Summary
OIG is organized into seven operational units: the Immediate Office of the Inspector General, Office of the Counselor, Office of Audits and Evaluations, Office of Healthcare Inspections, Office of Investigations, Office of Management and Administration, and Office of Special Reviews. In addition to the Washington, DC, headquarters, OIG has offices located in more than 60 locations throughout the country.
This job is open to
Clarification from the agency
All candidates who are: Current or former federal employees qualifying as Status Candidates, Federal employees currently serving on a VRA, VEOA eligibles, CTAP/ICTAP eligibles, eligible for special hiring authorities (e.g., the Schedule A appointment for persons with disabilities, or covered by an Interchange Agreement), or Land Management employees eligible under Public Law 114-47.
Duties
This position can be filled in ANY of the following VAOIG locations: Atlanta Decatur, GA; Austin, TX; Bay Pines, FL; Chicago Hines, IL; Cleveland Independence, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver Aurora, CO; Kansas City, MO; Los Angeles, CA; Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Portland, OR; Salt Lake City, UT; San Diego, CA; Seattle, WA; Trenton, NJ or Washington DC.
The Human Resources Specialist (Employee Relations) position is located within the Immediate Office of the Inspector General, Office of the Counselor to the Inspector General. The incumbent serves as the agency local reasonable accommodation coordinator (LRAC). The LRAC advises higher level management officials, designated management officials, supervisors, employees, and applicants for employment on relevant laws, regulations, procedures, and processes allowing persons with physical or mental impairments, as defined by applicable law, to fully participate in the application process, perform essential job functions, and enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment.
As a/an Human Resources Specialist (Employee Relations), you will:
- Oversee the processing of all requests for reasonable accommodation to ensure that prescribed timeframes are met and procedures are followed with minimal delay; assist the agency with securing funding for reasonable accommodations; provide accommodations or interim workplace adjustments; and ensure requests for reasonable accommodation are processed per VA OIG policy.
- Manage the agency's Leave Administration Program (i.e., Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA); Voluntary Leave Program; Advance Annual Leave; Advance Sick Leave, etc.), to include advising managers and employees on the various leave programs; reviewing applications for sufficiency; approving requests; and notifying management of employee statuses.
- Evaluate current practices within the OIG against successful techniques in private industry and other Federal agencies; evaluate available alternatives based on knowledge of existing legal and regulatory requirements and specific needs of the OIG; and develop new or revised guidance for a more effective program.
- Lead teams and/or perform studies of considerable scope and depth to assess the overall quality of Reasonable Accommodation, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Employee Relations, and other related practices, policies and procedures to increase overall effectiveness, fairness, and efficiency of practices.
- Provide liaison services for employees and management concerning reasonable accommodation and various leave administration areas within Employee Relations, ensuring maximum diversity, inclusion, effectiveness, fairness, and improvement of procedures, processes, guidance, practices, and employee work life.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
The experience may have been gained in either the public, private sector or volunteer service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your résumé.
Key Requirements:
- Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
- Must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National.
- A one year probationary period may be required.
- Must successfully complete a background investigation.
- Public Trust - Background Investigation will be required.
- If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the
Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so.
- Have your salary sent to a financial institution of your choice by Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer.
- Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the
Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S.
- Complete a
Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.
- Obtain and use a Government-issued purchase card for business-related travel.
Qualifications
You must meet the following requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.
Specialized Experience: For the GS-13, you must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-12grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience or General experience for this position includes:
- Assisting with Employee Relations functions, to include applying reasonable accommodation and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) laws and regulations; AND
- Researching and writing human resource policies with agency-wide impact; AND
- Serving as an advisor to higher level management officials on human resources (HR) law, policies, regulations and practices.
In addition to the above requirements, you must meet the following time-in-grade requirement, if applicable: For the GS-13, you must have been at the GS-12level for 52 weeks.
Time After Competitive Appointment: Candidates who are current Federal employees serving on a non-temporary competitive appointment must have served at least three months in that appointment.
Education
This job does not have an education qualification requirement.
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., résumé, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the online assessments required for this position. Please be sure that your résumé includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your résumé may result in a "not qualified" determination.
In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.
Rating: Your application will be evaluated in the following areas: Accountability, Analytical, Attention to Detail, Communication, Customer Service, Decision Making, Flexibility, Human Capital Management, Influencing/Negotiating, Integrity/Honesty, Interpersonal Skills, Learning, Reading Comprehension, Reasoning, Self-Management, Stress Tolerance, and Teamwork
Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview and/or a writing assessment. Applicants who are selected for an interview may ask questions about the evaluation process at the time they are contacted for an interview.
