The General Schedule (GS) Classification System is the scheme under which "white collar" federal competitive civil service jobs are classified for pay purposes. Employees placed into the same "class" of employment are also entitled to be treated similarly with regard to promotion, hiring, and other personnel decisions.
A GS "class," such as GS-510-12, represents the series and grade of a particular job. In this example, the "510" represents the "accounting series," and the "12" is the grade between 1 and 15 assigned to the position. The grade represents the level of responsibility and necessary qualifications for the job.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is responsible for promulgating standards through which government agencies can classify their employees. Because the classification system is complex and because it so significantly impacts an employee, employees are entitled to appeal their GS classification. Employees whose jobs have been classified under the GS system may also appeal that classification, arguing that they instead should have been classified under the Federal Wage System, which is used to classify "blue collar" positions.
Specifically, employees are entitled to appeal:
- the assigned grade,
- series, and
- sometimes title of their jobs.
Employees may not appeal:
- the content or accuracy of the official description of their positions,
- the accuracy of OPM's classification standard,
- an agency's proposed classification decision,
- the classification of positions to which they are not officially assigned, or
- the classification of positions to which they are temporarily promoted for a period of less than two years.
GS employees have the option at any time to appeal their job classification to their agency or to the OPM directly. The agency must determine an appeal within 60 days. The agency may also decide to forward the appeal to the OPM. If an agency appeal is decided adversely to an employee, he or she may still appeal the classification to the OPM.
Employees appealing to the OPM must submit their written appeals to the OPM office closest to them. An employee appeal must include arguments and factual support for the argument that the current classification is improper.
Although the OPM does not conduct appeal hearings, it may visit the workplace or gather additional evidence on its own. The OPM will not consider unused qualifications, the quality of an employee's performance, or the volume of work assigned to the position in making a decision.
The OPM notifies an employee and his or her agency in writing as to its final decision. The OPM is entitled, when reviewing an appeal, to increase or lower the grade of a position as the facts warrant, regardless of the relief requested by an employee.
When an appeal is decided adversely to an employee, he or she may request the OPM to reconsider its decision.
Copyright 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
