RAT IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE ON THE SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT OF NEW STAFF

DO 50, s. 2014

Guidelines on the Recruitment, Selection and Placement of Personnel Pursuant to the DepEd Rationalization Program Under Executive Order 366 s. 2004

To:     Undersecretaries
          Assistant Secretaries
          Regional Directors
          Schools Division Superintendents
          Directors of Bureaus, Services, Centers and Heads of Units
          Heads of Elementary and Secondary Schools
          All Others Concerned

1. Background
   1. On November 15, 2013, the Rationalization Plan (RP) of the Department of Education was approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). The approval included the rationalized structure and staffing pattern of offices in the Central, Regional and Schools Division Levels.
   2. As provided in the approval, personnel whose plantilla items were affected by the rationalization had the following options:
      
      1. Remain in government service through converting their respective item/s from regular to Co-terminus with the incumbent (CTI) status, either in DepEd including schools or other agencies; or
      2. Avail of retirement/separation package with the applicable incentives;

Personnel whose items were affected and were considered for placement to the same or comparable position/s had to undergo the set criteria and provisions stated in DepEd Order Nos. 53 s. 2013 and 27 s. 2014.

3. Last June 13, 2014, the decisions on placement of personnel and plantilla positions as reflected in the comparative matrices and corresponding annexes were submitted to the DBM. The submission to DBM reflected the following staffing actions:
   
   1. Position items, whether filled or vacant, that will be retained in the Rationalized Staffing Pattern (RSP);
   2. Position items that will be converted to Co-terminous with the Incumbent (CTI) status;
   3. Position items that will be transferred to other offices within or outside the department;
   4. Position items that will be abolished since these positions were not approved in the RSP and were not filled up, vacated by the incumbents who chose the retirement/separation option or vacated by incumbents who were placed in comparable positions;
   5. Position items that will still be created and given unique plantilla item numbers upon the issuance of the Notice of Organization, Staffing and Compensation Action (NOSCA).

2. Rationale and Purpose
   
   4. While waiting for the issuance of the NOSCA by the DBM, the Department recognizes the need to hire the manpower necessary to perform the functions and services. Hence, these guidelines are being issued to facilitate the process of personnel placements and transfers, and filling up of vacant positions in the Rationalized Staffing Pattern (RSP).
   5. Legal bases. These are supported by the following pertinent policy directions from the DBM and Civil Service Commission (CSC):
      
      1. Item No. 2.3.1 of the DBM Circular Letter No. 2013-5 dated July 22, 2013 states that the Departments with approved RP are no longer covered by the moratorium on the filling of positions  or hiring of personnel, and prior authorization for the purpose from the DBM is no longer necessary. 
      2. Item No. 3 in the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 03 s. 2014 dated 06 February 2014 on the Clarification on the Guidelines on the Placement of Personnel Relative to the Implementation of Approved Rationalization Plans of Agencies, states that:

b.1 “Regular recruitment and placement shall commence when all incumbents are placed to the same or comparable positions in the approved rationalized staffing pattern”;
b.2 “The agency may perform the preliminary processes of screening and assessment prior to the issuance of the NOSCA by the DBM. The agency shall use the indicative staffing pattern included in the approved RP as reference for placement of personnel to comparable positions”; and
b.3 “The agency may also conduct the screening and assessment processes for residual vacant positions after placement to comparable positions. However, the agency shall wait for the issuance of the NOSCA by the DBM prior to the issuance of appointment for said positions”.

6. Types of Vacant Positions. There are two (2) types of vacant positions in the rationalized staffing pattern:
   
   1. Existing vacant positions. These are the vacant positions with existing plantilla item numbers that are retained and reflected in the Rationalized Staffing Pattern; and
   2. New positions. These are the newly-created positions in the RSP wherein the plantilla item numbers will be provided upon the issuance of the NOSCA.

