February 1997

Proposed RIF Regs Address Retention Credit Based on Performance

Changes to reduction in force (RIF) regulations have been proposed by OPM and published in the Federal Register on February 4, 1997. OPM's proposal:

• enhances the opportunity for Federal employees to receive additional retention service credit in a RIF based on their actual rather than assumed job performance;
• gives agencies with employees who have been rated under different patterns of summary rating levels a mechanism to take this into account when awarding employees additional retention service credit in a RIF; and
• provides technical clarifications on the use of critical and non-critical elements, the appraisal period, and delay of an acceptable level of competence determination.

Greater Use of Actual Performance. OPM has proposed to increase the emphasis on actual job performance when granting additional retention service credit:

• The period of time prior to the RIF which the agency uses to find the three most recent ratings of record will be lengthened over the next 2 years from 4 years to 6 years. For example, after 1997, if an employee has been given two ratings of record during the previous 4 years, a rating given in the fifth year prior to the RIF will be used to credit three actual ratings.
• Fewer assumed ratings will be needed. For employees with only one or two ratings available during the 6 years prior to the RIF, an average of only those actual ratings will be used to grant additional credit. If no ratings are available and an employee has one or more years of current continuous service, the rating given most often to employees under that summary level pattern (i.e., the modal rating) will be used to determine additional retention service credit after October 1997.)

Retention Service Credit. OPM proposes to delink specific amounts of additional service credit from specific rating levels when an agency has employees in a competitive area who have been rated under different patterns of summary rating levels. The proposed regulations give agencies the option to:

• set the amount of credit for each level within its pattern; and
• decentralize the authority to make these determinations to each competitive area.

However, if an agency has a RIF competitive area in which all employee ratings of record to be credited were given under the same pattern of summary levels, the agency will continue to use the current values for crediting performance in that RIF. In all cases, agencies must provide uniform and consistent treatment of employees in the same competitive area.

Technical Clarifications. At the same time RIF regulations are addressed, changes are proposed to the performance management regulations to clarify the following:

• critical elements may be used to measure only individual performance;
• non-critical elements may not be used in appraisal programs that summarize performance at only two levels (pass/fail); and
• each appraisal program may designate only one appraisal period that generally shall be 12 months in length.

• when an employee has not served under elements and standards for the minimum period specified by the pertinent appraisal program; or
• when an employee is reduced in grade because of unacceptable performance to a position in which he or she is eligible for a within-grade increase or will become eligible within the minimum period.