Code of Federal Regulations Title 5. Administrative Personnel § 5.317.503 Probationary period

(a) An individual's initial appointment as an SES career appointee becomes final only after the individual has served a 1–year probationary period as a career appointee;  there has been an assessment of the appointee's performance during the probationary period;  and the appointing authority, or his or her designee, has certified that the appointee performed at the level of excellence expected of a senior executive during the probationary period.

(b) When a career appointee's executive qualification have been certified by a Qualifications Review Board on the basis of special or unique qualities, as described in § 317.502(c), the probationary assessment must address any executive development activities the agency identified in support of the request for QRB certification.

(c) The probationary period begins on the effective date of the personnel action initially appointing the individual to the SES as a career appointee and ends one calendar year later.

(d) The following conditions apply to crediting service towards completion of the probationary period.

(e) Removal of a career appointee during the probationary period is covered by subpart D of part 359 of this chapter.

(f) A career appointee who resigns or is removed from the SES before completion of the probationary period may not receive another SES career appointment unless selected under SES merit staffing procedures. The individual, however, need not be recertified by a QRB unless the individual was removed for performance or disciplinary reasons.

(g) An individual who separated from the SES during the probationary period and who has been out of the SES more than 30 calendar days must serve a new 1–year probationary period upon reappointment and may not credit previous time in a probationary period. In the following situations, however, there is an exception and the individual is only required to complete the remainder of the previously served probationary period.