The full Merit Systems Protection Board has been issuing a lot of decisions about the VEOA.Over the coming days, we will discuss what the VEOA is and how you properly assert an appeal right before the MSPB.
First, what is the VEOA? The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 provides that agencies must allow eligible veterans to apply for positions announced under merit promotion procedures when the agency is recruiting from outside its own workforce.
What does that mean?There are, generally speaking, two types of Vacancy Announcements within the Federal Civil Service – Competitive and Merit Promotion.
In a Competitive announcement, the announcement is open to all applicants that qualify, regardless of whether or not they currently work for the federal government or the federal agency posting the announcement.
In a Merit Promotion process, the Agency generally only seeks qualified internal candidates for a particular position.However, in certain situations the Agency reaches outside its own workforce for applicants in a Merit Promotion process. When this happens, the Agency MUST accept applications from preference eligible veterans outside the Agency’s workforce.
The VEOA does not guarantee selection, in fact, the VEOA does not guarantee anything other than the right to apply and the right to compete.In many situations, the Agency will post two announcements – a competitive and a merit promotion.The preference eligible veteran, under VEOA, must be given the opportunity to apply and be considered for both postings.
The VEOA is not a selection guarantee fora preference eligible veteran.It is, however, a way for preference eligible vets to get their foot in the door to Agencies that are posting only Merit Promotion announcements.
In the next few posts, I will discuss more about VEOA, including:
The Administrative Process before DOL-VETS
How to assert jurisdiction under VEOA, before the MSPB
What if the Agency cancels the vacancy announcement.
No post on this website is legal advice, is meant to be legal advice, and certainly does not serve as a substitute for legal advice. Information is power, and we are providing this information to give you, the federal employee, with some power. This information is not widely or easily accessible to Federal Employees.
If you believe that your VEOA rights have been violated, and would like to speak with an attorney about your VEOA rights, or if you would like to discuss legal representation with a lawyer before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), contact the Law Offices of Eric L. Pines, PLLC.