Removal from the Senior Biomedical Research Service (SBRS)
Removal
Removal from the SBRS
May be removed based on performance or removed for cause (e.g., misconduct) or involuntarily and without cause (e.g. RIF). Upon SBRS removal, the law provides that, at NIH’s option:
- SBRS members who were in career civil service or SES positions immediately prior to entering the SBRS may be placed in permanent civil service positions at GS-15.
- Members who were not serving in such career positions immediately prior to entering the SBRS may be placed in temporary (NTE 2 yrs) excepted service positions at GS-15
Removal from the SBRS may or may not involve, as concomitant or subsequent actions, removal of tenure and/or removal from government service. Members proposed for any of these removals will be afforded administrative review, but legal appeal rights (e.g., to the Merit Systems Protection Board) are not provided.
SBRS members are tenured NIH investigators. By virtue of their tenured status, NIH has made an institutional commitment to retain former SBRS members who remain scientifically productive (although not at the level required by the SBRS). Under current policy former members with reinstatement eligibility will be placed in a permanent GS-15 position; those without reinstatement eligibility will be given a time-limited, renewable, Title 42 appointment.
SBRS members whose performance is unacceptable & who are removed from tenure may be terminated from government service. Members may also be directly terminated for cause, without “detenuring” as an intervening step. Members will be notified in writing of the proposed termination & the reasons thereof, & will have the right to respond orally, in writing, or both. The final decision will be made by the Director, NIH.
Removal of Tenure
Membership in the SBRS is dependent upon retention of tenure. SBRS members are subject to the same removal of tenure policies & provisions as are other NIH senior investigators employed under other mechanisms - e.g., competitive civil service or Title 42.
Removal of tenure is a rare event, & occurs only after thorough review by the IC & the NIH Central Tenure Committee, with final decision by the Deputy Director for Intramural Research. Procedures are described in the “Intramural Research Sourcebook” at http://www1.od.nih.gov/oir/sourcebook.
Post-Employment Restrictions
Applicable to all SBRS members, the same as any Federal employee. Additional restrictions are applicable to SBRS members who meet the definition of “senior employees.”
“Senior employees” are defined for this purpose as those employed in positions for which the rate of basic pay is at least 86.5% of the rate for Level II of the Executive Schedule (currently 86.5% x 172,200=$148,953). SBRS members whose basic pay is equal to or greater than this rate at the time they leave federal service are therefore subject to additional post-employment restrictions.
