Performance Management Performance Management FAQs

Performance Management - Performance Based Actions

• What happens to a performance-based action if an agency changes its appraisal program while the action is still in progress? View more
  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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• Do the appraisal regulations require an agency to give an employee with unacceptable performance an opportunity to improve before proposing an adverse action? View more
  It depends on the provisions the agency chooses to use in taking the performnace-based action. If the agency uses the appraisal provisions, an opportunity period must be provided. If the agency uses the adverse action provisions, there is no specific requirement for an opportunity period.
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• Can an agency delay a within-grade determination while an employee completes a performance improvement period (PIP) if no rating of record was given at the beginning of the PIP? View more
  No. The regulations specifically restrict the delay of a within-grade determination to two conditions. Permitting the delay of a within-grade determination for employees completing a PIP would give an unfair advantage to an employee whose performance has been determined to be unacceptable (a condition upon which the PIP is based) over employees whose most recent rating of record is Level 2 (marginal, minimally successful, etc.) and who are not eligible for a within-grade increase. There is no requirement to give an employee a rating of record before beginning a PIP. If a within-grade increase determination is due during an employee's PIP, the agency needs to make sure it reviews the employee's most recent rating of record and determines whether a new rating of record is needed to support the within-grade decision. If the last rating of record does not support a within-grade denial, a new rating of record must be given for that purpose. If the agency chooses to use the last rating of record of Level 3 (Fully Successful or equivalent) or better and grant the within-grade, they need to realize they are certifying the employee as performing at that level and jeopardizing any future performance-based action that might have been based on performance during that time period.
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• What should an agency do with any opportunity period or performance improvement plan (PIP) that is in progress when a program is changed? View more
  If neither the performance standards nor the retention level communicated to the employee at the start of the PIP have changed, the agency should be able to proceed with the opportunity period or PIP. However, a substantive change in standards or the retention level would require that the current PIP end.
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