Temporary and Term

From USAJOBS Help

Temporary and term appointments are used to fill positions when there is not a continuing need for the employees' services. Neither appointment type provides eligibility for a permanent job. For this reason, employees are not eligible to compete for permanent jobs through agency internal merit promotion procedures. However, experience gained while employed in a temporary or term position can be considered.

Temporary Appointments

A temporary appointment is an appointment lasting one year or less, with a specific expiration date. An agency may make a temporary appointment to:

• Fill a short-term position that is not expected to last more than one year; or
• Meet an employment need that is scheduled to be terminated within one or two years for reasons such as reorganization, abolishment, or the completion of a specific project or peak workload; or
• Fill positions that involve intermittent (irregular) or seasonal (recurring annually) work schedules.

A temporary employee's appointment may be terminated at any time and the employee is not eligible for promotion, reassignment, or transfer to other jobs.

Time limits

Generally, an agency may make a temporary appointment for a specified period not to exceed one year. The appointment may be extended up to a maximum of one additional year. Appointments involved with intermittent or seasonal work may be extended indefinitely if extensions are made in increments of one year or less and the employment totals less than six months (1,040 hours) a year.

Selecting a Temporary Employee

Most positions are filled competitively from applications received through USAJOBS. However, an agency may give a temporary appointment noncompetitively to certain individuals, e.g., a reinstatement eligible, certain present and former Peace Corps employees, a 30 percent disabled veteran, and veterans eligible for a Veterans Recruitment Appointment.

Benefits

Temporary employees are eligible to earn leave and are covered by Social Security and unemployment compensation, but do not receive the other fringe benefits provided to career civil service employees. Current law allows temporary employees to purchase health insurance after they have one year of temporary service, but the employee must pay the full cost, including the Government's contribution. Employees are not eligible for coverage under the Federal Government Life Insurance program or the Federal Employees Retirement System.

Term Appointments

A term appointment is an appointment lasting more than one year but less than four years, with a specific expiration date. Reasons for making a term appointment include:

• project work;
• extraordinary workload;
• scheduled abolishment of a position;
• reorganization;
• uncertainty of future funding;
• contracting out of the function.

Selecting a term employee

Most positions are filled competitively from applications received through USAJOBS. However, an agency may give a term appointment noncompetitively to certain individuals, e.g., reinstatement eligibles, veterans eligible for a Veterans Recruitment Appointment, and 30 percent disabled veterans. The employment of a term employee ends automatically on the expiration of the term appointment. The first year of service is considered a trial period and the agency may terminate a term employee at any time during the trial period.

Benefits

Term employees are eligible to earn leave and generally have the same benefits as permanent employees including health and life insurance, within-grade increases and Federal Employees Retirement System and Thrift Savings Plan coverage.