Claim for Retroactive Temporary Promotion and Backpay by Navy Department Employee

An employee of the Navy, Naval Electronic Systems Command, appealed an action of the GAO Claims Division denying her claim for a retroactive temporary promotion for 18 months. During this time, the employee served as a GS-6 Mail and File Clerk, but was assigned some message liaison duties, subsequently included in a GS-9 Management Assistant position filled by another person through competitive procedures. The employee contended that she was entitled to a retroactive temporary promotion to a GS-7 Management Assistant position because she performed the duties of a higher graded position. However, during the period in question, the employee's job assignment was not changed and she was not detailed to an established position at a higher grade. The employee's claim was disallowed because she had not been detailed to a higher position, a necessary condition under Civil Service Commission (CSC) regulations for such a promotion. Any error of classification was to be resolved between her agency and CSC. The employee's appeal stated that the duties she performed were those of higher graded positions, but the long-established rule has been that employees are entitled only to the salary of their appointed positions, regardless of the grade classification of the duties performed. The GS-7 position, to which the employee claimed temporary promotion, had not been established at the time involved in the complaint; therefore, since she could not have been detailed to a position which did not exist, the denial was sustained.