Applied for a job that asks for an 18 month commitment as a contractor. They said since an Agency is investing a lot into training + clearance, they want an 18 month commitment out of me. They informed me that a failure to meet this commitment would result in the Agency “holding” my clearance and not releasing it to other agencies.
Can an agency actually do this?
I don’t think they can “hold” it. But they can certainly put your request at the bottom of the list. You can always apply at another agency and let them try to deal with getting it for you.
What do you mean by “bottom of the list?”
Of “priorities.” They can always say they have “more urgent tasks and will get to yours when they can.”
This sounds fishy to me. I don’t think the agency really wants to get in the middle of this. Yes, they want contractors to stick around and don’t like it when there’s too much turnover, but I’ve never heard of any government customer trying to do anything about it.
Maybe ask them if they will give YOU an 18 month no-layoff commitment 
By the way one of the contracts we support is for an agency where there seems to be quite a bit of job-hopping by contractors… never heard of anyone getting snagged by something like this.
Yeah I was told by the company if I left early on this contract then the gov client would hold my clearance and not release it to other contracts/agencies because they want to keep a return on investment.
I think the problem is that you signed a contract and you broke it.
Yes, an agency can and does terminate clearances or put you in limbo if you do this. I’ve seen it done at NSA.
They did this with their contractor or with their GS employees?
Does a government client even have authority to do such a thing?
About all they can do is “release” your record in which case you are in “loss of jurisdiction” status. I’m not sure how they could block you from going somewhere else.
And dropping a clearance that’s not actively being used is not quite the same thing. I used to work on NSA programs as a contractor, and they definitely did a scrub every so often of our NSA cleared folks looking for people not currently supporting their programs. I don’t think it was an automatic thing but we would have to justify keeping them in access if we wanted to.
So does a “loss of jurisdiction” just mean nobody is holding/sponsoring your clearance at the time being?
As far as I know, yes, that is what it means. But some people on here have had problems when they get into that state.
Can someone else help clarify on this point?
So then couldn’t I just jump to a different agency? Also what if I’m also a military reservist?
A contractor cant withhold your clearance. If they have a high needs job that requires you to stay for a certain amount pf time, usually they are being “back up” by the agency.
“Loss of jurisdiction” means the sponsor or the agency is no longer processing you because you moved a position usually before an adjudication took place.
If you have served in the military, you should apply for a fed job. You would have a big edge over most other applicants and never have to worry about losing the job.
You only get 10 points for military service.