3. Major Provisions

Given these guidelines from CSC and DBM, these provisions should be followed:

7. The recruitment and selection process for the vacant positions, whether existing vacant or new, shall follow the provisions and criteria in DepEd Order No. 66 s. 2007 entitled “Guidelines on the Appointment and Promotion of Other Teaching, Related Teaching and Non-Teaching Personnel” and DepEd Order No. 29 s. 2002 entitled “Merit Selection Plan of the Department of Education”;
8. For the existing vacant positions, the DepEd Central Office (CO), Regional Offices (RO), and Schools Division Offices (SDO) may conduct the complete recruitment and selection process up to and including the issuance of appointments (DepEd Order No. 66 s. 2007, Section I, Item Nos. 1-15);
9. For the new positions, the DepEd CO, ROs and SDOs may conduct the preliminary processes of screening and assessment of personnel up to and including the submission of the resolution of the Personnel Selection Board (PSB) to the respective appointing authorities prior to the issuance of the NOSCA (DepEd Order No. 66 s. 2007, Section I, Item Nos. 1-12);

However, no appointments shall be issued before the NOSCA is issued by the DBM; and

10. Upon the issuance of the NOSCA, the DepEd offices shall ensure that the appropriate appointments and notices based on the placement to the same or comparable positions are completed and issued first before issuing appointments related to filling up of vacancies or promotions.

4. Filling-up of Positions in the RSP

In addition, the following reminders and guidelines are hereby provided in the application of DepEd Order No. 66 s. 2007:

11. The vacant positions shall be open to all qualified and interested applicants from within and external to DepEd;
12. The Indicative Staffing Pattern included in the approved DepEd RP shall be used as reference in the publication of existing vacant and newly-created positions, in compliance with R.A. 7041 “Requiring the Publication of Vacant Positions in Government Offices” and DepEd Order No. 66 s. 2007;
    
    1. For new positions, indicate “NEW” in lieu of the plantilla item number;
    2. Approved positions in the RSP where personnel have been placed in the same or comparable positions are not considered vacant and should not be included in the publication and posting of vacancies. The placed personnel shall fill up these positions;
13. Upon clarification from the CSC, the minimum requirements indicated in the CSC Qualification Standards Manual (1997) are to be followed for applicants to be eligible for the vacant positions;
    
    1. For positions unique to DepEd, please refer to the 1995 Qualification Standards Manual for Unique positions and other recent DepEd issuances that directly modified the 1995 standards (Refer to Annex A);
    2. Employees that have been placed to the same or comparable positions may still vie for promotion to higher positions, provided they meet the qualification requirements. The results of their latest performance rating shall be used as one of the references.
14. The composition of the Personnel Selection Board (PSB) shall be retained for the Central, Regional and Schools Division offices.
    
    1. In the event that the CO/RO/SDO does not have an appointed/designated official to serve as chairperson of the PSB, the appointing authority shall designate the next highest official responsible for personnel management to be the chairperson of the PSB;
    2. The appointing authority shall designate competent and qualified personnel to serve as members of the PSB only in cases when there are no appointed/designated personnel holding positions identified to be members of the PSB as stated in DepEd Order No. 66 s. 2007;
    3. In the event that a PSB member is also a candidate for a specific vacant position, the appointing authority shall designate another competent member to replace the concerned member during the deliberations of the specific position;
    4. Additional members may be designated by the appointing authority, consistent with the composition of members stated in the guidelines set by the CSC, DepEd Order No. 29 s. 2002 and DepEd Order No. 66 s. 2007;
15. Upon receipt of the NOSCA from the DBM, the DepEd offices may conduct recruitment and selection procedures for new positions as stipulated in Section I of DepEd Order No. 66 s. 2007:
    
    1. Appointments shall first be issued to incumbents placed to the same or comparable positions, which may have different position titles and/or plantilla item numbers than the previous items held;

The officer in-charge of personnel matters shall indicate on the appointment paper (CSC Form 33): “REAPPOINTMENT PURSUANT TO EO 366 s. 2004”; and

