerial employee serving a 
probationary period required by subpart I of part 315 of this title is 
in group I if the employee is otherwise eligible to be included in this 
group.) The following employees are in group I as soon as the employee 
completes any required probationary period for initial appointment:
    (i) An employee for whom substantial evidence exists of eligibility 
to immediately acquire status and career tenure, and whose case is 
pending final resolution by OPM (including cases under Executive Order 
10826 to correct certain administrative errors);
    (ii) An employee who acquires competitive status and satisfies the 
service requirement for career tenure when the employee's position is 
brought into the competitive service;
    (iii) An administrative law judge;
    (iv) An employee appointed under 5 U.S.C. 3104, which provides for 
the employment of specially qualified scientific or professional 
personnel, or a similar authority; and
    (v) An employee who acquires status under 5 U.S.C. 3304(c) on 
transfer to the competitive service from the legislative or judicial 
branches of the Federal Government.
    (2) Group II includes each career-conditional employee, and each 
employee serving a probationary period under subpart H of part 315 of 
this chapter. (A supervisory or managerial employee serving a 
probationary period required by subpart I of part 315 of this title is 
in group II if the employee has not completed a probationary period 
under subpart H of part 315 of this title.) Group II also includes an 
employee when substantial evidence exists of the employee's eligibility 
to immediately acquire status and career-conditional tenure, and the 
employee's case is pending final resolution by OPM (including cases 
under Executive Order 10826 to correct certain administrative errors).
    (3) Group III includes all employees serving under indefinite 
appointments, temporary appointments pending establishment of a 
register, status quo appointments, term appointments, and any other 
nonstatus nontemporary appointments which meet the definition of 
provisional appointments contained in Secs. 316.401 and 316.403 of this 
chapter.
    (c) Subgroups are defined as follows:
    (1) Subgroup AD includes each preference eligible employee who has a 
compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more.
    (2) Subgroup A includes each preference eligible employee not 
included in subgroup AD.
    (3) Subgroup B includes each nonpreference eligible employee.
    (d) A retired member of a uniformed service is considered a 
preference eligible under this part only if the member meets at least 
one of the conditions of the following paragraphs (d)(1), (2), or (3) of 
this section, except as limited by paragraph (d)(4) or (d)(5):
    (1) The employee's military retirement is based on disability that 
either:
    (i) Resulted from injury or disease received in the line of duty as 
a direct result of armed conflict; or
    (ii) Was caused by an instrumentality of war incurred in the line of 
duty during a period of war as defined by sections 101 and 301 of title 
38, United States Code.
    (2) The employee's retired pay from a uniformed service is not based 
upon 20 or more years of full-time active service, regardless of when 
performed but not including periods of active duty for training.
    (3) The employee has been continuously employed in a position 
covered

[[Page 248]]

by this part since November 30, 1964, without a break in service of more 
than 30 days.
    (4) An employee retired at the rank of major or above (or 
equivalent) is considered a preference eligible under this part if such 
employee is a disabled veteran as defined in section 2108(2) of title 5, 
United States Code, and meets one of the conditions covered in paragraph 
(d)(1), (2), or (3) of this section.
    (5) An employee who is eligible for retired pay under chapter 67 of 
title 10, United States Code, and who retired at the rank of major or 
above (or equivalent) is considered a preference eligible under this 
part at age 60, only if such employee is a disabled veteran as defined 
in section 2108(2) of title 5, United States Code.

[51 FR 319, Jan. 3, 1986, as amended at 56 FR 10142, Mar. 11, 1991; 60 
FR 3062, Jan. 13, 1995; 62 FR 62500, Nov. 24, 1997]