Modernizing and Reforming the Assessment and Hiring of Federal Job Candidates, 39457-39459 [2020-14337]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 127 (Wednesday, July 1, 2020)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 39457-39459]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14337]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 85 , No. 127 / Wednesday, July 1, 2020 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 39457]]


                Executive Order 13932 of June 26, 2020

                
Modernizing and Reforming the Assessment and 
                Hiring of Federal Job Candidates

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, including section 301 of title 3, United 
                States Code, and sections 1104(a)(1), 3301, and 7301 of 
                title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as 
                follows:

                Section 1. Purpose. The foundation of our professional 
                merit-based civil service is the principle that 
                employment and advancement rest on the ability of 
                individuals to fulfill their responsibilities in 
                service to the American public. Accordingly, Federal 
                Government employment opportunities should be filled 
                based on merit. Policies or practices that undermine 
                public confidence in the hiring process undermine 
                confidence in both the civil service and the 
                Government.

                America's private employers have modernized their 
                recruitment practices to better identify and secure 
                talent through skills- and competency-based hiring. As 
                the modern workforce evolves, the Federal Government 
                requires a more efficient approach to hiring. Employers 
                adopting skills- and competency-based hiring recognize 
                that an overreliance on college degrees excludes 
                capable candidates and undermines labor-market 
                efficiencies. Degree-based hiring is especially likely 
                to exclude qualified candidates for jobs related to 
                emerging technologies and those with weak connections 
                between educational attainment and the skills or 
                competencies required to perform them. Moreover, 
                unnecessary obstacles to opportunity disproportionately 
                burden low-income Americans and decrease economic 
                mobility.

                The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) oversees most 
                aspects of the civilian Federal workforce, including 
                creating and maintaining the General Schedule 
                classification system and determining the duties, 
                responsibilities, and qualification requirements for 
                Federal jobs. Executive departments and agencies 
                (agencies), however, are responsible for vetting and 
                selecting specific candidates to fill particular job 
                openings consistent with statutory requirements and OPM 
                rules and guidance, including applicable minimum 
                educational requirements. Currently, for most Federal 
                jobs, traditional education--high school, college, or 
                graduate-level--rather than experiential learning is 
                either an absolute requirement or the only path to 
                consideration for candidates without many years of 
                experience. As a result, Federal hiring practices 
                currently lag behind those of private sector leaders in 
                securing talent based on skills and competency.

                My Administration is committed to modernizing and 
                reforming civil service hiring through improved 
                identification of skills requirements and effective 
                assessments of the skills job seekers possess. We 
                encourage these same practices in the private sector. 
                Modernizing our country's processes for identifying and 
                hiring talent will provide America a more inclusive and 
                demand-driven labor force.

                Through the work of the National Council for the 
                American Worker and the American Workforce Policy 
                Advisory Board, my Administration is fulfilling its 
                commitment to expand employment opportunities for 
                workers. The increased adoption of apprenticeship 
                programs by American employers, the creation of 
                Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs, and the 
                implementation of Federal hiring reforms, including 
                those in this order, represent important steps toward 
                providing more Americans with pathways to family-

[[Page 39458]]

                sustaining careers. In addition, the Principles on 
                Workforce Freedom and Mobility announced by my 
                Administration in January 2020 detail reforms that will 
                expand opportunities and eliminate unnecessary 
                education costs for job seekers. This order builds on 
                the broader work of my Administration to expand 
                opportunity and create a more inclusive 21st-century 
                economy.

                This order directs important, merit-based reforms that 
                will replace degree-based hiring with skills- and 
                competency-based hiring and will hold the civil service 
                to a higher standard--ensuring that the individuals 
                most capable of performing the roles and 
                responsibilities required of a specific position are 
                those hired for that position--that is more in line 
                with the principles on which the merit system rests.

                Sec. 2. Revision of Job Classification and 
                Qualification Standards. (a) The Director of OPM, in 
                consultation with the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget, the Assistant to the President 
                for Domestic Policy, and the heads of agencies, shall 
                review and revise all job classification and 
                qualification standards for positions within the 
                competitive service, as necessary and consistent with 
                subsections (a)(i) and (a)(ii) of this section. All 
                changes to job classification and qualification 
                standards shall be made available to the public within 
                120 days of the date of this order and go into effect 
                within 180 days of the date of this order.

(i) An agency may prescribe a minimum educational requirement for 
employment in the Federal competitive service only when a minimum 
educational qualification is legally required to perform the duties of the 
position in the State or locality where those duties are to be performed.

(ii) Unless an agency is determining a candidate's satisfaction of a 
legally required minimum educational requirement, an agency may consider 
education in determining a candidate's satisfaction of some other minimum 
qualification only if the candidate's education directly reflects the 
competencies necessary to satisfy that qualification and perform the duties 
of the position.

                    (b) Position descriptions and job postings 
                published by agencies for positions within the 
                competitive service should be based on the specific 
                skills and competencies required to perform those jobs.

                Sec. 3. Improving the Use of Assessments in the Federal 
                Hiring Process. (a) In addition to the other 
                requirements of this order, the Director of OPM shall 
                work with the heads of all agencies to ensure that, 
                within 180 days of the date of this order, for 
                positions within the competitive service, agencies 
                assess candidates in a manner that does not rely solely 
                on educational attainment to determine the extent to 
                which candidates possess relevant knowledge, skills, 
                competencies, and abilities. The heads of all agencies 
                shall develop or identify such assessment practices.

                    (b) In assessing candidates, agencies shall not 
                rely solely on candidates' self-evaluations of their 
                stated abilities. Applicants must clear other 
                assessment hurdles in order to be certified for 
                consideration.
                    (c) Agencies shall continually evaluate the 
                effectiveness of different assessment strategies to 
                promote and protect the quality and integrity of their 
                hiring processes.

                Sec. 4. Definitions. For purposes of this order:

                    (a) the term ``assessment'' refers to any valid and 
                reliable method of collecting information on an 
                individual for the purposes of making a decision about 
                qualification, hiring, placement, promotion, referral, 
                or entry into programs leading to advancement;
                    (b) the term ``competitive service'' has the 
                meaning specified by section 2102 of title 5, United 
                States Code;
                    (c) the term ``education'' refers to Post High-
                School Education as that term is defined in the OPM 
                General Schedule Qualification Policies; and
                    (d) the term ``qualification'' means the minimum 
                requirements necessary to perform work of a particular 
                position or occupation successfully and safely.

[[Page 39459]]

                Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
                shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.
                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                 THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    June 26, 2020.

[FR Doc. 2020-14337
Filed 6-30-20; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F0-P