OPM to delegate Selective Service checks for new hires

Federal agencies, instead of the Office of Personnel Management, would decide whether men should be barred from federal employment because they did not register with the Selective Service, under proposed regulations OPM issued Monday.

Under current rules, OPM determines whether someone should be denied a federal job because he failed to register with the Selective Service. Federal law prohibits men aged 26 or over who did not register with the Selective Service from getting a job in the civil service, unless they can prove that they did not knowingly and willfully avoid signing up for the draft. Men under the age of 26 can register with the Selective Service if they haven't done so. (Women do not have to register with the Selective Service).

OPM wants to take itself out of the process of determining whether someone knowingly didn't register.

"This will permit faster decisions for job seekers as well as agencies, and reduce paperwork," OPM said in a Mar. 29 Federal Register announcement of the proposed change.

In most cases, the failure to register was an accident and the applicants should be allowed to have a federal job, OPM found. A large number of non-registrants served in the military and thought they didn't have to register. Others were foreigners on student visas who later became permanent residents, who thought they didn't have to register either. Some people with disabilities thought the registration requirement didn't apply to them, OPM found.

Currently, federal job applicants must complete a separate form certifying they are registered with the Selective Service. If they failed to register before they turned 26, applicants must submit documentation to prove that the error was not knowing and willful. OPM consults the Selective Service and then decides if the applicant should be barred from federal employment.

The proposed change would give agencies the authority to make that determination. Agencies can verify registration status by calling the Selective Service at 847-688-6888 or by checking the Selective Service Web site at www.sss.gov.

The comment period for the proposed changes runs through Apr. 28. OPM is also planning to propose eliminating the separate Selective Service certification form for federal applicants. Instead, OPM wants to add a question to the Declaration for Federal Employment form (OF 306) about Selective Service registration.