Request for Retroactive Temporary Promotion With Backpay

An employee of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs appealed a prior settlement of his claim for a retroactive promotion with backpay. The employee was detailed to a retired employee's position, who had been compensated at a GS-15 level. The claimant was paid at the GS-12 rate during his detail to the higher grade position. He was then promoted competitively to a GS-13 position. An employee improperly detailed for an extended period, who fails to meet the time-in-grade requirements would not become entitled to retroactive temporary promotion until such time-in-grade requirements were satisfied. Furthermore, the position to which the individual is detailed must be an established one, classified under an occupational standard to a particular grade or pay level. The issues in this case were whether the employee was qualified for temporary promotion on and after the time he was assigned to perform higher grade duties, and whether there were higher grade positions to which he could have been promoted. Since the Civil Service Commission held that the claimant's position was correctly classified at a GS-13 level, any claim for pay in excess of the pay for that grade may not be allowed. The prior decision was sustained.