Why This Question Matters Before You Sign

You got the call. A federal agency wants to bring you on under the 30% disabled veteran hiring authority. Good news. But the offer letter says the job is "time-limited." That word makes a lot of vets nervous.

It should. Time-limited does not mean short. It also does not mean the agency can cut you loose whenever they want. There are real rules. The rules sit inside Title 5 of federal law.

If you know the rules, you can plan. You can also catch an HR specialist who is winging it. At BMR I have helped disabled vets work through this authority from both ends. Some agencies run it well. Others fumble the paperwork.

This article answers one tight question. Initial appointments under the 30% authority are time-limited. They must last at least how long? And what happens after that?

What Is the 30% Disabled Hiring Authority, in Plain Terms?

The legal name is the disabled veterans noncompetitive appointment. The law lives at 5 USC 3112. It lets a federal agency skip the normal USAJOBS competition. They can hire you direct.

You qualify if you have a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. You also qualify if you retired from active service with a 30% or higher rating. The VA letter or the retirement paperwork proves it.

The hiring official does not need to post the job. They do not need to rank you with other applicants. They just appoint you. But the first appointment is not permanent. That is where the time limits come in.

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How Long Must the Initial Appointment Last?

This is the answer most readers came for. Two appointment types exist under the authority.

Temporary appointment: at least 60 days, no more than 1 year. The 60-day floor is the key number. An agency cannot bring you on for 30 days and call it a 3112 appointment.

Term appointment: more than 1 year, no more than 4 years. Some agencies use term when the work tied to your role runs on a multi-year contract or project.

Both are listed in OPM guidance. The term path lives in 5 CFR 316.302, which names the 30% disabled authority as a valid reason for a noncompetitive term hire.

So the short version. The appointment must last at least 60 days. If the agency says "we are bringing you on for 30 days to try you out," that is not a lawful 3112 appointment. Push back.

Why the 60-Day Minimum Matters

The 60-day floor is not random. It lines up with the conversion rule in 5 CFR 315.707. To be eligible for conversion to a career or career-conditional job, you must serve in a "time-limited appointment of more than 60 days."

Read that again. More than 60 days. A 60-day flat appointment will not get you converted. The number to ask for is 61 days or longer. Most agencies write the initial appointment for 1 year on the temp side or 2 to 4 years on the term side. That is normal.

How Does the Conversion to Permanent Actually Work?

This is where vets get tripped up. The law says the agency may convert you. The law does not say the agency must convert you. Two words. Big difference.

Here is the mechanic. While you serve in the time-limited slot, the agency watches your work. If you perform well and the position is still funded, the selecting official can sign paperwork that converts your appointment.

The conversion is to a career or career-conditional appointment in the competitive service. That is the permanent track. Once you finish your probation, you get full competitive status. That status is gold. It lets you move across federal agencies with less friction.

What Documents Should You Get on Day One?

The paperwork matters more than the verbal offer. Ask for these in writing.

• Offer letter: Names the legal authority as 5 USC 3112. Lists the position, grade, step, and pay.
• SF-50 once issued: The Notification of Personnel Action. Block 5-B should reference the 3112 authority. The "Not-to-Exceed" date shows when the time-limited slot ends.
• Position description: The PD tells you what work you are being hired to do. Read it. If your duties drift far from the PD, that can hurt your conversion case.
• Conversion intent statement: Some agencies will put intent to convert in writing. Most will not. Ask anyway. A "best efforts" line beats nothing.

If the HR specialist cannot show you the legal authority on the offer letter, that is a flag. Either they used the wrong appointment code or they do not know the rules. Both are fixable. But you need to ask before you start.

What Questions Should You Ask the HR Specialist?

Most disabled vets I have worked with through BMR never asked a single hiring question. They were so glad to get the offer that they signed and showed up. Some of them landed fine. Others got stuck in a temp slot for a year and saw it expire.

The questions below take 10 minutes on a phone call. They can change everything.

Can the Agency End the Appointment Early?

Yes, but with limits. A time-limited appointment can be cut short for cause, like misconduct or poor performance. It can also be cut short if the funded position goes away. Reorganizations happen. Budgets get pulled. That is not unique to 3112 hires.

