Federal Daily - November 11, 2008

OPM Eliminates Time-in-Grade Restriction

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a final rule that eliminates the one-year time-in-grade restriction for employees at General Schedule (GS) grade 5 and above who want to compete for a new job at a higher grade. The new rule scraps the old requirement which said that employees must serve in their grades at least 52 weeks before being eligible for promotion to the next grade. The final rule change was announced in a Nov. 7 Federal Register notice and goes into affect March 9. In comments sent to OPM, several writers expressed concern that elimination of the 52-week requirement would harm the promotion of minorities and veterans. However, OPM noted that removing the restriction would apply to all employees equally, and that certain groups, such as minorities and veterans, would not be adversely impacted. OPM received comments from seven agencies, five unions, one national employee organization and 33 individuals. Some expressed concerns that elimination of the requirement could allow some managers to promote their favorite employees, or that the move could lead to GS “grade creep.” OPM said such criticism is unfounded, and that managers “are obligated to make promotion decisions based on an individual’s experience and/or knowledge, skills, and abilities relative to the qualification standard for the position,” according to the notice. To see more, go to: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-26559.htm.

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DoD, VA Announce Expansion of DES Pilot Effort

DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Nov. 7 announced the expansion of the Disability Evaluation System (DES) pilot program that streamlines disability evaluations for wounded servicemembers leaving the military. The pilot program, which originated last year in three major military treatment facilities around Washington, D.C., will expand to 19 installations across the country, representing all military departments. About 700 servicemembers have participated in the pilot program over the last 10 months. The pilot program implemented a new process eliminating duplicative and sometimes confusing elements of the two current disability processes of DoD and VA. Key features of the DES pilot include one medical examination and a single-sourced disability rating, the agencies said. “The program expansion will allow wounded warriors a smoother and more efficient transition to getting services from the VA,” said Tom Pamperin, deputy director of VA’s Compensation and Pension Service. The initial phase of the expansion started on Oct. 1, with Fort Meade, Md., and Fort Belvoir, Va. The remaining 17 installations will be phased in during an eight-month period ending next May, the agencies said. To see more, go to: www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12339 or http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1614.

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USPS Cancels Iowa Consolidation Plan

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has canceled yet another plan to consolidate mail processing operations, this one a proposed consolidation in western Iowa that would have meant closing the Sioux City, Iowa, processing center and displacing about half of the facility’s 100 workers. USPS also said it had abandoned a plan to haul mail from its Aberdeen, S.D., Customer Service Mail Processing Center to the Dakota Central facility in Huron, about 90 miles south of Aberdeen. The decisions were detailed in a Nov. 7 statement posted online by the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), which applauded the move. “It’s the end of yet another Postal Service plan to disproportionately help big corporate special interests such as advertising mailers who presort their mail at the expense of local business owners and citizens,” said APWU President William Burrus. To see more, go to: www.apwu.org/news/webart/2008/08105-consol_ia-081107.htm.

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