Even Interrupted Federal Job Stint Enough for Tenure Now

Federal employees no longer have to have three continuous years of service to get tenure, a boost for military spouses especially.

The government will no longer require that creditable service be “substantially continuous,” the Office of Personnel Management said in a final rule issued Nov. 7. Federal employees with career tenure have permanent reinstatement eligibility, making it easier for them to return to federal service after a break in service.

Current regulations require federal employees to serve a three-year period of substantially continuous creditable service to attain tenure. The OPM is changing the requirement to at least three years of ...