(7) The Examiner shall give the parties an opportunity to present oral and written testimony that is relevant and material, and to cross-examine witnesses who appear to testify.

(8) The Examiner may exclude any person from the hearing for conduct that obstructs the hearing.

(c) Witnesses. (1) All parties are entitled to produce witnesses.

(2) Volunteers, employees of a sponsor, and employees of ACTION shall be made available as witnesses when requested by the Examiner. The Examiner may request witnesses on his own initiative. Parties shall furnish to the Examiner and to opposing parties a list of proposed witnesses, and an explanation of what the testimony of each is expected to show, at least ten days before the date of the hearing. The Hearing Examiner may waive the time limit in appropriate circumstances.

(3) Employees of ACTION shall remain in a duty status during the time they are made available as wit

nesses.

(4) Volunteers, employees and any other persons who serve as witnesses shall be free from coercion, discrimination or reprisal for presenting their testimony.

(d) Recording of Hearing. A grievant may make a recording of the hearing at his own expense if no verbatim transcript is made.

(e) Report of Hearing. The Examiner shall determine how any hearing shall be reported and shall have either a verbatim transcript or written summary of the hearing prepared, which shall include all pertinent documents and exhibits submitted to and accepted by him. If the hearing is reported verbatim, the Examiner shall make the transcript a part of the record of the proceedings. If the hearing is not reported verbatim, a suitable summary of pertinent portions of the testimony shall be made part of the record of proceedings. When agreed to in writing, the summary constitutes the report of the hearing. If the Examiner and the parties fail to agree on the hearing summary, the parties are entitled to submit written exceptions to any part of the summary, and these written exceptions and the summary

constitute the report of the hearing and shall be made a part of the record of proceedings.

§ 1211.1-14 Grievance file and examiner's report.

(a) Preparation and content The Examiner shall establish a grievance file containing all documents related to the grievance, including statements of witnesses, records or copies thereof, and the report of the hearing when a hearing was held.

(b) Review by volunteer. On completion of his inquiry, the Examiner shall make the grievance file available to the volunteer and his representative for review and comment. Their comments, if any, shall be submitted within 5 days after the file is made available and shall be included in the file.

(c) Examiner's report. After the volunteer has been given an opportunity to review the grievance file, the Examiner shall prepare a report of his findings and recommendations and submit it with the grievance file to the Regional Director. The Examiner shall also furnish the volunteer a copy of the report.

§ 1211.1-15 Decision by Regional Director.

The Regional Director shall consider the Examiner's report and the grievance file and issue a written decision to the volunteer within ten days. If the Regional Director does not accept the Examiner's recommendations, the decision shall set forth the basis for the determination.

§ 1211.1-16 Appeal to Deputy Director of ACTION.

(a) If a volunteer is dissatisfied with the decision of the Regional Director, he may appeal the decision to the Deputy Director of ACTION.

(b) Contents of appeal. Contents of the volunteer's appeal must be in writing, specify those portions of the Regional Director's decision with which he disagrees and the reasons for his disagreement, and identify those parts of the grievance file or report of the Hearing Examiner which support his appeal. The volunteer shall provide a copy of his appeal to the Regional Director.

(c) Time limit. The volunteer must file his appeal with the Deputy Director and provide a copy thereof to the Regional Director within 15 days after receipt of the Regional Director's decision.

(d) Appeal file. The Regional Director shall, upon receipt of a copy of the volunteer's appeal, immediately transmit the grievance file, Hearing Examiner's report and a copy of his decision to the Deputy Director. These documents, together with the volunteer's appeal shall constitute the appeal file, and shall provide the sole basis for decision on the appeal.

(e) Deputy Director's decision. The Deputy Director shall issue a written decision on the appeal to the volunteer within ten days after receipt of the appeal file. He may delegate responsibility for deciding appeals to the Associate Director for Domestic and Anti-Poverty Programs. The decision shall include a statement of the basis for his determination. The Deputy Director's decision is final.

§ 1211.1-17 Disposition of grievance and appeal files.

All grievance and appeal files shall be forwarded to the Associate Director of ACTION for Domestic and AntiPoverty Programs after the grievance has been settled, or a final decision has been made and implemented. No part of a grievance or appeal file may be made part of, or included in, a volunteer's official personnel folder.

