Schedule A: What does it mean?
I get lots of ideas to write about Schedule A because someone is always asking me a question. Keep the questions coming because they not only give me something new to write about, they also give me a peep inside of what federal and postal employees are thinking about. The questions tell me what is on their minds and what they need to know.
A few days ago, a young woman said that she was preparing to retire at the end of the year. She had worked for 40 years and was ready to sail unknown seas on her own terms. She was under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) so I asked if she wanted to try for another year and 11 months to get her maximum benefit of 80%. She looked at me with very direct eyes and said – “I’ll leave the rest of the time for someone else to make.”
It was her birthday and I had asked her to tell me what she wanted on this very special birthday only months before her retirement. She looked at me and said, although it perhaps has nothing to do with my retirement benefits, I want you tell me about Schedule A.  Initially, I thought she was joking, but she was quite serious. So that you don’t get to within a few months of your retirement and think about a question you forgot to ask because it fell outside of the retirement seminars and classes I normally teach, here’s to Schedule A.
Schedule A is a special hiring authority to address persons with disabilities when hiring. It operates in two ways: Noncompetitive where an individual may be hired without going through the competitive process. Competitive is where the individuals compete against each other under very structured procedures.
You never know what is on the mind of a federal worker, but it always pleases me to get the inside scoop. Keep the questions coming and I’ll keep writing. Enjoy your retirement Rebecca and you can still send me a question anytime. I’ll keep the computer on.
P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know.
Dianna Tafazoli
