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An appraisal system describes the general policies and parameters for the administration of performance appraisal programs in the agency. An appraisal program is the specific procedures, methods, and requirements for planning, monitoring, and rating performance. Programs have to be designed within the boundaries of the system but can be tailored to the needs of the organization.
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No. Each program must use a single pattern of summary levels. To use different summary patterns, agencies must define separate programs and employee coverage to which a single pattern applies. However, more than one program can use the same summary pattern.
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Governmentwide performance management regulations do not specifically designate who has the authority to assign a rating of record. The agency will determine who has this authority.
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Yes. Agencies can authorize the development of separate appraisal programs under the framework of their appraisal system. This would allow their various subcomponents or subpopulations to determine how best to address their needs and cultures and more effectively manage individual and organizational performance by tailoring specific appraisal procedures and requirements to mission and work technology.
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Governmentwide regulations do not specify a minimum amount of time a supervisor must be on the job before he/she may rate an employee. Agency performance appraisal programs may require a minimum amount of time the supervisor must be on the job before rating an employee.
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Yes. Governmentwide regulations define a rating of record as the performance rating completed at the end of the appraisal period that reflects performance over the entire period, or an off-cycle rating of record given when a within-grade increase (WGI) decision is not consistent with the employee's most recent rating of record and a more current rating of record must be prepared. These are the only times that a rating of record can be issued.
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If a notice of proposed action has been given to the employee, a change to an appraisal program should have no effect on the action. Regulations contain a specific provision, called the "savings provision," that safeguards administrative procedures pending under a previously approved appraisal program, from being disrupted by the implementation of new programs covered by these regulations. OPM's system approval procedures require agency appraisal programs to have a similar provision to safeguard pending administrative procedures when programs change.
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No. Both a performance rating and a rating of record involve the evaluation of an employee's performance against all the elements and standards in the performance plan. At any time during the appraisal period, an agency can make the determination that an employee's performance is unacceptable on one or more critical elements. This determination is sufficient to begin the process that could lead to a performance-based action if the employee's performance fails to improve to an acceptable level.
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Ideally, an agency would close out the current appraisal period and issue ratings of record at the time specified under the existing appraisal program and then begin the next appraisal period under the terms of the new program.
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Yes. Agencies may use any procedures they deem appropriate for considering performance when granting awards and taking other personnel actions, with the following exceptions: assigning additional service credit in a reduction in force and granting within-grade increases for General Schedule employees and prevailing rate system employees, which are tied to ratings of record and performance ratings respectively.
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No. OPM must review and approve the agency's appraisal system, which sets out the limits within which all the agency's programs must be developed. OPM must approve the appraisal system before any appraisal program developed under the system can be implemented.
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At a minimum, these four features must have a single definition for each program:
- employee coverage
- appraisal period length
- pattern of summary levels for ratings of record
- summary level derivation method
If multiple definitions are intended for any one of these features, separate programs must be established.
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The minimum period is the shortest length of time established by the agency that an employee must perform under assigned elements and standards before a performance rating can be prepared. The appraisal period is length of time designated by the agency (usually one year) that is the basis for the rating of record.
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Agencies are encouraged to involve employees in the design and implementation of their appraisal programs, award programs, and employee performance plans. Of course, where a union has been granted exclusive recognition, such involvement for bargaining unit employees must be through their elected union representatives.
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An agency program must specify the length of its
minimum period and that minimum must fall within any limits established by the agency appraisal system. When an agency decides to use the minimum period as the length of the opportunity period, the minimum period is one of the program features that may be subject to third-party review. Agencies are advised to be careful in determining the time limits to be used and avoid setting minimum periods that might be judged unreasonably short.
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No. Regulations do not require that the appraisal period be ended to change appraisal programs. However, agencies need to remember that the regulations permit only a single rating of record in a given appraisal period.
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The regulations specify that appraisal periods shall generally be designated so that employees are provided a rating of record annually. Agencies may establish different appraisal cycles (starting and ending dates) for different employees under the same appraisal period.
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No. The statute requires that each employee be appraised against his or her performance standard(s). It does not allow for appraising an employee by "presuming" that an employee is meeting performance standards. For the same reason, the process for appraising employees described by the regulations does not provide for any "assumed" levels of performance.
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Agencies must look at the nature of the work done by various organizations and determine what length of time is appropriate as the basis for measuring employee performance. Agencies are encouraged to designate a single appraisal period (i.e., 1 year) as the standard appraisal period throughout the agency, with the built-in flexibility to accommodate individual or mass transitions between programs. Otherwise, an agency system must define any limits (maximum length, minimum length, or acceptable range) within which it will permit appraisal programs to select their appraisal periods.
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No. The level designators (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, Level 5) described in Governmentwide regulations address summary levels only. An agency appraisal program can be designed to appraise elements using a mix of rating levels. For example, critical elements might be appraised at five levels and non-critical elements appraised as pass/fail. A methodology for deriving a summary rating must be in place, however. Agencies have flexibility to determine how their elements are appraised and their particular program design choices that agencies and their subcomponents make should reflect their own situations and needs.
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