Vets’ Preference

The Office of Personnel Management announced plans to revise the application for 10-Point Veterans' Preference, officials announced Tuesday.

OPM Acting Director Dan G. Blair said the agency is striving to make improve and standardize preferences and make them available to more veterans.

The agency is overhauling Standard Form 15 and putting it on the OPM Web site, where applications can be submitted. That online form is used by individual agencies and OPM officials to decide on veterans' preference claims.

Veterans Preference, which became law in 1944, awards veterans special consideration in hiring, promotion and reduction-in-force proceedings. Veterans who apply for federal jobs are automatically given an advantage over equally qualified nonveterans. A federal manager is not permitted to hire a nonveteran over an equally qualified veteran without sufficiently explaining the decision to OPM. In 1998, President Clinton signed a law allowing managers who do not follow the veterans preference regulations to be fired.

Before she left the agency in January, former OPM Director Kay Coles James had repeatedly emphasized the importance of veterans preference and the need to bolster the regulations.

Her successor agrees. "We must ensure those who are eligible for veterans' preference receive the benefits to which they are entitled," Blair said. "OPM places a strong emphasis on the rights of veterans, including employment opportunities, and this latest version of the SF-15 strengthens that commitment for supporting our veterans in seeking federal employment opportunities."

According to an OPM release, the application form has been revised to be consistent with the policy of the Veterans Affairs Department-specifically allowing official letters issued in 1991 or later as proof of a permanent disability. Previously, applicants were required to provide disability letters dated within 12 months of the time the veteran was claiming preference. OPM also said it has eliminated outdated references-to nonexistent forms or manuals-from the application.

In addition, the agency announced that it is initiating the second phase of its Veterans' Invitational Program which features seminars by OPM recruiters and hiring specialists, discussions on the fine points of veterans' preference and workshops on resume writing, interviewing skills, and online job searching. Representatives from the agency are scheduled to visit military bases in North Carolina, Washington D.C., Virginia and Texas.

Ups and Downs

The Thrift Savings Plan is experiencing its second down month in 2005, but veteran TSP observers say they have seen worse. All three funds that GovExec.com tracks on a daily basis lost more than 3 percent of their value in March-the S Fund has the biggest drop, losing 3.55 percent. In January, the C, S and I funds also fell.

But compared with yearly returns from as recently as 2002, the TSP is still strong. In 2002, the C Fund fell 22 percent, the S Fund fell 18 percent and the I Fund fell almost 16 percent.

The S Fund invests in the stocks of small and mid-size companies, the C Fund invests in common stock, and the I Fund is made up of international stocks. Most notable, all those funds have risen significantly during the past 12 months. The I Fund has gained the most with more than 18 percent.