I was hired by this contractor and had to submit an eQuip…almost 9 months later of sitting in training waiting for our interim clearance 6 of us were let go the same day all at once and were told that we were denied the interim clearance and we were not given any explanation as to why…I’ve talked to FSO, HR, and the director of HR and no one has any answers and they actually try to brush me off…so I decided to conduct my own investigation to try and ge some answers…so far what I found is…they (company) want the 6 of us to sign a new acceptance letter which states that we would be terminated if we don’t obtain an clearance of any level…which in the original acceptance letter it didn’t have any mentioning of obtaining a clearance to maintain the job…also we’re told that we have to sign these letters in order to keep our Open Investigation ongoing…but the letter doesn’t state that either…also when I contacted OPM the first agent I spoke with said that the denial was not sent from them…so I contacted the group of trusted agents that the company used and was told the same thing and also that this could have been a financial reason from the company because they got tired of the waiting and didn’t want to keep paying us for basically nothing…is the normal practice for companies and is it legal?
My understanding of interim clearance that it doesn’t only require that your SF86 be clean but the company can justify the need to fill the role because they can’t find a qualified person who is already clear or because you have some specialized skills that make you a requirement for their contract.
In other words, you have no right to an interim clearance. They are for the convenience of the government, not your employer or yourself. It seems like they have gotten harder and harder to get over the last ten or 15 years.
The legality of letting you go for no particular reason has nothing to do with the clearance process. Employment law is, mostly, a state issue.
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