Seasonal workers employed by certain federal agencies will be able to bank their experience for consideration for full-time employment under legislation that passed the House of Representatives Tuesday.

Seasonal employees at the Department of Agriculture and Department of Interior are often rehired every year to do important, sometimes dangerous jobs. However, agencies don't currently take that work experience into account when those employees apply for full-time positions with the federal government.

The Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act looks to change that.

Related: Thousands of temporary federal employees could receive health insurance

"These employees are terminated each season and often rehired in subsequent seasons," said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., a principal sponsor of the bill. "Despite years of service, career advancement opportunities are severely limited for these long-term, temporary seasonal workers who are barred from even competing for many vacant permanent positions."

The bill only applies to certain land management agencies within USDA and Interior, namely the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Parks Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Reclamation

Legislators pointed out that the bill is revenue neutral, as it doesn't create any new positions, but merely gives credit to part-time workers applying for openings.

They also hope the measure will make seasonal positions more attractive to prospective candidates.

"This legislation would significantly reduce the costs associated with the high attrition rate in our nation's temporary seasonal workforce and enhance the pool of highly-qualified applicants that compete for permanent seasonal positions," said Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, a co-sponsor on the bill. "It's truly a win-win situation for our federal land management agencies."

Retirement Blog: Seasonal Employees

The bill had support from a number of federal employee groups, including the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, the National Treasury Employees Union, the National Association of Government Employees, the American Federation of Government Employees, the Association of National Park Ranger and the National Federation of Federal Employees.

"Too many, including thousands of wildland firefighters, have been stuck for too long in dead-end jobs, not because of a lack of merit on their parts, but because of flawed regulations that do not recognize their years of service," NFFE President William Dougan said. "The Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act removes a nonsensical regulatory barrier to career-advancement opportunities for long-serving federal wildland firefighters and other temporary seasonal workers."

The measure passed the House in a voice vote on July 7.

About Aaron Boyd

Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.

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