Final answer:
The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA) allows preference eligibles and certain veterans to compete for federal vacancies under merit promotion procedures. This act complements the merit system established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, ensuring fair competition and qualified hiring in the federal government.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Act that allows preference eligibles, including those with derived preference, or certain eligible veterans to compete for vacancies under merit promotion procedures when the agency is accepting applications from outside its own agency is the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA). The VEOA is intended to enhance the employment opportunities for veterans within the federal government, allowing them to apply for positions announced under merit promotion procedures when an agency is seeking applications from individuals outside its own workforce.
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 established the Office of Personnel Management and the Merit Systems Protection Board. This act emphasized the merit system principles and aimed to ensure that competitive service positions are filled fairly and the most qualified applicants succeed. On the other hand, the excepted service positions and senior executive service positions have different recruitment and hiring processes that are not covered by VEOA.
Within the larger context of employment regulations, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is also important as it prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, gender, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation. However, it does not directly pertain to the query about preference eligibles or veterans' employment opportunities within the federal government under merit promotion procedures.