253.3—Establishment of Panama Canal Employment System; scope and requirements.
(a)
There is hereby established a Panama Canal Employment System. The employment system is a system of:
(1)
Selection for appointment, reappointment, reinstatement, reemployment and retention with respect to positions, employees, and individuals under consideration for appointment; and
(2)
Regulations concerning other matters related to employment in an agency, as prescribed in this chapter.
(1)
Be based on the consideration of the merit of each employee or candidate for employment and the qualifications and fitness of the employee or candidate to hold the position concerned;
(2)
Be subject to the provisions of the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 and related agreements and any other applicable provision of law;
(4)
Conform, to the extent practicable and consistent with the provisions of law, to the policies, principles, and standards applicable to the competitive service;
(5)
In the case of employees who are citizens of the United States, provide for the appropriate interchange of those employees between positions under this system and positions in the competitive service; and
(6)
In the case of non-Panamanian employees hired on or after October 1, 1979, include a policy for their periodic rotation in accordance with the Panama Canal Treaty or the Agreement in Implementation of Article IV thereof.
(c)
The Panama Canal Commission and, to the extent of any election pursuant to law and paragraph (d) of this section, any other agency shall conduct their employment practices in accordance with this system and the regulations in this part and in part 251 of this chapter.
(d)
The head of any Executive Agency and the Smithsonian Institution may elect to have the Panama Canal Employment System made applicable in whole or in part to personnel of that agency in the Republic of Panama.
(e)
Provisions for interchange between this system and the competitive service which involve movement from this system to the competitive service shall be subject to the concurrence of the Office of Personnel Management.