Claim for Retroactive Backpay

An authorized certifying officer of the Department of Agriculture requested a decision as to whether a former summer employee of the Forest Service was entitled to backpay. The employee in question was offered a summer job under a Forest Service student program after being recruited through her university. Her appointment letter specified a GS grade and the corresponding hourly rate of pay. Subsequent to accepting the position and traveling to the job site, the claimant was told that she did not in fact qualify for the GS grade specified in her appointment letter; she was therefore employed at the next lower grade with a lower hourly rate of pay. The claimant contended that the Forest Service error entitled her to backpay representing the difference between the rate specified in her letter and the rate at which she was actually appointed, since she might have accepted another job had she known the wage would be lower than specified. GAO stated that agencies are required to place applicants into the appropriate qualifying grade level when rating applications. In this case, when the error was discovered, the Forest Service correctly replaced the claimant at the proper level. GAO found no evidence in the record of any nondiscretionary policy or regulation violated by the Forest Service in making the employee's appointment at the lower grade. Accordingly, the former employee's claim for the difference in salary between the two grade levels may not be paid.