Albuquerque, NM - The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently co-hosted a hiring flexibility and emergency planning seminar for Federal agencies at the Department of Energy / National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) Energy Training Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The joint collaboration with the Albuquerque Federal Executive Board (FEB), is the eighteenth OPM event in an expanded series of seminars designed to provide crucial information agencies can use in work force planning and continuity of business operations, such as telework, in the event of an emergency.

"OPM values the FEB's leadership in the Federal community to ensure agencies are prepared in case of a natural or manmade emergency," OPM Director Kay Coles James said. "These joint seminars conducted by OPM and hosted by the FEBs nationwide have been instrumental in training local agencies to have workforce and contingency plans in place to continue the important work of government in the event of an emergency. We're leaving no stone unturned, traveling across the Nation to ensure America's Federal workforce stands ready."

The recent seminar provided information on the human resources flexibilities available as agencies explore workforce issues associated with potential short-term or substantial relocation operations. There was also discussion on integrating human resource rules, regulations and practices into continuity planning while utilizing human resources in a crisis. Additional topics included appointing authorities for veterans, applying the criteria for seeking direct hire authority, student and excepted service employment authorities, and using the category rating procedures for competitive examining.

The seminar, open to Federal executives, human resources managers, hiring officials and emergency and law enforcement officers, builds on a series of Federal hiring flexibility and emergency preparedness training seminars first conducted last summer. OPM conducted other hiring flexibility training seminars last summer in Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Boston; and previous emergency planning training seminars were held in Washington, D.C, and in New York City and Boston in preparation for the political conventions.

In addition to the Albuquerque event, OPM has conducted hiring flexibilities and emergency planning training seminars throughout October in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit, Miami and St. Louis. To date, 33 agencies have participated in the training seminars.

Agencies that participated in the Albuquerque event include:

Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts

Department of Agriculture

Department of Defense

Department of Energy

Department of Justice

Department of the Interior

Department of Veterans Affairs

Office of Personnel Management

State and Local Organizations