Question: For clarity, can you please define HRFC?

Answer: The Human Resources Functional Community (HRFC) by charter is a systematic process to identify & resolve issues, determine priorities, and make decisions to support the achievement of the DoD HRFC community vision and ultimately the goals and objectives of the National Defense Strategy.

Question: What is the e-mail address for the HRFC?

Answer: The HRFC Team email address is: dodhra.mc-alex.dcpas.mbx.hr-functional-community-team@mail.mil

Question: Where can I find the HRFC newsletter?

Answer: HRFC Newsletters are posted at our milSuite site: https://www.milsuite.mil/book/community/spaces/dodhrfc upon access, look to the top right for the magnifying glass, select it, type in “HRFC newsletter”.  All the newsletters will be returned in the search and you can select the most recent or previous editions for your review.

Question: Is there any way that our Commands can contribute to the newsletter, especially if we have discovered something   that works for us and would like to share?

Answer: Yes! Please contact the HRFC team at: dodhra.mc-alex.dcpas.mbx.hr-functional-community-team@mail.mil

with your stories and we will either work them into the newsletter or post on milSuite.

Question: Will funding be provided for HR Training?

Answer: DCPAS training is free to all users, and we are currently providing this training online using MS Teams. We encourage you to keep an eye on the DCPAS web site at https://www.dcpas.osd.mil/  where we will post the latest on these and any other developments regarding DoD HR training.  When you go to the web site, in the upper right side you will see “Training” and once you select the pull down menu, select “DCPAS Training Center” where you will see the list of available training.  Right now, we have Employee Benefits Advisor (EBA) training and Injury Compensation Credentialing- Level I training available and the rest are TBD.

Question: Where are all of these HR competency models located online?

Answer: The technical reports and competency models that are available can be found on the HRFC milSuite page:   https://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/dcpas-competency/content

Question: What is the name of the benefit advisor training? How do we sign up?

Answer: For Employee Benefits Advisor (EBA) and Injury Compensation Training requests contact:

dodhra.mc-alex.dcpas.mbx.benefits-contacts@mail.mil

For Employee Benefits Advisor (EBA) and Injury Compensation Credentialing requests contact:

dodhra.mc-alex.dcpas.mbx.hr-functional-community-team@mail.mil

Question: Will there be credentialing programs for other HR functional areas?

Answer: Yes! DoD is currently developing credentialing programs for injury compensation, staffing, classification, employee and labor relations, HR strategic advisor, and HR information systems (HRIS). We encourage you to keep an eye on the DCPAS web site at https://www.dcpas.osd.mil/, as well as on the HRFC milSuite page at https://www.milsuite.mil/book/community/spaces/dodhrfc, where we will post the latest on these and any other developments regarding DoD HR credentialing.

Question: Will having a specialized HR certification be required for certain positions?

Answer: No, the specialized HR credentials are not conditions of employment. This is a voluntary program that is highly encouraged, as being credentialed will be a critical way to demonstrate technical expertise.

Question: If Employee Relations (ER) is going to be separated from Labor, where is the ER competency or where is it grouped?

Answer:  Employee Relations is still part of the Labor and Employee Relations Community of Practice. There will be a separate competency model for Employee Relations because there are some differences in the competencies needed to be an effective ER Specialist versus LR specialist. That said, there will continue to be synergy between these two technical areas moving forward.

Question: Where can we learn what the credentialing requirements are? Are there years of experience or assignment requirements to meet the standard?

Answer: With the exception of the Employee Benefits Advisor (EBA) credentials & Injury Compensation Credentialing- Level I, the other credentials and their requirements are still under development.  More information will be shared as these additional programs are developed.

Question: Can any HR staff member sign up to go through the process to obtain credentialing even if it's not in their area of program management responsibility?

Answer:  Our goal is to allow any HR staff member to obtain credentialing in any HR area, as long as they meet any established conditions for that HR program area and successfully pass any required credentialing exams.  For example, a non-Benefits specialist can sign up for the Employee Benefits Advisor (EBA) training at all 3 levels (in sequential order);     however, they can only take the Level 1 credentialing exam. The EBA Level I Credentialing exam is open to all 0201s and 0203s. The Level II and Level III EBA credentialing exams are only open to 0201s (Employee Benefits Specialists). Eligible employees can go online today to schedule their exam date/time, to be conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams at this link for the credentialing testing: https://credentialingexamrequest.as.me/

Or

For Employee Benefits Advisor (EBA) and Injury Compensation Training requests contact: dodhra.mc-alex.dcpas.mbx.dod-bwnp-employeebenefitstraining@mail.mil

For Employee Benefits Advisor (EBA) and Injury Compensation Credentialing requests contact: dodhra.mc-alex.dcpas.mbx.dod-bwnp-credentialing@mail.mil

Question: Are 0201s and 0203s the only series allowed to obtain these credentials?

Answer: The entire HRFC community is eligible to obtain training and credentials; however, eligibility may vary depending on the specific HR functional area. For example, the Employee Benefits Advisor (EBA) Level I Credentialing exam is open to ALL 0201s and 0203s; while Level II and Level III EBA exams are only open to 0201s who are Benefits Advisors. In this example, there are restrictions on eligibility. The other functional area credentialing programs are still under development, but may likely have similar restrictions.

Question:  Are the courses on-line "live" meaning that there is a knowledgeable, seasoned instructor delivering the training in an interactive way, or is it self-paced, presentation-based training?

Answer:   All of the courses are live and all training is conducted by knowledgeable, seasoned instructors. The instructors present all pertinent modules, conduct and review corresponding exercises, and administer a pre-test and post-test. Currently, all three Benefits Advisor training courses are available online (Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced).

Question:  How does one go about obtaining the level 1, 2, & 3 credentialing?

Answer:   For right now, only Employee Benefits Advisor (EBA) has three levels of credentialing.

For Employee Benefits Advisor (EBA) and Injury Compensation Training requests contact: dodhra.mc-alex.dcpas.mbx.dod-bwnp-employeebenefitstraining@mail.mil

For Employee Benefits Advisor (EBA) and Injury Compensation Credentialing requests contact: dodhra.mc-alex.dcpas.mbx.dod-bwnp-credentialing@mail.mil

Question:  Will there be a credentialing specific to Classification?

Answer:   Yes, competency modeling is complete and the Technical Report is expected in July 2021. You can expect to see a credentialing pilot for Classification in FY22.

Clarification or further questions can be directed to the functional community email address: DoD HR Functional Community, dodhra.mc-alex.dcpas.mbx.hr-functional-community-team@mail.mil