Detail to Excepted Position

An employee was detailed from a competitive service position to an excepted service position. The employee was subsequently promoted to that position and claimed retroactive temporary promotion and backpay. GAO denied the claim. On appeal the claimant argued that he was serving in a competitive service position at the time of his detail and that since he was detailed to an expected service position, his promotion to this supergrade position would be subject to Civil Service Commission (CSC) approval. The employee was detailed from a competitive position to an excepted service position, however, such a detail would not come within the scope of GAO decisions. Further, this detail apparently did not comply with CSC regulations which prohibit an agency from appointing or converting an employee from the competitive to the excepted service until the employee has been informed of the nature of the action and he has submitted a written statement that he is leaving the competitive service voluntarily. GAO has held that an employee must satisfy the statutory and regulatory requirements for a temporary promotion or there will be no remedy for an improperly extended detail. Since the claimant's detail did not comply with the regulations governing appointment to the excepted service, the claimant was not entitled to a retroactive promotion for his overlong detail.