Priority Consideration and Placement Programs

During the recruitment process, the manager may be advised that there are individuals who are entitled to special or “priority” consideration for the vacancy. In some cases, the individual is entitled to be placed in the vacant position; in other cases the entitlement falls short of a mandated placement because the manager has other options available to fill the vacancy. The nature of the special consideration will depend upon the program involved.

Programs providing priority placement consideration to individuals include:

• Department of Defense Priority Placement Program, Program A (DOD PPP)
  
• DOD Retained Grade Placement Program
  
• Military Spouse Preference Program
  
• Department of the Army Family Member Placement Program
  
• Reserve Component Military Technician Disability Placement Program
  
• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program, and
  
• Reemployment Priority List

There are other circumstances in which an employee may receive priority consideration for a vacancy, such as (1) a finding that an employee or candidate did not receive fair consideration for a job due to discrimination or (2) a finding that a candidate failed to receive proper consideration for a job due to administrative errors or errors in the rating process.

In addition, a manager may have a position in his/her organization which is “obligated”; this means that there is an employee who has a statutory restoration right to the position based upon active military service, a compensable injury, or completion of an overseas tour.