United States

Office of Personnel Management

Office of Merit Systems Oversight and Effectiveness

Digest of Significant Classification Decisions and Opinions

November 1992

No. 17-03

Standard:	N/A

Factor:	N/A

Issue:	Back-up Duties

Identification of the Classification Issue

This issue arose in an Office of Personnel Management region's adjudication of a classification appeal concerning a mixed-series Wage Grade job. The appellant contended that the WG-5409 Water Treatment Plant Operator component of his job should be given an additional grade because of what he considered his shift responsibilities at another plant. The appellant was not regularly assigned to the other plant. He was responsible for the plant only on weekends, and then only in the absence of its regular operator. A supervisor was not present during these times. The Water Treatment Plant Operator standard (May 1992) provides for awarding one additional grade to jobs when workers assume additional responsibility on shifts during which a supervisor is not present. The issue was whether this provision also applied to the discharge of the appellant's responsibilities at the other plant.

Resolution

Part 1 of the Job Grading System for Trades and Labor Occupations states that duties performed only in the absence of another employee or to meet emergency workloads should not be considered as regular and recurring duties when grading mixed jobs. Since the appellant's duties at the other plant were performed only in the absence of the regular operator, and because they were performed infrequently and irregularly, they could not be considered as a regular and recurring part of his job. The provision for awarding credit for shift responsibility was found not to apply to the appellant's responsibilities at the other plant because these responsibilities could not be considered when grading his job.