Federal Recruiting and Hiring - Authority for Higher Starting Pay Useful But Guidance Needs Improvement: Ggd-91-22 (Paperback)

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed agencies' use of selected personnel authorities delegated by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), focusing on whether: (1) agencies used the advance in-hire authority in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements; and (2) OPM and agencies had adequately overseen the authority's use. GAO found that: (1) personnel officials reported that the advance in-hire authority had enhanced their ability to attract highly qualified people and increased the timeliness of personnel actions; (2) adequate controls were necessary to avoid charges of abuse or favoritism, since the advance in-hire authority enables agencies to pay employees holding the same position different starting salaries; (3) during fiscal year 1990, the 10 civilian installations reviewed made 2,324 appointments to GS-11 and above positions, and of those appointments, the agencies made 25 percent using the advance in-hire authority; (4) the advance in-hire salary for 97 of the 99 appointments reviewed was within the governing pay ceiling, and none of the 99 exceeded the highest step of the related grade; (5) because candidates for positions below GS-11 may lack work experience, proving that a candidate possesses superior qualifications or meets a special need may be more difficult than doing so for GS-11 or above positions; (6) written explanations of why candidates qualified for advance in-hire salaries were available for 99 of the 100 appointments, but those explanations lacked the kinds of comparative data necessary for judging whether appointees' qualifications were superior or unique; and (7) at the 10 installations, only limited monitoring occurred.