NPS: Seasonal Hiring Problem Will Impact Visitors, Parks

National park visitors, and the parks themselves, will be adversely impacted this summer by revised regulations concerning the way seasonal employees are hired, according to the acting director of the National Park Service.

"There will be impacts to some of our seasonal employees, people we rely on to make our parks better places for visitors during our busiest times," Dan Smith, the agency's deputy director excercising the authority of the director, wrote Tuesady in a workforce-wide email. "There will also be impacts to parks, which have used this authority to develop seasonal employees with deep experience and knowledge about the resources and on-the-ground needs for park operations."

As the Traveler reported earlier this month, the hiring issue arose when Office of Personnel Management staff determined, through audits conducted in October 2016 and July 2017, that Park Service hiring officers were not properly classifying seasonal workers when it came to "temporary seasonal" and "permanent career seasonal" rehires. Temporary seasonal jobs were defined as positions for which there was a recurring need but which lasted less than six months. Permanent seasonal positions also filled a recurring need, but for six months or more but less than a full year.

"We are very concerned with NPS’s pervasive misuse of time-limited appointing authorities, particularly the seasonal temporary appointing authority," said an OPM audit in October 2016.

Specifically, the problem came down to differences in how OPM and NPS defined "major subdivisions" in the Park Service where seasonal employees were hired. While OPM defined the entire Park Service itself as a major subdivision, the Park Service defined individual parks in such a way.

In the end, the OPM definition took precedence, Mr. Smith said in his email.

"This means that a temporary seasonal employee who wishes to maintain non-competitive rehire eligibility may work no more than a combined 1,039 hours anywhere in the NPS within their service year," wrote the Park Service's associate director for workforce and inclusion in a memo attached to Mr. Smith's email. 

As a result, any seasonal employee who worked more than 1,039 hours within a year would have to go through a competitive hiring process, rather than be rehired without competing for the position.

"For our seasonal employees who have exceeded their 1,039 hours, this means they will need to apply for positions they have held during many previous seasons," wrote the deputy director. "Through competitive selection, an employee is able to re-establish their non-competitive rehire eligibility in future years as long as they do not exceed 1,039 hours in a service year, as noted in the attached guidance."

The Park Service can seek exceptions to this ruling in cases where:

* There's an inability to open a park due to seasonal staffing shoratges;

* Unexpected weather events that impact operations or visitor experience;

* Insufficient applicant pools for positions;

* Seasonal staffing shortages due to unexpected attrition.