5 CFR § 300.401 - Definitions.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t5/s300.401"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "5 CFR § 300.401 - Definitions."
title_number: 5
title_name: "Administrative Personnel"
section_number: "300.401"
section_name: "Definitions."
chapter_name: "OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT"
subchapter_number: "B"
subchapter_name: "CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS"
part_number: "300"
part_name: "EMPLOYMENT (GENERAL)"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 552, 2301, 2302, 3301, and 3302; E.O. 10577, 19 FR 7521, 3 CFR 1954-1958 Comp., p. 218, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "300"
---


# 300.401 Definitions.

For purposes of this subpart:

(a) A *commercial recruiting firm* is a profit-making entity which, by contract, supplies individual candidates for consideration for specific Federal vacancies, in accordance with the requirements set by the Federal agency.

(b) A *nonprofit employment service* is one legally established as nonprofit under State law. It may be operated, for example, by professional societies, organizations of college graduates, social agencies, or a State or local government. Federal agencies may not, however, use a nonprofit employment service sponsored by a partisan political organization. By contract, a nonprofit employment service supplies individual candidates for consideration for specific Federal vacancies, in accordance with the requirements set by the Federal agency.