ECONOMY NATIONAL SECURITY BUDGET IMMIGRATION CORONAVIRUS.

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EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Executive Order on Modernizing

and Reforming the Assessment
and Hiring of Federal Job
Candidates
ECONOMY & JOBS Issued on: June 26, 2020

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SHARE: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of
the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
and sections 1104(a)(1), 3301, and 7301 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby
ALL NEWS
ordered as follows:

Section 1. Purpose. The foundation of our professional merit-based civil service

is the principle that employment and advancement rest on the ability of
individuals to fulfill their responsibilities in service to the American public.
Accordingly, Federal Government employment opportunities should be filled
based on merit. Policies or practices that undermine public confidence in the
hiring process undermine confidence in both the civil service and the
Government.

America’s private employers have modernized their recruitment practices to

better identify and secure talent through skills- and competency-based hiring.
As the modern workforce evolves, the Federal Government requires a more
efficient approach to hiring. Employers adopting skills- and competency-based
hiring recognize that an overreliance on college degrees excludes capable
candidates and undermines labor-market efficiencies. Degree-based hiring is
especially likely to exclude qualified candidates for jobs related to emerging
technologies and those with weak connections between educational attainment
and the skills or competencies required to perform them. Moreover,
unnecessary obstacles to opportunity disproportionately burden low-income
Americans and decrease economic mobility.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) oversees most aspects of the

civilian Federal workforce, including creating and maintaining the General
Schedule classification system and determining the duties, responsibilities, and
qualification requirements for Federal jobs. Executive departments and
agencies (agencies), however, are responsible for vetting and selecting specific
candidates to fill particular job openings consistent with statutory requirements
and OPM rules and guidance, including applicable minimum educational
requirements. Currently, for most Federal jobs, traditional education — high
school, college, or graduate-level — rather than experiential learning is either an
absolute requirement or the only path to consideration for candidates without
many years of experience. As a result, Federal hiring practices currently lag
behind those of private sector leaders in securing talent based on skills and
competency.

My Administration is committed to modernizing and reforming civil service

hiring through improved identification of skills requirements and effective
assessments of the skills job seekers possess. We encourage these same
practices in the private sector. Modernizing our country’s processes for
identifying and hiring talent will provide America a more inclusive and demand-
driven labor force.

Through the work of the National Council for the American Worker and the
American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, my Administration is fulfilling its
commitment to expand employment opportunities for workers. The increased
adoption of apprenticeship programs by American employers, the creation
of Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs, and the implementation of
Federal hiring reforms, including those in this order, represent important steps
toward providing more Americans with pathways to family-sustaining careers.
In addition, the Principles on Workforce Freedom and Mobility announced by
my Administration in January 2020 detail reforms that will expand opportunities
and eliminate unnecessary education costs for job seekers. This order builds on
the broader work of my Administration to expand opportunity and create a
more inclusive 21st-century economy.

This order directs important, merit-based reforms that will replace degree-
based hiring with skills- and competency-based hiring and will hold the civil
service to a higher standard — ensuring that the individuals most capable of
performing the roles and responsibilities required of a specific position are
those hired for that position — that is more in line with the principles on which
the merit system rests.

Sec. 2. Revision of Job Classification and Qualification Standards. (a) The

Director of OPM, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget, the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, and the heads of
agencies, shall review and revise all job classification and qualification
standards for positions within the competitive service, as necessary and
consistent with subsections (a)(i) and (a)(ii) of this section. All changes to job
classification and qualification standards shall be made available to the public
within 120 days of the date of this order and go into effect within 180 days of the
date of this order.

(i) An agency may prescribe a minimum educational requirement for

employment in the Federal competitive service only when a minimum
educational qualification is legally required to perform the duties of the position
in the State or locality where those duties are to be performed.

(ii) Unless an agency is determining a candidate’s satisfaction of a legally

required minimum educational requirement, an agency may consider education
in determining a candidate’s satisfaction of some other minimum qualification
only if the candidate’s education directly reflects the competencies necessary to
satisfy that qualification and perform the duties of the position.

(b) Position descriptions and job postings published by agencies for positions
within the competitive service should be based on the specific skills and
competencies required to perform those jobs.

Sec. 3. Improving the Use of Assessments in the Federal Hiring Process. (a) In
addition to the other requirements of this order, the Director of OPM shall work
with the heads of all agencies to ensure that, within 180 days of the date of this
order, for positions within the competitive service, agencies assess candidates
in a manner that does not rely solely on educational attainment to determine
the extent to which candidates possess relevant knowledge, skills,
competencies, and abilities. The heads of all agencies shall develop or identify
such assessment practices.

(b) In assessing candidates, agencies shall not rely solely on candidates’ self-
evaluations of their stated abilities. Applicants must clear other assessment
hurdles in order to be certified for consideration.

(c) Agencies shall continually evaluate the effectiveness of different assessment

strategies to promote and protect the quality and integrity of their hiring
processes.

Sec. 4. Definitions. For purposes of this order:

(a) the term “assessment” refers to any valid and reliable method of collecting
information on an individual for the purposes of making a decision about
qualification, hiring, placement, promotion, referral, or entry into programs
leading to advancement;

(b) the term “competitive service” has the meaning specified by section 2102 of
title 5, United States Code;

(c) the term “education” refers to Post High-School Education as that term is
defined in the OPM General Schedule Qualification Policies; and

(d) the term “qualification” means the minimum requirements necessary to

perform work of a particular position or occupation successfully and safely.

Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to

impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the

head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject
to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees,
or agents, or any other person.

DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,

June 26, 2020.

The White House

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