B-146616, AUG. 29, 1961

B-146616, AUG. 29, 1961

TO AUTHORIZED CERTIFYING OFFICER, SOUTHWESTERN POWER ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR:

YOUR LETTER OF AUGUST 4, 1961, WITH ENCLOSURES, REQUESTS OUR DECISION AS TO WHETHER YOU MAY CERTIFY FOR PAYMENT A VOUCHER IN FAVOR OF MR. LEON C. BEVINS FOR $332.80 REPRESENTING A STEP INCREASE WHICH HE ALLEGES HE SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED AT THE TIME OF HIS REPROMOTION.

ON DECEMBER 30, 1956, MR. BEVINS OCCUPIED A POSITION IN THE OFFICE OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AT A GRADE GS-9, $5,440 PER ANNUM, AND ON DECEMBER 29, 1957, HE WAS GIVEN A PERIODIC STEP INCREASE TO $5,575 PER ANNUM, THE SECOND STEP IN GRADE GS-9. UNDER THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEES SALARY INCREASE ACT OF 1958, MR. BEVINS' SALARY WAS INCREASED TO $6,135 PER ANNUM, EFFECTIVE JULY 12, 1958. AT HIS REQUEST, EFFECTIVE JULY 26, 1958, HE WAS REDUCED TO GRADE GS-7, $5,880 PER ANNUM, THE TOP STEP IN THE GRADE, WITH THE SOUTHWESTERN POWER ADMINISTRATION. AS OF JULY 12, 1959 HE WAS REPROMOTED TO THE SECOND STEP OF GRADE GS-9, $6,135 PER ANNUM, AND ON JULY 10, 1960, HE WAS GIVEN A PERIODIC PAY INCREASE TO THE THIRD STEP OF GRADE GS-9, $6,285 PER ANNUM.

YOU SAY THAT THE EMPLOYEE HAS SUBMITTED A VOUCHER CLAIMING THAT ON JULY 12, 1959, WHEN HE WAS REPROMOTED TO GRADE GS-9, HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE THIRD STEP OF THAT GRADE, $6,285 PER ANNUM, BECAUSE HE HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN AN EQUIVALENT INCREASE IN SALARY FOR MORE THAN 52 WEEKS (FROM DECEMBER 29, 1957, TO JULY 12, 1959) AND WAS ENTITLED TO THE PERIODIC PAY INCREASE AND THE PROMOTION ON THE SAME DAY.

ALSO, YOU REQUEST TO BE INFORMED WHETHER--- SHOULD MR. BEVINS' CLAIM BE DENIED--- THE 30 WEEKS OF PRIOR SERVICE IN THE SECOND STEP OF GRADE GS-9 MAY BE CREDITED TOWARD A PERIODIC STEP INCREASE SUBSEQUENT TO HIS REPROMOTION TO THAT GRADE. YOU SAY THAT SUCH CREDIT WOULD ENTITLE HIM TO A STEP INCREASE, EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 13, 1959.

SECTIONS 25.11 (D) AND (E) OF THE FEDERAL PERSONNEL MANUAL, PAGES Z1- 314.01 AND Z1-315, PROVIDE IN PERTINENT PART AS FOLLOWS:

"/D) WAITING PERIOD IS THE MINIMUM TIME REQUIREMENT OF CREDITABLE SERVICE WITHOUT AN EQUIVALENT INCREASE IN COMPENSATION IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION FOR A PERIODIC STEP-INCREASE. * * *

"/E) EQUIVALENT INCREASE IN COMPENSATION IS THE TOTAL OF ANY INCREASE OR INCREASES IN BASIC COMPENSATION WHICH IS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN THE SMALLEST STEP-INCREASE IN ANY GRADE IN WHICH THE EMPLOYEE HAS SERVED A PERIOD UNDER CONSIDERATION. * * *"

AN INCREASE IN COMPENSATION RESULTING FROM A PROMOTION TO A HIGHER GRADE IS NOT WITHIN THE EXCEPTIONS TO THE ABOVE QUOTED GENERAL RULE. THUS, THE INCREASE IN COMPENSATION OF $255 PER ANNUM RECEIVED BY MR. BERVINS UPON HIS REPROMOTION ON JULY 12, 1959, MUST BE CONSIDERED TO BE AN EQUIVALENT INCREASE WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE CITED REGULATIONS AND THE RECEIPT OF THAT EQUIVALENT INCREASE OPERATES TO PRECLUDE THE COUNTING OF THE 30 WEEKS OF SERVICE PREVIOUSLY RENDERED IN GRADE GS-9 FOR STEP-INCREASE PURPOSES. SEE 27 COMP. GEN. 59; 34 ID. 209. DISTINGUISH 39 COMP. GEN. 211.

THEREFORE, MR. BEVINS PROPERLY WAS REQUIRED TO SERVE THE WAITING TIME OF 52 CALENDAR WEEKS FROM THE DATE HE WAS REPROMOTED TO GRADE GS 9 BEFORE HE BECAME ENTITLED TO A PERIODIC STEP-INCREASE TO THE THIRD STEP OF GRADE GS- 9.

ANY SERVICE RENDERED BY MR. BEVINS WHILE AT THE MAXIMUM RATE OF GRADE GS- 7 MAY HAVE BEEN CREDITABLE TOWARD A LONGEVITY STEP IN THAT GRADE. HOWEVER, CREDIT FOR THAT SERVICE WAS LOST UPON REPROMOTION BECAUSE SUCH REPROMOTION RESULTED IN AN INCREASE IN GRADE WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF SECTION 702 (A) OF THE CLASSIFICATION ACT OF 1949, AS AMENDED, 5 U.S.C. 1123 (A). 35 COMP. GEN. 121, 123.

THE VOUCHER WHICH, TOGETHER WITH THE ENCLOSURE, IS RETURNED, MAY NOT BE CERTIFIED FOR PAYMENT.