The Foreign Service Journal, September 2015

56 SEPTEMBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AFSA-State Agree on Capping Linked Assignments On July 13, the American Foreign Service Associa- tion and the Department of State signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding linked assignments as an incentive for Priority Staffing Posts in the 2016 bidding cycle. Countries on the PSP list are Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan and Yemen. The MOU caps linked assignments at 140, a 12.5 percent decrease from the previous bidding cycle, and limits the number of links to 70 for FS-2 positions and above. In addition, the MOU states that the department will support bureau decisions to decline a link when the bureau can demonstrate that the requestor is not qualified for the job; agrees to explore ways to increase the pool of bidders on PSP positions and discuss the modalities of a gradual phaseout of the PSP- linked incentive; and requires the department to track the number of linked assign- ments registered and the number of those not granted. Should the 140 linked assignments be filled by Dec. 15, 2015, the MOU raises the threshold to no more than 160. The agreement further stipulates that, if the ratio of total positions to staffing at any PSP expands by more than 10 percent, negotiations can be reopened to consider additional links for that spe- cific post. The MOU was based on the results of a joint survey conducted by AFSA and the department in May 2015. More than 6,800 career For- eign Service employees com- pleted the survey, a response rate of 53 percent. More than 60 percent of respondents with no PSP experience indicated that linked assignments were among the most influential incentives to bid on PSP positions. And 25 percent of all respondents believe that linked assignments remain necessary to staff the most difficult-to-fill PSP positions. In contrast, 18 percent of respondents view linked assignments as detrimental to the assignments process. And 52 percent of the free- form comments supported reforming the linked assign- ments incentive, while 27 percent supported its com- plete elimination. The majority of respon- dents expressed concerns about the linked assignments process in its pre-MOU form. As one respondent noted: “While the linked onward assignment is a compelling reason to do a PSP post [sic], it is not fair to bidders living and working at 25-percent hardship posts. There are far fewer assignments to bid on for the rest of the FSOs competing for jobs.” Many respondents echoed this viewpoint, indicating that linked assignments often allowed for less-qualified officers to obtain the most desired posts. The primary recommendations repeated throughout the survey responses were to reduce the number of linked assign- ments and to implement a method to ensure that linked assignments are granted only to qualified bidders. The July 2015 MOU aims to fulfill both of those recom- mendations. n —Noor Shah, Labor Management Intern CHARTSBY JEFFLAU Source: 2015 Priority Staffing Posts Incentive Survey “While the linked onward assignment is a compelling reason to do a PSP, it is not fair to bidders living and working at 25-percent hardship posts.” —Survey Respondent