Human Resources Assistant

Position description

The Human Resources Assistant performs the following major duties:

• Human Resources Information Systems Support:
  • Processes and documents HR actions for a wide variety of employee categories that involve different forms, authorities, various action codes, and regulatory authorities, or additional pay systems.
  • Processes a wide variety of unique appointments and HR actions (including conversions, details, pay treatments, regulatory authorities, changes in duty stations, separations); identifying appropriate regulatory codes, nature of action, and the appropriate pay step to be entered on the HR action request.
  • Answers requests for retroactive HR actions that require tracing employee’s history and applying pertinent technical references, conditions, or precedents.
  • Enters and corrects data, complete forms, and add missing information to HR documents, files, and records to ensure compliance with policies, procedures and regulations. Prepares/maintains required forms, records and files pertaining to assigned work.
  • Answers employee questions and advises supervisors on system or data-related issues, such as those associated with processing unique or unusual personnel actions.
  • Reviews and verifies records to identify discrepancies and gaps in information. Coordinates with various sources to obtain additional information as needed to complete record and/or to resolve discrepancies. Enters and/or validates data entered in automated systems, as needed and coordinates with supervisor to resolve discrepancies.
  • Performs research in order to ensure compliance with Federal and agency human resources/payroll regulations and policy guidelines, and correctness of determinations made in processing all types of personnel transactions.
  • Maintains employee records via document uploads, transfer requests, and records center requests; researching appropriate OPM guidelines to resolve eOPF recordkeeping.
• Employee and Labor Relations Support:
  • Provides information to supervisors and employees regarding human resources procedures.
  • Prepares HR documents using various HRIS tools by extracting, revising, or sorting information from files, records, or databases.
  • Processes and documents a wide variety, involving different forms, authorities, action codes, and regulatory requirements.
  • Supports the HR Specialists and performs a variety of personnel processing activities and related administrative assignments as required by Agency Human Resources Program.
  • Coordinates the scheduling of drug testing for new hires/employees.
• Payroll and Benefits Support:
• Reviews candidates’ applications for basic qualifications. Assists the Staffing Specialist in advising selection officials on hiring procedures and requirements.
• Applies detailed knowledge of current program requirements, projected needs, and an awareness and understanding of ongoing programs in other units. Independently applies comprehensive knowledge of data sources and pertinence of the subject matter to identify, select, and abstract materials from existing files, reports, and studies for use by others.
• Scans, uploads, and indexes employee documents in eOPF.
• Transfers eOPF to gaining agencies and to National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
• Requests eOPF transfers from losing agencies and NARA.
• Creates and transfers SF-57 information for transferring employees.
• Staffing Program Support:
• Assists employees with new enrollment, changes, and cancellation requests, along with other updates relating to payments such as address changes, taxes and direct deposit.
• Assists in developing and presenting training and orientation briefings for employees on the available programs, their general coverage and benefits, and the costs of the specific plans and programs. Primary resource for presenting associated data during bi-weekly New Employee Orientation.
• Assists employees, timekeepers, and supervisors with time entry questions and errors. Researches federal statutes relating to allowable pay and leave processing.
• Creates and transmits TSP-19 information for transferring employees.

Requirements Conditions of Employment 

Please read this announcement in its entirety prior to submitting your application.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen.
• You must be at least 18 years of age.
• All Federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so. For additional information, see www.sss.gov.
• You must complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.
• You must go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S. These documents must be unexpired originalor certified copies.
• You must successfully complete a background security investigation with favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet this requirement will be grounds for employment termination.
• Prior to employment, and in compliance with statutes 5 USC 3322 and 22 USC 2507b, Peace Corps will conduct a check of Peace Corps records for both Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and former Peace Corps employees.
• All new employees are required to certify and submit a state of understanding acknowledging adherence to the Peace Corps condition of employment prior to day 1 of employment with the Peace Corps.
• This position requires a public trust background investigation.
• This is not a bargaining unit position.
• A one-year probationary period is required.
• The initial appointment to this position cannot exceed five years.

Qualifications 

All qualification requirements must be met by 06/20/2024 (the closing date of the announcement). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. To ensure full credit for your experience, please indicate the start and end dates (month, day, and year) of employment, the number of hours worked per week, and the location of employment in your resume. Qualification claims will be subject to verification.

Specialized Experience:

This vacancy is being announced at two grade level(s): FP-07 & FP-06

Specialized Experience at the FP-7 (GS-7): To be minimally qualified for this position at the FP-7 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level in the normal line of progression, FP-8 or GS-6 level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes: Knowledge of and skill in applying an extensive body of HR rules, procedures, and operations sufficient to perform a wide variety of interrelated and/or non-standard HR support work; plan, coordinate, develop facts and/or resolve support problems in one or more HR specialties; use personal computers with office applications to perform operations or to prepare documents containing tables or graphs; and use online HR resources to obtain information, as needed.

~OR~

One full year of graduate level education OR superior academic achievement.

Specialized Experience at the FP-6 (GS-8): To be minimally qualified for this position at the FP-6 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level in the normal line of progression, FP- or GS-6 level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes: Basic knowledge and understanding of Federal personnel regulations, principles, policies, rules, and terminology to make decisions on best approach to resolve a variety of situations, answer various personnel related inquiries, resolve limited technical discrepancies, and make recommendations.

~OR~

A combination of education and experience

~AND~

Time-in-Grade (TIG) Requirements:

Current or Formal Federal employees, including current Peace Corps employees, must meet applicable TIG requirements to be considered eligible. To meet TIG for positions above the FP-09 (GS-05) grade level, you must have served at least one year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade (or equivalent) in the normal line of progression for the position to which you are applying.

All current or former Federal employees (including internal employees) must provide a copy of their SF-50 (you may need to submit more than one), “Notice of Personnel Action” that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position, title, series, grade, step, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).

Please note:

• If qualifying based on education or a combination of education and experience, please review the “Education” section of this announcement.
• Past experience that satisfies the Specialized Experience MUST be well documented within your resume. Failure to provide this information in your resume with corresponding start and end dates (month, day, and year) of employment, the number of hours worked per week, and location of employment may result in disqualification from further consideration.
• Specialized Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector, or through volunteer work done with National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) or other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social).
• One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis.
• Additional information on qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site.
• Peace Corps employees are employed using the Foreign Personnel (FP) pay scale. The FP pay plan does not follow the same structure as the GS pay plan. In the FP pay plan, as the grade-level numbers decrease the level/pay for the position increases. The FP-09 is the lowest entry-level grade and the FP-01 is the highest senior-level grade.

Education 

IF REQUIRED add Education Requirements from the appropriate Qualification Standard

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Transcripts can be official or unofficial.

A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Education must be accredited by an institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be used towards qualifications. Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by recognized institutions. Applicants can verify accreditation at this website.

Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information 

The minimum and maximum salaries listed on this announcement include locality pay.

If you are a current federal employee, your agency may grant you reemployment rights in accordance with Section 310 of the Foreign Service Act, 22 USC 3950. You must request and be granted reemployment rights prior to separation from your current federal agency.

Application instructions

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