Q. I am a Department of Justice employee who can retire. I understand that I cannot double dip (receive my retirement from DoJ and also work at another federal position — say, for the Defense Department). But I also understand that there are exceptions and waivers to this rule. Can you please explain the guidelines to me?
A. DoD has the authority to do that for positions that are deemed hard to fill, critical to its mission to complete a specific project, or where a candidate has unique or specialized skills or unusual qualifications. Similar authorities are used by the FBI and the intelligence community. There are also “exceptional needs” appointing authorities that all agencies can use on a case-by-case basis when they have an emergency hiring need or are experiencing severe recruiting difficulties. Then there are limited time appointments, which agencies can use when needed to fill critical functions; assist in the development, management or oversight of agency procurement actions; or respond to emergencies that involve a threat to life or property, etc. In every case, these authorities are sparingly used and are at the sole discretion of the agency.
