Appeal of Denial of Claim for Retroactive Promotion and Backpay

A Federal employee appealed the denial of his claim for a retroactive temporary promotion and backpay by the Claims Division. The employee predicated his claim on a decision which held that, if an employee is detailed to a position classified in a higher grade for a period in excess of 120 days without Office of Personnel Management approval, he is entitled to a retroactive temporary promotion and backpay, provided that the employee has met all of the qualifications for such a promotion. However, there is no entitlement to backpay for a period of claimed wrongful classification. An employee is entitled to receive only the salary of the position to which he is appointed, even though he may have performed duties of another position or believes that he should have been placed in a higher grade. The record indicated that the higher grade position was not classified for the employee's region until after the period covered by the claim and after the position had been resubmitted for classification with proposed changes. The existence of classified positions in other regions with the same titles or designations and with the same duties does not satisfy the requirement that a position be classified as to title, series, and grade by a duly authorized agency official or by the Office of Personnel Management. Since there was no classified position encompassing the duties the employee performed during the period covered by his claim, his claim was denied. Even if his position was improperly classified during the period of the claim, the employee could not be awarded backpay. The Claims Division disallowance of the claim was sustained.