Ensuring a Qualified Civil Service Act of 2025

“(c)

“(1)

“(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) or otherwise specified in law, an individual’s initial appointment to a position in the competitive service shall become final only after the individual has served a 2-year probationary period.

“(B) A preference eligible’s initial appointment to a position in the competitive service shall become final only after the individual has served a 1-year probationary period.

“(2) During an employee’s probationary period under paragraph (1), the employing agency shall evaluate the fitness of the employee and whether the employee’s continued employment advances the public interest. An employee shall be terminated from the civil service on the last day of the employee’s probationary period unless the employing agency certifies, to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management within the 30 days before such date, that finalizing the employee’s appointment advances the public interest. Before an agency terminates an employee serving under a probationary period pursuant to this subsection, the agency shall provide notice (in writing) to the employee of the effective date of such termination.

“(3) The appointment of an employee serving under a probationary period may not become final until the employee has demonstrated to the employee’s supervisor, through official performance and other metrics as determined by the agency head in conformance with guidance issued by the Office of Personnel Management, that the employee’s continued employment in the civil service is in the public interest.

“(4) With respect to any certification under paragraph (2), the agency head may consider, in the head’s sole and exclusive discretion—

“(A) the employee’s performance and conduct;

“(B) the needs and interests of the agency;

“(C) whether the employee’s continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Federal Government; and

“(D) whether the employee’s continued employment would advance the efficiency of the civil service.

“(5) If the head of an agency fails to make a certification under paragraph (2) due to an administrative error, the head may petition the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, within 30 days after the date an employee was terminated from the civil service, to reinstate the employee. Any employee reinstated within such 30-day period shall be entitled to backpay in accordance with section 5596 of this title.

“(6) This subsection—

“(A) shall apply to an employee appointed under chapter 73 or 74 of title 38, notwithstanding section 7401 of such title; and

“(B) shall not apply to—

“(i) an employee serving a probationary period due to being initially promoted, transferred, or otherwise assigned to a position as a supervisor (as that term is defined in section 7103 of this title) or any other managerial position, unless such employee is required to concurrently serve both a probationary period in such position and a probationary period following initial appointment or reinstatement;

“(ii) an employee of the United States Postal Service or the Postal Regulatory Commission; or

“(iii) the Congress or any congressional agency.

“(d)

“(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the length of a probationary period established under subsection (a) shall—

“(A) with respect to any position that requires formal training, begin on the date of appointment to the position and end on the date that is 2 years after the date on which such formal training is completed;

“(B) with respect to any position that requires a license, begin on the date of appointment to the position and end on the date that is 2 years after the date on which such license is granted; and

“(C) with respect to any position not covered by subparagraph (A) or (B), be a period of 2 years beginning on the date of the appointment to the position.

“(2) With respect to any preference eligible, paragraph (1) shall be applied by substituting “1 year” for “2 years”.

“(3) In paragraph (1)—

“(A) the term “formal training” means, with respect to any position, a training program required by law, rule, or regulation, or otherwise required by the employing agency, to be completed by the employee before the employee is able to successfully execute the duties of the applicable position; and

“(B) the term “license” means a license, certification, or other grant of permission to engage in a particular activity.

“(e) The head of each agency shall, in the administration of this section, take appropriate measures to ensure that—

“(1) any announcement of a vacant position within the agency and any offer of appointment made to any individual with respect to any such position clearly states the terms and conditions of any applicable probationary period, including any formal training period and any license requirement;

“(2) any individual who is required to complete a probationary period under this section receives timely notice of any requirements, including performance requirements, that must be met in order to satisfactorily complete such period;

“(3) any supervisor or manager of an individual who is required to complete a probationary period under this section receives periodic notifications of the end date of such period not later than 1 year, 6 months, 3 months, and 30 days before such end date; and

“(4) if the head decides to retain an individual after the completion of a probationary period under this section, the head submits a certification to that effect, supported by a brief statement of the basis for the certification, in such form and manner as the President may by regulation prescribe.”