Claim for Retroactive Pay and Grade Retention

GAO reviewed a Claims Division decision which denied an employee of the Department of the Air Force claim for retroactive pay and grade retention. The employee contended that the settlement was erroneous because he was provided with specific notice by the appropriate official of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that NASA was planning to reassign him at the same grade at another location. He said he accepted a lower-grade position with the Air Force on the basis of declining to transfer to the other location with NASA. GAO believed that he was not placed in a lower-grade position as a result of declining to transfer with his function, but rather as a personal request. The implementing regulations expressly provide that grade and pay retention do not apply to an employee who is reduced in grade at his own request. Accordingly, the employee was not entitled to retained grade and pay in connection with his acceptance of a lower-grade position with the Air Force.