What an agency cannot do is end the appointment to dodge converting you. That would be a misuse of the authority. If you feel the agency ended your appointment to avoid permanent placement, you have options.

You can file a complaint with your agency's EEO office if disability discrimination is the reason. You can also raise it with the Office of Special Counsel. Some terminations are appealable to the Merit Systems Protection Board, though MSPB rights are narrow for time-limited employees. The 5 CFR 315.806 rules cover the appeal grounds. Talk to a federal employment lawyer before you act.

What If the Agency Refuses to Convert You?

This is the harder scenario. You did 11 months of solid work. Your performance reviews are clean. The position is still funded. But the agency lets the appointment expire and posts the same job competitively.

That is not illegal on its face. The law gives the agency discretion. But it is rare for a clean-record 3112 appointee to be passed over without a reason. Ask for the reason in writing.

If the conversion is denied, your fastest path is often to apply to other agencies. Your 3112 service still counts as federal time. Veterans preference still applies in category rating. You walk into the next application with real federal experience and an SF-50 to prove it.

How Does This Compare to Schedule A?

Vets often confuse these two paths. Both are noncompetitive. Both serve disabled applicants. But the rules are different.

Schedule A is for any qualified applicant with a documented disability. The disability does not have to be service-connected. The appointment is excepted, not competitive. Conversion rules under Schedule A are different and live in 5 CFR 213.3102.

The 30% disabled veteran authority is only for vets. The disability must be service-connected and 30% or higher. The conversion path leads to a competitive service slot. That is a bigger door once you are inside.

I wrote a full breakdown of how to choose between them. Read Schedule A vs the 30% Disabled Veteran authority if you qualify for both.

What Pay and Grade Should You Expect?

3112 hires get the same grade and step as any other new federal employee at that level. The authority does not change pay rules. It only changes how you got hired.

That means you should still negotiate your GS level and step if you have superior experience. Many vets accept the first offer because they think 3112 hires get a fixed rate. They do not. Step 1 is the default. Step 10 is the ceiling. There is real money in those steps.

Use the GS pay scale to know your locality rate. A GS-11 step 1 in DC is around 30% higher than GS-11 step 1 in Kansas City. The authority does not pay you. The grade and locality do.

How Does BMR Help With 3112 Applications?

The 3112 authority sounds simple. Skip the competition, get the job. The reality is messier. You still need a federal resume that proves you meet the qualification standards for the grade. The selecting official will not skip that step.

I have reviewed applications for openings I helped fill. The 3112 packets that lost were not bad people. They were strong vets with weak resumes. Generic bullets. Civilian-sounding summaries. Hours per week missing. None of that helps the selecting official sign the appointment.

BMR's federal resume builder handles the format that OPM wants. Hours per week per role. Supervisor contact. GS-level keywords from your target job series. The free tier covers two tailored federal resumes. Tailor one for the 3112 role and one as a backup for the next opening.

What to Do Next If You Have an Offer in Hand

If you are reading this because an agency just offered you a 3112 appointment, slow down. Do not sign yet. Do this first.

1. Read the offer letter line by line: The legal authority should say 5 USC 3112. The not-to-exceed date should be at least 61 days out.
2. Ask the five HR questions above: Get answers in writing where you can.
3. Negotiate your step: Step 1 is the default offer. You can ask for higher if your experience justifies it.
4. Confirm your veterans preference status: Even on a 3112 hire, your 10-point preference matters if you apply to other federal jobs later.
5. Build a second resume for the conversion window: If the agency does not convert you, you want to be ready to apply elsewhere.

The Bottom Line on 3112 Appointment Duration

The 30% disabled veteran hiring authority is one of the best paths into federal service. But the time-limited part trips up vets who do not know the rules. Now you do.

Minimum 60 days. Conversion eligible after that. Temp caps at 1 year. Term caps at 4. Agency can convert but does not have to. Get everything in writing. Keep your federal resume sharp in case the conversion never comes.

If you want help building the federal resume that earns the appointment in the first place, start with the BMR federal resume builder. It is free for veterans. Any questions, feel free to ask.