5 C.F.R. § 352.908 – Agency obligation.

(a) Time limits. An employee is to be reemployed by the reemploying agency as promptly as possible, but not later than 30 calendar days after receipt of the reemployment application or on termination of the term of employment with the Commission, whichever is later.
(b) Conditions. An employee will be reemployed or returned from detail without loss of pay, seniority, or other rights or benefits to which the employee would have been entitled had he or she not been transferred or detailed. An employee in the Senior Executive Service will be reemployed or returned at not less than the rate at which paid immediately before the transfer or detail. An employee who is reemployed is not eligible for grade or pay retention under part 536 of this chapter based on a grade or rate of pay attained while employed by the Commission.
(c) Position to which entitled.
1. (1) If the function with which the employee's former position was identified has been transferred, the employee's right is to a position in the gaining agency or activity.
2. (2) An employee whose right is to a position in the Senior Executive Service may be reemployed in or returned to any Senior Executive Service position in the former agency for which qualified.
3. (3) All other employees are entitled to be reemployed in or returned to a position at the same grade or level and in the same competitive area as the position last held in the former agency. If the reemployment would cause the separation or demotion of another employee, the applicant should be considered an employee for the purpose of applying the reduction-in-force regulations to determine to what, if any, position the employee is entitled. If the employee is not placed at the former grade or level, the agency must extend consideration beyond the competitive area. Responsibility for reemployment is agencywide.
4. (4) Reemployment may be at a higher grade than that to which the employee is entitled if all appropriate standards and requirements are satisfied and if this will not cause the displacement of another employee.
5. (5) The reemployment obligation may be satisfied by placement in any position within the agency that is acceptable to the employee.
(d) Agency refusal to reemploy. An agency may refuse to reemploy under this section only when the employee was separated from the Commission for serious cause showing unsuitability for reemployment.