American Samoa Government Career Service Veterans Preference

The American Samoa Government is the largest employer in the territory, and the career service preference is the territory’s main veterans benefit. Almost everything written about it stops at the points, which are the least of it. The points first, at Code section 7.0206(b). A preference eligible as defined in subsection (a) of 7.0202, the disabled veteran, who passes a competitive examination receives 10 additional points above the earned rating, and the names of such preference eligibles are entered on the register ahead of others having the same rating. A preference eligible as defined in subsection (b) of 7.0202 receives 5 additional points. The personnel rule at Administrative Code 4.0308 states the same scheme more cleanly: ten points to a disabled veteran, five to a veteran or the unremarried widow of a veteran, in open competitive examinations only and expressly not in any promotional examination. Read the statutory cross-reference carefully, because it does not say what the rule says. Subsection (b) of 7.0202 is the definition of "preference eligible" itself, the umbrella term covering all three categories. So 7.0206(b) awards 10 points to a disabled veteran and then 5 points to a preference eligible, which on its face includes that same disabled veteran. The evident intent, and what the personnel rule implements, is five points for the veteran and widow categories at subsection (c) and the closing words of (b). The drafting came in with the 1971 amendment and has never been fixed. This catalog records the divergence rather than promising anyone fifteen points; if it matters to a specific appointment, put the two texts in front of the Department of Human Resources and ask which one they apply. Now the provisions that decide outcomes. Certification is a rule of five. Under 7.0206(d), on an approved request to fill a career service vacancy the Director of Manpower Resources certifies the five candidates from the register with the highest numerical rating scores, and for preference eligibles those scores include the added points. Only certified candidates are eligible for employment unless an exception is permitted under the Governor’s regulations. Five points moving you up a list of five is a much larger effect than five points sounds like. Three preference eligibles closes the job. Under 7.0206(g), when three or more names of preference eligibles appear on the register or on the list from the applicant supply file transmitted to an appointing authority, that authority "may select and appoint only a preference eligible to fill the vacancy under consideration." This is not a tiebreaker and not guidance. It is an absolute bar on appointing outside the preference group. In a territory with American Samoa’s rate of military service it will be satisfied often, and a veteran who is told the manager preferred someone else should ask how many preference eligibles were on the list. Being passed over creates a paper trail you are entitled to see. Under 7.0206(f), an appointing authority who passes over a preference eligible and selects someone who is not a preference eligible must file written reasons with the Director of Manpower Resources, who makes them part of the passed-over veteran’s record, may demand more detail, determines whether the reasons are sufficient, and sends findings to the appointing authority. The appointing authority "shall comply with the findings." And the last sentence is the one to memorise: the preference eligible or the veteran’s representative, on request, is entitled to a copy of the reasons submitted and of the Director’s findings. Ask for it in writing. Separation without fault gets you back on the list. Under 7.0209, a preference eligible separated or furloughed from the career service without delinquency or misconduct is entitled, on request, to have their name placed in the appropriate register or applicant supply file for every position for which their qualifications have been established. It is a request you have to make. Physical and personal requirements are waived. Applicants to the career service must take preemployment physical examinations under 7.0205(a). Under 7.0205(d), in determining a preference eligible’s qualifications for examination, appointment, or reinstatement, the Director of Manpower Resources shall waive requirements as to age, height, and weight unless essential to performance of the duties, and shall waive physical requirements if, after considering the recommendation of an accredited physician, the preference eligible is physically able to perform the duties efficiently. A disabled veteran facing a preemployment physical has a statutory route through it. Finally the definitions, which is where the territory differs from every state in this catalog. Code 7.0202(a) defines a disabled veteran as an individual who served on active duty, was separated under honorable conditions, and has established the present existence of a service-connected disability or is receiving compensation, disability retirement benefits, or a pension administered by VA or a military department. Code 7.0202(c) defines a veteran as someone who served on active duty for not less than 180 consecutive days other than for training and was separated under honorable conditions. The 180-day floor is in the veteran definition and not in the disabled veteran definition, so a short enlistment ended by a service-connected injury reaches the ten-point category without reaching the five-point one. A zero percent rating establishes the present existence of a service-connected disability, so there is no percentage threshold anywhere in this benefit. Code 7.0202(b) defines a preference eligible as a U.S. national of American Samoan ancestry who is a veteran, a disabled veteran, or the unmarried widow of a veteran. The nationality half of that is broader than it looks: under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22) a national of the United States includes a citizen, so a veteran of American Samoan ancestry who naturalized during service is still a U.S. national and still within the definition. The ancestry half is the real limit, and it is a real one. A veteran without American Samoan ancestry is outside the statutory preference. The personnel rule does not carry the ancestry limit the same way. Administrative Code 4.0307 defines preference eligible as "a U.S. citizen or a U.S. national of American Samoa ancestry" who meets the same descriptions, which on its face lets a U.S. citizen veteran qualify without Samoan ancestry. No published summary of American Samoa veterans benefits mentions the ancestry requirement at all, and a veteran caught by the difference should put both texts in writing to the department rather than accept a verbal answer. One more thing that frames all of it. Code 7.0205(b) requires that any person entering the career service be a resident of American Samoa and either an American Samoan or an American national at the time of entry, with an exception when no resident meeting the minimum qualifications can be found. The preference sits inside a career service that is already limited that way. The survivor category is the "unmarried widow" in the statute and the "unremarried widow" in the rule, in those words, from 1971 and 1981. Whether the department reads either to cover a widower is a question to ask rather than to assume.