APPENDIX A

STANDARD FOR EXAMINERS

An examiner must meet the requirements specified in either (1), (2), (3), or (4) below: (1) (a) Current employment in grade GS12 or equivalent, or above.

(b) Satisfactory completion of a specialized course of training prescribed by the Civil Service Commission for examiners.

(c) At least four years of progressively responsible experience in administrative, managerial, professional. investigative, or technical work which has demonstrated the possession of:

(i) The personal attributes essential to the effective performance of the duties of an examiner, including integrity, discretion, reliability, objectivity, impartiality, resourcefulness, and emotional stability.

(ii) A high degree of ability to

Identify and select appropriate sources of information; collect, organize, analyze, and evaluate information; and arrive at sound conclusions on the basis of that information;

Analyze situation; make an objective and logical determination of the pertinent facts; evaluate the facts; and develop practicable recommendations or decisions on the basis of facts;

Recognize the causes of complex problems and apply mature judgment in assessing the practical implications of alternative solutions to those problems;

Interpret and apply regulations and other complex written material;

Communicate effectively orally and in writing, including the ability to prepare clear and concise written reports; and

and

Deal effectively with individuals groups, including the ability to gain the cooperation and confidence of others.

(iii) A good working knowledge of

The relationship between volunteer administration and overall management concerns; and

The principles, systems, methods, and administrative machinery for accomplishing the work of an organization.

(2) Designation as an arbitrator on a panel of arbitrators maintained by either the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or the American Arbitration Association.

(3) Current or former employment as, or current eligibility on the Civil Service Commission's register for, Hearing Examiner, GS-935-0.

(4) Membership in good standing in the National Academy of Arbitrators.

(5) A former Federal employee who at the time of leaving the Federal service was in grade GS-12 or equivalent, or above, and who meets all the requirements specified for an examiner except completion of the prescribed training course, may be used as an examiner upon satisfactory completion of the training course.

Subpart A-General

§ 1213.1-1 Introduction.

(a) Section 122(a), Part C, of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (the Act), Pub. L. 93-113, 87 Stat. 401, authorizes the Director of ACTION to conduct and to make contracts for special volunteer programs to encourage wider volunteer participation on a fulltime basis to strengthen and supplement efforts to meet a broad range of human, social, and environmental needs, particularly those related to poverty. The ACTION Cooperative Volunteer Program (ACV) is one of these special volunteer programs. It provides full-time volunteer service opportunities for individuals in assignments with nonprofit and public agency sponsors involving a broad range of human, social, and environmental needs, particularly those related to poverty. Organizations wishing to become sponsors enter into an agreement with ACTION to share expenses associated with ACV volunteer assignments. The sponsor's share consists of reimbursing ACTION for the direct costs of volunteer support, i.e. allowances, stipend and other direct benefits.

(b) Section 122(b) requires that the assignment of ACV volunteers be on such terms and conditions as the Director shall determine.

(c) Section 122(c) provides that the Director may provide to persons serving as full-time volunteers in a program of at least one year's duration such allowances and stipends as he determines are necessary. The kinds and amount of such allowances and stipends may not exceed those authorized to be provided to VISTA volunteers (Part A, Title I, Pub. L. 93-113).

Subpart B-Description of Volunteer Service

§ 1213.2-1 Enrollment and duration of service.

ACTION enrolls an individual in ACV during the preservice processing it provides. Such enrollment is for a period comprising the time of such processing, ACTION preservice orien

tation, and a one-year assignment to a project.

§ 1213.2-2 Provisional volunteers.

Individuals are considered to be provisional volunteers during the period of pre-service processing and ACTION preservice orientation. They have all the rights and benefits and are subject to all the duties of volunteers, except as expressly provided in these regulations or where it would appear from the language of a section of the regulations to be inappropriate.

§ 1213.2-3 Extension of service and reenrollment.

In certain situations, a volunteer may have his period of volunteer service extended for not more than one year, at the request of a sponsor and the concurrence of the appropriate ACTION Regional Director.

A volunteer may only be reenrolled for a period of at least one year. A sponsor must request the reenrollment and it must be approved by the appropriate ACTION Regional Director. No volunteer may serve for more than a total of five years in full-time volunteer programs under Title I of Pub. L. 93-113.