If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)) you must receive a score of 92 or better to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority.
Required Documents
A complete application includes 1. A résumé, 2. Vacancy question responses, and 3. Submission of any required documents and 4. Completion of your USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if applicable. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).
It is anticipated that there will be significant interest in the announcement. As a result, the announcement will close at 11:59 p.m. ET on the date of receipt of the 200th application or at 11:59 p.m. ET on 12/26/2024; whichever occurs first. Any required documents should be submitted at the time that you apply as documents will not be accepted after the vacancy closes.
All applicants are required to submit a résumé either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.) To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/date/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your résumé. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your résumé to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view résumé tips.
CURRENT AND FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES -- Documentation Relating to Your Federal Employment:
- Submit a copy of your SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, which shows your current (or most recent) grade and competitive service status. (The "position occupied" block on the SF-50 should show a "1" and your "tenure" block should show a "1" or "2".)
- If you are currently on a Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA), submit a copy of an SF-50 showing that. Also, you must submit a copy of your DD214 or other documentation showing dates of service and type of discharge and any other applicable documents such as SF-15, VA letters, etc.
- Indicate on your application the highest permanent grade you have held; if this grade is different from your current grade, submit a copy of an additional SF-50 showing this grade.
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: Submit a copy of your most recent completed annual performance appraisal which includes the final rating. If you have not received a performance appraisal, please explain why in your application.
CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PLAN (CTAP) OR INTERAGENCY CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PLAN (ICTAP) DOCUMENTATION: If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee, click
CTAP/ICTAP for eligibility and a detailed list of required documents.
REINSTATEMENT: If you are a former federal employee and wish to be non-competitively reinstated for a higher grade or full performance level than which you left federal employment, you
MUST provide a copy of your separation SF50 (the "position occupied" block on the SF-50 should show a "1" and your "tenure" block should show a "1" or "2")
AND the last performance appraisal you received from your federal employment which shows at least a fully successful rating.
If you are applying under a special hiring authority (e.g. Military Spouses, Interchange Agreement, VEOA, VRA, Schedule A Disability, etc.), please see
applicant guide for required documentation. In order to be eligible under one of these authorities, you must submit all required documentation as outlined in the applicant guide.
Recommended Documents: In addition, we recommend that you submit copies of the following:
- A list of awards received while employed with the Federal Government, if applicable. DO NOT send copies of the awards.
How to Apply
VAOIG has partnered with the Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service to provide certain personnel services to its organization. Fiscal Service's responsibilities include advertising vacancies, accepting and handling applications, and extending job offers.
The following instructions outline our application process. Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday).
The application process is as follows:
- To begin the application process, click the Apply Online button.
- Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation.
- Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59PM (ET) on the announcement closing date.
- After submitting an online application, and if you are eligible based on your initial assessment responses, you will be notified if you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you via email notification. The email may be routed to your "Spam" or "Junk" folder.
- If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements
- Note, set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found on the Additional Application Information page that can be located in the application record in your USAJOBS account.
To update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account (
https://usajobs.gov).
There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to
Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.
To verify the status of your application both during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account at
https://www.usajobs.gov. On the Home page, scroll down and locate your job application. Once the job has been located, click the "Track this application" link on the right under the application date. The page will refresh to display the Agency's Application Information page where you can scroll down and review any notifications the agency has sent you. The
Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit:
https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.
Please notify us if your contact information changes after the closing date of the announcement. Also, note that if you provide an email address that is inaccurate or if your mailbox is full or blocked (e.g., spam-blocker), you may not receive important communication that could affect your consideration for this position.
For additional information on how to apply, please visit the Partnership for Public Service's
Go Government website.
To preview the application questionnaire:
https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12650842
Next steps
Based on your application and your responses to the application questionnaire, you may be presented with instructions on how to access the USA Hire system to complete the online assessments. The online assessments must be completed within 48 hours following the close of this announcement. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation for the assessment should you have a disability covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Your assessment results will be kept on record for one year and used toward future positions for which you might apply that require the same assessments.
We will review your résumé and transcript(s) (if appropriate) to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. We will evaluate each applicant who meets the basic qualifications on the information provided and may interview the best-qualified applicants. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct any required suitability and/or security background investigation.
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION REQUESTS: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire