United States

Office of Personnel Management

Office of Merit Systems Oversight and Effectiveness

Digest of Significant Classification Decisions and Opinions

April 1986

No. 08-04

Standard:	Two-grade Interval Standards

Factor:	N/A

Issue:	Use of two-grade interval standards to evaluate one-grade interval work

Identification of the Classification Issue

The issue arose in a position classification appeal decided by Office of Personnel Management. The appellant performed a variety of administrative support duties which did not require an intensive knowledge and understanding of management principles, practices, methods, concepts and techniques, or other similar and related skills and knowledges which typify positions that are properly covered by standards developed to cover two-grade interval work, e.g., GS-0343, Management Analysis Series.

The agency had applied the GS-7 grade-level criteria of the GS-0343 standard to determine the grade of the position. The issue for the Office of Personnel Management was whether such application is appropriate in the evaluation of one-grade interval administrative support work.

Resolution

There is a significant variance between the qualifications required for one-grade interval work and those required for trainee and developmental two-grade interval work. Two-grade interval criteria are predicated on possession of the knowledges, skills, and abilities required to accomplish two-grade interval work. Therefore, use of two-grade interval criteria requires making adjustments to accommodate the differences in the nature of the work and related knowledges, skills, and abilities of the positions intended for coverage, compared to the position being evaluated. There is no clearly applicable adjustment procedure whereby two-grade interval criteria can be applied under these circumstances.

In this particular case, as the issue involved the agency's use of GS-0343 grade-level criteria at the GS-7 level, it involved the use of criteria designed for a two-grade interval developmental assignment. The typical assignments included in such criteria reflect a temporary stage of development toward work of a more judgmental and analytical nature. As these criteria were not intended to be used to evaluate one-grade interval work, the purpose of the assignments, the work situations described, and the criteria for knowledges, skills, controls over work, guidelines, work complexity, etc., do not reasonably parallel one-grade interval work. Therefore, it is inappropriate to evaluate full performance level one-grade interval work by comparison with trainee and developmental criteria from a two-grade interval standard.

It was determined that the appellant's paramount duties and responsibilities were best evaluated by the use of the one-grade interval standard for the Management Clerical and Assistance Series, GS- 0344.