Detail to Higher-Graded Position

An employee requested reconsideration of his claim for retroactive temporary promotion and backpay which was disallowed by the Claims Division. The denial was based on the employee's failure to demonstrate in fact that he was detailed to a higher position. To support his appeal, the employee submitted additional certification letters signed by employees at his facility and copies of leave applications which he had approved as proof of his performance of the higher-grade duties during the period of his claim. However, this was insufficient evidence to establish that he was officially detailed to the higher-grade position during the period claimed. Regulations require that details in excess of 30 days be recorded on appropriate forms and filed in the employee's Official Personnel Folder. In the absence of such forms, other acceptable documentation includes official personnel documents, official memoranda of assignment, or a written statement from the person who supervised the employee during the period in question. The record showed that the employee's supervisor specifically directed him not to perform the higher-grade duties and therefore, GAO concluded that he was not assigned to the higher-grade position. Because the employee failed to meet the burden of proof necessary to prove that he was detailed to a higher-grade position, the prior decision was sustained.