
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 5USC9510]

 
             TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
 
                           PART III--EMPLOYEES
 
                        Subpart I--Miscellaneous
 
  CHAPTER 95--PERSONNEL FLEXIBILITIES RELATING TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE 
                                 SERVICE
 
Sec. 9510. General workforce staffing

    (a)(1) Except as otherwise provided by this section, an employee of 
the Internal Revenue Service may be selected for a permanent appointment 
in the competitive service in the Internal Revenue Service through 
internal competitive promotion procedures if--
        (A) the employee has completed, in the competitive service, 2 
    years of current continuous service under a term appointment or any 
    combination of term appointments;
        (B) such term appointment or appointments were made under 
    competitive procedures prescribed for permanent appointments;
        (C) the employee's performance under such term appointment or 
    appointments met established retention standards, or, if not covered 
    by a performance management system established under section 9508, 
    was rated at the fully successful level or higher (or equivalent 
    thereof); and
        (D) the vacancy announcement for the term appointment from which 
    the conversion is made stated that there was a potential for 
    subsequent conversion to a permanent appointment.

    (2) An appointment under this section may be made only to a position 
in the same line of work as a position to which the employee received a 
term appointment under competitive procedures.
    (b)(1) Notwithstanding subchapter I of chapter 33, the Secretary of 
the Treasury may establish category rating systems for evaluating 
applicants for Internal Revenue Service positions in the competitive 
service under which qualified candidates are divided into two or more 
quality categories on the basis of relative degrees of merit, rather 
than assigned individual numerical ratings.
    (2) Each applicant who meets the minimum qualification requirements 
for the position to be filled shall be assigned to an appropriate 
category based on an evaluation of the applicant's knowledge, skills, 
and abilities relative to those needed for successful performance in the 
position to be filled.
    (3) Within each quality category established under paragraph (1), 
preference eligibles shall be listed ahead of individuals who are not 
preference eligibles. For other than scientific and professional 
positions at or higher than GS-9 (or equivalent), preference eligibles 
who have a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or 
more, and who meet the minimum qualification standards, shall be listed 
in the highest quality category.
    (4) An appointing authority may select any applicant from the 
highest quality category or, if fewer than three candidates have been 
assigned to the highest quality category, from a merged category 
consisting of the highest and second highest quality categories.
    (5) Notwithstanding paragraph (4), the appointing authority may not 
pass over a preference eligible in the same or higher category from 
which selection is made unless the requirements of section 3317(b) or 
3318(b), as applicable, are satisfied.
    (c) The Secretary of the Treasury may detail employees among the 
offices of the Internal Revenue Service without regard to the 120-day 
limitation in section 3341(b).
    (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the 
Treasury may establish a probationary period under section 3321 of up to 
3 years for Internal Revenue Service positions if the Secretary of the 
Treasury determines that the nature of the work is such that a shorter 
period is insufficient to demonstrate complete proficiency in the 
position.
    (e) Nothing in this section exempts the Secretary of the Treasury 
from--
        (1) any employment priority established under direction of the 
    President for the placement of surplus or displaced employees; or
        (2) any obligation under a court order or decree relating to the 
    employment practices of the Internal Revenue Service or the 
    Department of the Treasury.

(Added Pub. L. 105-206, title I, Sec. 1201(a), July 22, 1998, 112 Stat. 
717.)

                       References in Text

    GS-9, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), is contained in the General 
Schedule which is set out under section 5332 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 9501, 9507 of this title.