Such extensions and reenrollments may be for the same or different projects and may include interregional and intraregional transfers.

§ 1213.2-4 Living conditions.

To the extent practicable volunteers are expected to make a personal commitment to live among and at the economic level of the people served by the project in which the volunteer works. The sponsor will insure that this commitment is observed.

§ 1213.2-5 Role of the volunteer.

The volunteer's assignments are carried out under the auspices of the sponsor. The volunteer assumes a "live-in" obligation carrying his work into all facets of community life and social activity. He is available for service without regard to regular working hours seven days a week, except for periods of approved leave.

Subpart C-ACTION Provided Volunteer Support

§ 1213.3-1 Financial support.

(a) Food and lodging. Each ACV volunteer receives from ACTION a food and lodging allowance approximately commensurate with the actual standard of living of the residents of the community to which he is assigned. The amount of this allowance is determined by the Regional Office after consultation with the sponsor.

(b) Personal living allowance. ACTION also provides each volunteer a personal living allowance of $75 per month. It is intended to cover incidental expenses and local travel.

(c) Adjustment allowance. At the beginning of service, a volunteer may receive from ACTION an adjustment allowance when necessary to cover the initial cost of securing and setting up living quarters. Such an allowance is usually provided only to volunteers who serve outside their home area. It is not usually available to volunteers recruited locally for an assignment in their home or nearby communities.

(d) Stipend. At the conclusion of the term of service, each volunteer receives a stipend of $50 for each month of service on an ACV project. Volunteers may be authorized to make biweekly allotments from the stipend, not in excess of $12.50, in extraordinary circumstances. These may include allotments for obligations incurred prior to service for family support, insurance or loan payments and income taxes.

(e) Provisional volunteers. Provisional volunteers do not receive any allowances nor do they accrue stipends. During the period they are provisional volunteers their food and lodging is provided by ACTION and they receive a nominal amount of money for living expenses.

(f) Emergencies. In case of emergencies, ACTION may provide the volunteer with assistance and support to prevent injury or hardship to him, including a $500 advance against allowances and stipends due the volunteer or to be paid subsequently to him during his volunteer service.

(g) No dependent support. ACTION assumes no financial responsibility for a non-volunteer spouse, a volunteer's children or other dependents.

§ 1213.3-2 Transportation.

ACTION will be responsible for providing the volunteer with needed transportation for the following pur

poses:

(a) To, and when appropriate, from volunteer/sponsor staging;

(b) To the pre-service processing site, whether it is the ACTION Regional Office or any other designated facility;

(c) To the project site following completion of pre-service processing, and at the beginning of the volunteer's terms of service;

(d) For the return trip from the projects site to the volunteer's home of record following completion of service;

(e) Whenever necessary to enable the volunteer to travel outside the geographic area to which he has been assigned when he does so at the request of the Government;

(f) When approved in cases of emergency.

For the purpose of (d) of this section, the term "home of record" shall be either:

(1) The legal residence of the volunteer's parent or legal guardian if the volunteer had been residing with the parent or legal guardian immediately prior to entering ACTION service, or if the volunteer was a full-time student whose permanent residency was with the parent or legal guardian.

(2) The residence established by the volunteer while attending college immediately prior to entering ACTION.

(3) The residence established by the volunteer while employed immediately prior to entering ACTION.

(4) The legal residence established by the volunteer for purposes of voting and/or payment of state tax.

Each volunteer must specify a home of record at the time he is enrolled. Subsequent modification of the home of record may be authorized in certain circumstances at the discretion of the Regional Director.

(a) Vacation leave. Once on the job for four months, an ACV volunteer earns one day of leave for each full month of service up to a maximum of seven days, including one weekend. No leave is to be granted during the last month of service, except for emergencies. During leave, the volunteer's regular support allowances are continued. No leave may be taken without the approval of the sponsor.

(b) Emergency leave. Should a member of a volunteer's immediate family-spouse, mother, father, sister, brother, child or guardian-become critically ill or die, emergency leave may be granted by the sponsor for a period of up to one week. Any additional time requires the approval of the ACTION Regional Office. It does