Performance-Based Actions FAQs
A performance-based action is the reduction in grade or removal of
a Federal employee based on unacceptable performance. A few of the most
frequently asked questions about performance-based actions in regards
to performance appraisal programs include:
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What happens to
a performance-based action if an agency changes its appraisal program
while the action is still in progress? |
If a notice of proposed action has been
given to the employee, a change to an appraisal program should have
no effect on the action. Section 430.201(b) of title 5, Code of Federal
Regulations, contains a specific provision, called the "savings
provision," that safeguarded administrative procedures pending
on September 22, 1995, from being disrupted by the implementation
of new programs covered by these regulations. The Office of Personnel
Management's system approval procedures require agency appraisal programs
to have a similar provision to safeguard pending administrative procedures
when programs change. (See this question
for impact of a program change on an opportunity period.) |
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What should an
agency do with any opportunity period or performance improvement plan
(PIP) that is in progress when a program is changed? |
An opportunity period, or a PIP as it is
often called, provides a reasonable chance for the employee whose
performance has been determined to be unacceptable in one or more
critical elements to demonstrate acceptable performance in the critical
elements(s) at issue. What an agency should do with a PIP that is
in progress when a program is changed depends on the nature of the
changes between the old program and the new one. If neither the performance
standards nor the retention level communicated to the employee at
the start of the PIP have changed, the agency should be able to proceed
with the opportunity period or PIP. However, a substantive change
in standards or the retention level would require that the current
PIP end. For example, if an agency goes from a program that provided
for an appraisal level between Fully Successful and Unacceptable
to one that does not, it should amend the opportunity period or PIP
specifying that performance now must be improved to the Fully Successful
level, which is now the retention level. Additional time may need
to be given to the employee to allow the employee sufficient time
to demonstrate improved performance at the new retention level. This
example still presumes that the Fully Successful standard has
not been changed. If the performance standard has changed, the employee
has to perform for the agency's minimum period under the new standard
before a determination of unacceptable performance can be made and
a new opportunity period or PIP started. |
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Do the appraisal
regulations require an agency to give an unacceptable employee an
opportunity to improve before proposing an adverse action? |
The regulations addressing the requirements
for taking performance-based actions are found in part 432 of title
5, Code of Federal Regulations, not in the appraisal regulations at
part 430. The law and regulations require agencies to assist unacceptable
employees to improve, and, if the provisions at section 4303 of title
5, United States Code, and part 432 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), are going to be used in proposing and taking an adverse action
based on unacceptable performance, an opportunity to demonstrate acceptable
performance must be provided. The regulations at 5 CFR 430.207(d)
refer more generally to taking an action based on unacceptable performance.
This action could be pursued either under the provisions of 5 United
States Code, chapter 43 or under the adverse action provisions of
5 United States Code, chapter 75, which has no specific requirement
for an opportunity period. |
Frequently Asked Questions