Seasonal Hiring In National Park System Impacted By Failure To Follow Rules

National Park Service failure to adhere to Office of Personnel Management hiring rules and regulations has created problems with the hiring of seasonal employees this year, though just how great the problems are is unknown. Possibly affected are dozens if not hundreds of interpreters, trail crews, and other park personnel.

The Coalition to Protect America's National Parks has received emails and phone calls from concerned seasonal workers and park staff over the issue. Most parks contacted by the Traveler, however, declined to say whether the problems have impacted their hiring for the upcoming summer season and instead referred questions to the National Park Service's Washington, D.C., headquarters.

Shenandoah National Park officials said they "didn't have any issues with our seasonal hiring this year because we began to properly implement the seasonal hiring law a few years ago."

But apparently a seasonal worker at Rocky Mountain National Park who had received awards for her interpretive programs had lost her "re-hire" status due to the confusion and thus had to apply all over again as if she was a brand new candidate.

"This ranger is not the only victim of this poorly thought-out administrative action by OPM. It is my understanding that NPS interpreters, trail crews, administrative staff, and law enforcement personnel across the agency have been affected," the Traveler was told. "Prompt correction is essential if the staff and the public are to be served."

Requests to Rocky Mountain officials to determine whether that individual had been retained for this year were not immediately answered.

In Washington, D.C., Park Service spokesman Jeremy Barnum acknowledged there were problems, but couldn't say how great they were. 

"There have been concerns and confusion about the policy at a number of parks as we work with OPM to ensure that our hiring policies and practices comply with OPM regulations," Mr. Barnum said in an email, though he did not respond to whether the issues were creating staffing problems as parks work to fill seasonal positions for this summer.

The issue attracted the attention of the National Treasury Employees Union, which last month wrote members of Congress to seek help with the matter.

"As the Park Service gears up for the summer, we are alarmed to be hearing from these employees who are confused, frustrated, and hurt by the Service’s new approach to their 1040-hour appointments. Some are being told that they can sign up for a six-month contract and they will be terminated after that; while others are being told that they went over the 1,039-hour cap in the past, and are now permanently banned from working in the parks," wrote Anthony M. Reardon, the union's president. "Many employees in the latter category have worked for the Service every year for decades and were actively encouraged by their supervisors to work two 1040-hour appointments in a year to gain more experience. Some last worked more than 1039 hours 16 years ago. Each region, and each park, seems to have its own rules. Apparently, there is no uniform policy in place so many inconsistent approaches have arisen."

The hiring issues arose when OPM 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.

The problem occurred in parks where temporary seasonal workers in one year received back-to-back noncompetitive appointments that together exceeded 1,039 hours, and at parks where seasonal employees were rehired as "critical needs hires" after they had already worked 1,039 hours, according to a PowerPoint presentation provided park superintendents and managers in December.

Problems also were created when temporary seasonal employees received training at the end of their seasonal jobs; those training hours in effect extended the employee's season, and "negatively impacts employee’s non-competitive rehire eligibility."

According to that PowerPoint presentation, if a seasonal park employee worked up to 1,039 hours in a park last summer, they could be rehired at the same park for this summer season. However, if the employee worked 1,039 hours last summer, and worked another 30 days as a "critial needs" employee during the winter season (November 1-April 30), they would be ineligible to be hired in the same region this summer.

But if the summer and winter seasons were worked in two different regions, such as the Pacific West for the summer and the Southeast for the winter, the employees could be rehired this year, according to the PowerPoint.

OPM rules also stated that temporary seasonal workers could only be rehired without going through a competitive process if they had worked less than 1,040 hours or six months in one year. 

According to Mr. Reardon at the National Treasury Employees Union, the problem was compounded by the fact that seasonal employees "were not notified of this new 'policy' until after vacancy announcements had closed."

"Banning these long-term, dedicated employees means a loss of skilled, talented workers. For example, Harper’s Ferry is in danger of losing personnel with expertise in gun powder to work their cannons because new rules seem to indicate that they will be terminated," he added in his letter.