Review of Disallowance of Claim for Retroactive Temporary Promotion

A retired employee requested a review of the disallowance of his claim for a retroactive temporary promotion and backpay. The appeal, made by a union representative, was based on apparent inconsistencies among various documents in the record of the case. The union questioned the denial of the claim because of a Claims Division letter which stated that the claim should be settled and an agency Disposition of Claim which showed that the employee was due $67.19, an amount less than that claimed by him. The GS-4 employee claimed a temporary promotion with backpay to a GS-5 postion for over 3 years. For part of that period he was detailed to a second GS-4 position. The Civil Service Commission (CSC) approved the extension of that detail for another 6 months and he was officially detailed to a GS-4 position until he was permanently reassigned to a GS-4 postion which he occupied until his retirement. In a previous decision, it was held that an employee detailed to a higher-graded position for more than 120 days without prior CSC approval is entitled to a retroactive temporary promotion and backpay from the 121st day of the detail until its termination. Since the record did not show that the employee in this case was detailed to a position higher than GS-4, his claim was not allowable under that decision. Regarding the Claims Division letter, its language meant that the agency should rule on the merits of this claim by applying the legal principles contained in the cited decision. The Disposition of Claim form simply contained an amount which the agency believed would be payable to the employee if it were determined that his claim was allowable. Accordingly, the disallowance of the claim was sustained.