Request for Salary Retention Within Grade Demotion

A former Navy employee requested salary retention because her demotion to a lower grade reduced her salary. The employee's original claim was denied on the basis that the employee had initiated the demotion and the employee's reassignment to a lower grade position did not appear to be a part of a formal training program primarily for the benefit of the Navy. The record showed that the employee applied for and was selected for the training position of Personnel Management Specialist under the Naval Publications and Forms Center's merit promotion plan. Under this plan, the employee was entitled to promotion to her current grade after satisfactorily completing a 1-year training period. Subsequently, the employee successfully completed the training period and was promoted to her former higher grade. The employee then claimed retained pay under Federal regulations which provide that employees demoted to positions for upward mobility programs are entitled to retained pay. GAO held that, since the employee applied for the lower grade position, she had essentially requested her demotion and under Federal regulations is not entitled to retained pay. Further, the employee has not met her burden of establishing that her demotion was initiated by the Navy to meet a special recruitment need or was part of a formal, systematic employee development program involving training to upgrade the agency's workforce. Accordingly, the claim was denied.