Hardship to an agency
Hardship to an agency involves serious difficulty in filling a position, including when:
(a) The situation to be redressed results from circumstances beyond the organization's control and otherwise would require extensive corrective action; or
(b) A position at the next lower grade in the normal line of promotion does not exist and the resulting action is not a career ladder promotion; or
(c) There is a shortage of candidates for the position to be filled.