22 U.S.C. § 3982: Assignments to Foreign Service positions

The Secretary (with the concurrence of the agency concerned) may assign a member of the Service to any position classified under section 3981 of this title in which that member is eligible to serve (other than as chief of mission or ambassador at large), and may assign a member from one such position to another such position as the needs of the Service may require. In making assignments under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall assure that a member of the Service is not assigned to or prohibited from being assigned to a position at a post in a particular geographic area, or domestically, in a position working on issues relating to a particular country or geographic area, on the basis of the race, ethnicity, or religion of that member. Foreign Service positions may be filled by the assignment for specified tours of duty of employees of the Department and, under interagency agreements, employees of other agencies; and Senior Foreign Service positions may also be filled by other members of the Service. The President may assign a career member of the Service to serve as charge d’affaires or otherwise as the head of a mission (or as the head of a United States office abroad which is designated under section 3902(a)(3) 1 of this title by the Secretary of State as diplomatic in nature) for such period as the public interest may require. 1 See References in Text note below. The Secretary of State, in conjunction with the heads of the other agencies utilizing the Foreign Service personnel system, shall implement policies and procedures to insure that Foreign Service officers and members of the Senior Foreign Service of all agencies are able to compete for chief of mission positions and have opportunities on an equal basis to compete for assignments outside their areas of specialization. A stable-pair matching, preference-ranking system for non-directed Foreign Service employees and hiring bureaus, allowing for a more strategic alignment of workforce and resources. Incorporation of lessons learned from the previous stable-pair matching bidding pilot framework referred to as ‘iMatch’ but applied more expansively to include non-directed assignments up through FS–01 positions, taking advantage of efficiency benefits such as tandem assignment functionalities. Mechanisms to ensure transparency, efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, and flexibility in the assignment process, while maintaining equal opportunities for all employees in the Foreign Service. An independent auditing process to ensure adherence to established rules, effectiveness in meeting the Department’s [Department of State’s] needs, and prevention of bias or manipulation, including through the use of protected categories in making assignment decisions. assess whether any point systems tied to promotion incentives should consider service in hard-to-fill or critical positions; and assess whether the practice of dividing the assignment process into winter and summer cycles is necessary or efficient compared to stable matching processes. data on match rates, including in filling critical or priority positions, officer and hiring office satisfaction, and the impact on tandem placements; recommendations for further modifications to the bidding process; an overview of the strategy used to communicate any changes to the workforce; and results of analysis into additional transparency efforts, including those described in subsection (a)(3).” challenges finding and maintaining spousal employment and family dissatisfaction are one of the leading reasons employees cite for leaving the Department [of State]; tandem Foreign Service personnel represent important members of the Foreign Service community, who act as force multipliers for our diplomacy; the Department can and should do more to keep tandem spouses posted together and consider family member employment needs when assigning tandem officers; and common sense steps providing more flexibility in the assignments process would improve outcomes for tandem officers without disadvantaging other Foreign Service Officers. The term ‘family togetherness’ means facilitating the placement of Foreign Service personnel at the same United States diplomatic post when both spouses are members of a tandem couple of Foreign Service personnel. The terms ‘tandem Foreign Service personnel’ and ‘tandem’ mean a member of a couple of which one spouse is a career or career candidate employee of the Foreign Service and the other spouse is a career or career candidate employee of the Foreign Service or an employee of one of the agencies authorized to use the Foreign Service Personnel System under section 202 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 ( 22 U.S.C. 3922 ). The Secretary [of State] shall adopt policies and procedures to facilitate the assignment of entry-level tandem Foreign Service personnel on directed assignments to the same diplomatic post or country as their tandem spouse if they request to be assigned to the same post or country. The Secretary shall also provide a written justification to the requesting personnel explaining any denial of a request that would result in tandem spouses not serving together at the same post or country. The Secretary shall add family togetherness to the criteria when making a needs of the Service determination, as defined by the Foreign Affairs Manual, for the placement of tenured tandem Foreign Service personnel at United States diplomatic posts. The Secretary shall update antinepotism policies so that nepotism rules only apply when an employee and a relative are placed into positions wherein they jointly and exclusively control government resources, property, or money or establish government policy. The Secretary shall update policies to allow for a tandem spouse to temporarily supervise another tandem spouse for up to 90 days in a calendar year, including at a United States diplomatic mission. the number of Foreign Service tandem spouses currently serving; the number of Foreign Service tandems currently serving in separate locations, or, to the extent possible, that are on leave without pay (LWOP); and an estimate of the cost savings that would result if all Foreign Service tandem spouses were placed at a single post.”