 Dear Agency Heads, CHCOs, Deputy CHCOs, and HR Directors,
Today the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is providing agencies with the following additional* answers to Schedule Policy/Career questions regarding Hiring Procedures for Positions in Schedule Policy/Career.
In case of any follow up questions, agency headquarters-level human resources offices may email employ@opm.gov for assistance. Note that employees should direct any follow up questions to their Human Resources office.
*OPM's June 8, 2026 Schedule Policy Career FAQs and June 29, 2026 Schedule Policy FAQs are also included within this note per your convenience.
OPM Workforce Policy and Innovation
Hiring Procedures for Positions in Schedule Policy/Career
Use of Direct Hire for Schedule Policy/Career Positions Under 5 CFR 213.3601
Purpose
This guidance clarifies how agencies make appointments to positions that have been included in Schedule Policy/Career of the excepted service. It responds to questions from agencies about whether existing hiring authorities and processes — in particular, direct hire authority (DHA) — remain available for these positions. While DHA itself is a competitive service authority that does not extend to Schedule Policy/Career, agencies enjoy substantial flexibility under 5 CFR part 213 to fill these positions in approximately the same manner as under direct hire.
Q1. How must agencies make appointments to positions in Schedule Policy/Career?
(a) Except as described below in paragraph (b), 5 CFR 213.3601 requires agencies to “make appointments to positions in Schedule Policy/Career of the excepted service in the same manner as to positions in the competitive service” to include:
(1) Public notification of job opportunities;
(2) Applicant evaluation based on valid, job-related assessments; and
(3) Selections of highly qualified individuals based on merit.
Consistent with the available methods for filling positions under 5 CFR part 302, agencies will decide how to solicit interest in their Schedule Policy/Career positions and will determine how to evaluate candidates and make selections from among those who are highly qualified. If preference eligibles are in the applicant pool, veterans’ preference will be applied under one of the prescribed methods included in part 302 (e.g., adding additional points to the results of a scored assessment) or by creating a process under 5 CFR 302.105 that would provide for granting preference eligibles as much advantage as they would receive using one of the processes described in part 302 (e.g., using preference as a tie breaker on an unranked list of candidates). These provisions afford agencies considerable flexibility: provided the elements of 5 CFR 213.3601(b) are satisfied and veterans’ preference is applied consistent with 5 CFR 213.3601(d) and part 302, agencies may design their own streamlined recruitment, assessment, and selection procedures for Schedule Policy/Career positions.
(b) Agencies must make appointments to positions in Schedule Policy/Career of the excepted service that, but for their placement in Schedule Policy/Career, would be listed in another excepted service schedule pursuant to the rules applicable to such positions in the corresponding schedule. For example, when filling an attorney advisor position under Schedule Policy/Career, an agency would follow the procedures in part 302 applicable to filling attorney positions in the excepted service, along with any agency-specific policies for filling positions in the excepted service.
Q2. May an agency continue to use direct hire authority (DHA) to fill a position that has been included in Schedule Policy/Career?
No. An agency may not use DHA granted by Congress or OPM that explicitly authorizes filling positions in the competitive service to fill an excepted service position that is included in Schedule Policy/Career.
This limitation, however, has only a modest practical effect. Under 5 CFR part 213, agencies enjoy flexibility to fill Schedule Policy/Career positions in approximately the same manner as under DHA. Because these are excepted service positions, agencies are not required to use competitive examining procedures, numerical rating and ranking, or category rating. Provided the agency publicly announces the job opportunity, evaluates applicants using valid, job-related assessments, and selects highly qualified individuals based on merit, as required by 5 CFR 213.3601(b), it may adopt streamlined recruitment and selection procedures comparable in speed and simplicity to direct hire, subject to the veterans’ preference principles described in Q1 and 5 CFR 213.3601(d).
Q3. Does this apply to agency-specific statutory DHAs as well as Governmentwide or OPM-approved DHAs?
Yes. Any DHA that authorizes appointments to positions in the competitive service may not be used to make appointments under Schedule Policy/Career in the excepted service. As explained in Q2, however, agencies retain flexibility under 5 CFR part 213 to fill these positions through streamlined excepted service procedures that closely approximate the direct hire process.
Q4. Whom should agencies contact with questions?
Agencies with questions about applying 5 CFR 213.3601 to specific positions or hiring authorities should employ@opm.gov.
These FAQs are intended to assist agencies in applying 5 CFR 213.3601 and do not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity.
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