Panama Canal employees given priority in job searches

Final rules that give priority consideration to 7,000 former Panama Canal Zone employees now searching for federal jobs in the United States were published in the Federal Register Monday.

The organization that oversees the 50-mile waterway, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, became an autonomous Panamanian agency last year under the terms of the 1977 Panama Canal Treaty.

Displaced federal employees are usually entitled to selection priority in their local commuting area. Because of the unique situation in Panama, OPM made a special rule for canal zone employees entitling them to priority when applying for vacant positions throughout the United States.

The final rules require that former canal employees have a last performance rating of "fully successful" or its equivalent to be eligible for the interagency selection program.

Nearly 1,000 Panama Canal Commission employees accepted buyouts before the Dec. 31 handover of the canal to the Republic of Panama, according to commission officials. Buyouts were offered at 50 percent of an employee's average salary with a maximum of $25,000.

The final rules go into effect Sept. 28.