U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
This Directive was canceled July 22, 2004
Order |
Subject |
FHWA Personnel Management Manual; Chapter 2: Employment
Section 5: Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action program (DVAAP) |
Classification Code |
Date |
|
M3000.1B |
June 28, 1996 |
|
Par.
- Purpose
- Scope
- Background
- References
- Policy
- Definitions
- Responsibilities
- Program Administration
- Appointment Procedures
- Accomplishment Report
- Certification
- PURPOSE. To establish the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA)
Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action Program (DVAAP) for the employment and
advancement of disabled veterans.
- SCOPE. This section applies to all FHWA organizational elements.
- BACKGROUND. Section 403 of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment
Assistance Act of 1974, as amended, requires each agency to develop a plan to
promote employment and job advancement opportunities within that agency for
qualified disabled veterans.
- REFERENCES
- Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Act of 1974, as amended (38 U.S.C. 2014),
- Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 720, Subpart C,
- Title 5, United States Code, (U.S.C.), Section 2108,
- Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Parts 307, 315, Subchapter B, and 316.
- PMM Chapter 2, Section 4, Hiring, Placement, and Advancement of Persons with Disabilities.
- POLICY. It is the policy of the FHWA to ensure that qualified disabled
veterans are given full and fair treatment in recruitment, placement and advancement.
- DEFINITIONS
- Disabled Veteran
(1) a veteran who is entitled to compensation under laws administered
by the Veterans Administration, or
(2) a person who was discharged or released from active duty
because of a service-connected disability.
- Veteran - a person who served in the active military, naval, or
air service, and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions
other than dishonorable (Section 101(2) of Title 38, U.S.C).
- RESPONSIBILITIES.
- Director, Office of Personnel and Training (OPT). The Director
has the primary responsibility for establishing and overseeing the FHWA's
DVAAP, for designating a Coordinator for the DVAAP in the Washington Headquarters,
and for ensuring that adequate resources are devoted to the program.
- Regional Administrators and Federal Lands Highway Division
Engineers. These officials are responsible for assimilating the DVAAP
into their respectiveorganizations to ensure FHWA-wide emphasis and program
accomplishment. They are responsible for identifying a Coordinator for the
DVAAP in theirorganizations and for ensuring that adequate resources are devoted to the program.
- Coordinators for the DVAAP. Coordinators are responsible for assisting
the Administrator, Regional Administrators, and Federal Lands Highway Division
Engineers in the discharge of their responsibilities through continuing participation
in and surveillance of program activities.
- PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION
- The OPT will:
(1) develop an affirmative action plan containing specific action
items and strategies covering both the Washington Headquarters and the field.
The plan, which will be reviewed annually and revised as necessary, will
cover the period October 1 to September 30 of each year;
(2) ensure that adequate guidance and instructions are provided
to Washington Headquarters and field operating elements, and that Washington
Headquarters and field operating elements understand and are carrying out
their program responsibilities;
(3) review and consolidate annual accomplishment reports;
(4) submit the annual accomplishment report and required certification
to the Office of Personnel, Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST); and
(5) develop and collect the necessary statistical information
for the annual accomplishment report and make this information available
to Washington Headquarters and field operating elementsfor monitoring and verification purposes.
- Coordinators for the DVAAP, in conjunction with their organizational
heads and their servicing personnel officers, will:
(1) implement appropriate actions contained in the FHWA-wide
DVAAP plan within their organizations;
(2) analyze work force data supplied annually by the Office of
Personnel Management and any other data that are relevant (e.g., agency
component work force data or veteran unemployment figures) in order to identify
any problems or deficiencies in the employment and advancement of disabled veterans;
(3) on a yearly basis, develop, revise and/or redirect strategies
designed to address each noted problem or deficiency;
(4) conduct a continuing program of affirmative action for disabled
veterans, giving emphasis to those who are 30 percent or more disabled (affirmative
action encompasses recruiting, hiring, and advancement, and personnel programs
supporting these activities, e.g., training and career counseling); and
(5) provide OPT with a report of their organization's activities
twice each fiscal year, reflecting the implementation of the DVAAP plan. (See paragraph 10)
- APPOINTMENT PROCEDURES. Regular competitive procedures should be
used to employ disabled veterans. However, special appointment procedures are available for:
- Disability of 30 Percent or More. A veteran who has been rated
by either a military department or the Veterans Administration as having a
compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more may be selected,
without competitive examination,for a temporary limited or a term appointment
to any position in the competitive service for which he or she is qualified.
The veteran's disability may be documented by a notice of retirement or discharge
from active military service with a disability rating of 30 percent or more,
dated at any time, or by a notice of compensable disability rating of 30 percent
or more from the Veterans Administration, dated within the preceding year.
In addition, pursuant to 5 CFR Subchapter B, Subpart G, §315.707, an
agency may convert the employment of a disabled veteran, who meets the conditions
above, to career or career-conditional employment from a time-limited appointment
of more than 60 days.
- Vietnam Era Veterans. Disabled veterans may also be appointed
under a Vietnam era veterans appointment. See 5 CFR Part 307. In addition,
those disabled veterans meeting the requirements for a Veterans Readjustment
Appointment are also eligible for non-competitive temporary limited and term
appointments to comparable positions under the provisions of 5 CFR Part 316,
Subpart C, §316.302. The conversion provisions to career-conditional
appointment are the same as those mentioned in paragraph 9a above.
- Employment of a Disabled Veteran who Completes Training Under
Chapter 31, Title 38, U.S. Code. Under 5 CFR Part 315, §315.604,
a disabled veteran who completes a course of on-the-job training in a Federal
agency prescribed by the Veterans Administration under Chapter 31, Title 38,
U.S. Code, may be appointed non-competitively to the position, or class of
positions, for which trained, by any agency having a suitable vacancy.
- ACCOMPLISHMENT REPORT. The FHWA will prepare semiannual reports
during the fiscal year (RCS HPT-01-38) on the DVAAP. These reports will cover
the preceding six month period. Regional and Federal Lands Division Offices
will submit reports to the Personnel Operations Division by April 15 and October
15. The Personnel Operations Division will submit consolidated reports to OP,
OST, by April 30 and October 30. Accomplishment reports must contain the following:
- methods used to recruit and employ disabled veterans, especially those who are 30 percent or more disabled,
- methods used to provide or improve internal advancement opportunities for disabled veterans,
- a description of how the activities were monitored, reviewed, and evaluated, and
- an explanation of the organization's progress in implementing its DVAAP plan during the fiscal year.
- CERTIFICATION. The Director, OPT, must certify annually to the Office
of Personnel Management, OST, that FHWA has an up-to-date DVAAP plan.
Return to top
Page last modified on October 19, 2015