2. For employees whose plantilla item numbers were retained and converted to CTI, a plantilla-type of Notice may be prepared instead of individual notices(Refer to Annex B for the template).  A copy of the Notice shall be submitted to the Central Office Personnel Division and the respective CSC Field Office for record purposes (par. 5, item 1 of CSC MC No. 03, s. 2014);
3. After appointments or notices have been issued to the placed personnel, only then shall the appointing authority decide on the rank list/selection line-up submitted by the PSB for appointment/promotion to vacant new positions.
4. For offices which have conducted preliminary recruitment and selection procedures as provided by Item no. 09 of this Order, succeeding procedures (Item Nos. 13-15) of DepEd Order No. 66 s. 2007 may be conducted upon receipt of the NOSCA; and
5. Placed personnel who qualify during the regular selection process shall be issued reappointment for promotion. The vacated position shall be declared vacant.

5. Filling-up of Positions at the School Level
   
   16. Existing vacant non-teaching positions at the school level may now be filled up, without waiting for the release of the NOSCA, following the guidelines under DepEd Order No. 29 s. 2002 and DepEd Order No. 66 s. 2007, provided that:
       
       1. Vacant positions are included in the 1997 Organization and Staffing Standards for Elementary and Secondary Schools; and
       2. Vacant positions are not included in the functions or services recommended for outsourcing (e.g. utility, building and grounds maintenance, messengerial, security and transportation/mobility).

6. Services to be Outsourced
   
   17. Following DBM Circular Letter 2013-5 and in lieu of filling up vacant items, certain services  at the Central Office, Regional Offices, and Schools Division offices as well as in the schools  may be outsourced on a need basis, through the hiring of consultants/job order/contract of service personnel, where no employer-employee relationship exists, subject to the availability of funds for MOOE,  and provided it is consistent with the following:
       
       1. Overall policy under the approved RP on services/areas, which can be outsourced (e.g., utility, building and grounds maintenance, messengerial, security, transportation/ mobility, and information technology); and
       2. Pertinent budgetary, civil service, accounting and auditing rules and regulations.
   18. To maximize utilization of existing manpower, DepEd Offices/Units with personnel holding CTI items are not authorized to hire personnel under Contract Of Service/Job Order who will perform similar functions as those being performed by the personnel with CTI items (Item No. 2.3.2 of the DBM Circular Letter 2013-5 dated July 22, 2013);

7. Rehiring of Retired/Separated Personnel
   
   19. As a reiteration of Section 17 of the IRR of EO 366 s. 2004 and Item No. 2.4 of the DBM CL 2013-5, employees who chose the retirement/separation option cannot be “appointed or hired as casuals or contractuals in any agency of the Executive Branch, including  GOCCs/GFIs, within a period of five (5) years”, wherein reemployment will be considered as new entry to civil service.
       
       1. Retired/Separated personnel may be appointed as teaching or medical staff in educational institutions and hospitals.
       2. DepEd regular/permanent personnel who availed of the retirement/separation option under EO 366 s. 2004 cannot be rehired under contract of service/Job Order arrangement.
       3. On a need basis, DepED offices may continue to engage the services of casual personnel under Contract of Service (COS) or Job Order (JO) status with the following provisions:

c.1 There should be a justified need for the continued services to the department;
c.2 For agency-type functions such as utility, building and grounds maintenance, messengerial, security and transportation/mobility, the COS/JO staff may be pooled together and considered as shared services of offices;
c.3 For functions identified to be performed by regular plantilla items, COS/JO personnel may be allowed to perform the functions. However, heads of offices will not be allowed to fill up the regular plantilla items;
c.4 Hiring under COS/JO arrangement shall be subject to the availability of existing MOOE funds and to existing government budgeting, accounting and auditing rules and regulations; and
c.5 Service contract shall follow the existing guidelines on hiring COS and JO employees, i.e. “no work, no pay” basis, no employer-employee relationship.

20. Immediate dissemination of and compliance with this Order is directed.

BR. ARMIN A. LUISTRO FSC
Secretary
 

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