DOE HQ O 3300.1, Details, Temporary and Term Promotions

DISTRIBUTION: INITIATED BY: All Headquarters Elements Office of Personnel Federal Energy Regulatory commission (info) U.S. Department of Energy ORDER Washington, D.C. Approved: 11-21-83 SUBJECT: DETAILS, TEMPORARY AND TERM PROMOTIONS 1. PURPOSE. To establish the Headquarters procedures on details and temporary promotions. 2. SCOPE. The provisions of this Order apply to all Headquarters Elements, including the Office of the Inspector General (IG). 3. EXCLUSIONS. Headquarters employees engaged in training or developmental assignments as part of formal career and executive development programs, and employees in the Senior Executive Service, Presidential appointees, and employees occupying positions above the GS-15 grade level. 4. REFERENCES. a. DOE 3300.1, ASSIGNMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PERSONNEL OUTSIDE THE - DEPARTMENT, of 2-29-80, which establishes policy and provides for the assignment of DOE employees outside the Department. b. DOE 3750.1, WORK FORCE DISCIPLINE,. of 3-23-83, which provides guidance and procedures for maintaining work force discipline in the Department. c. DOE 3335.1, MERIT PROMOTION, of 8-5-80, which provides guidance for promotion and placement of employees. d. DOE 3771.1, GRIEVANCE POLICY AND PROCEDURES, of 7-2-81, which provides general policy guidance and instructions on the Department of Energy grievance system. e. Collective bargaining agreement between the Department of Energy Headquarters and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), Article 20, which contains, for certain Headquarters employees, information concerning when temporary assignments must be processed as temporary promotions instead of as details and additional merit promotion procedures. 5. DEFINITIONS. a. Detail is the temporary assignment of an employee for a specified period of time to a different position after which the employee is expected to HQ 3300.1 HQ 3300.1 11-21-83 2 b. c. return to his or her regular duties. An employee may be detailed to a position at the same, a higher, or a lower grade. Such a detail, however, does not affect grade, pay, or benefits. An employee may also be detailed to an unclassified position. Temporary Promotion is the promotion of an employee for a limited duration to an established position at a higher grade level than the position the employee permanently occupies. A temporary assignment to a higher graded position may be effected as either a detail or a temporary promotion. Term Promotion is the promotion of an employee for a specific limited term in excess of 2 years but not more than 4 years to a nonpermanent position specifically established to carry out a project or as part of a planned rotational system. 6. DETAILS WITHIN HEADQUARTERS. Authority. The branch chiefs of the servicing personnel operations branches in the Headquarters Personnel Operations Division, or for details in IG, the Executive Director of IG, are responsible for determining whether proposed details are consistent with regulatory and procedural guidelines. Details found not to be in compliance will not be approved and cannot be consummated until the required conditions are met. b. When Permitted. Details are intended to meet when necessary services cannot be obtained by practicable means. Details should be held to length of time. . c. When Prohibited. temporary workload needs other more desirable or the shortest practicable

(1) Except for an emergency detail of 30 days or less, an employee may not be detailed within the first 90 days after competitive appoint- ment from an Office of Personnel Management register. (2) An employee serving under a Schedule C authority in an excepted appointment may not be detailed to a position in the competitive service unless previously authorized by the Office of Personnel Management. d. Procedures. (1) A detail to another position in the Headquarters, if it is at the same grade level, in the same line of work and has substantially the same critical elements and performance standards, may be indefinite and need not be requested as a personne! action or documented. (2) A detail to a position in another Federal agency or outside of the executive branch must be processed in accordance with DOE 3300.1. HQ 3300.1 3 11-21-83 (3) (4) A detail within Headquarters for 30 days or less is not an official personnel action. Nevertheless, such a detail should be documented by means of a memorandum to the file, to be maintained by the supervisor of the detailed employee’s permanent position. If the detail is to a higher graded position for 30 days or less, it must be documented by means of a memorandum to the file. It is the parent organization’s responsibility to assure that such details are terminated before the 31st day or that action is initiated as required in paragraph 5d(4) as soon as it is determined that the detail will exceed 30 days. Details for more than 30 days must be processed as official personnel actions. Therefore, they must be requested on the Standard Form 52 (SF-52), “Request for Personnel Action.” Such requests should be submitted as soon as the permanent supervisor of a detailed employee or an employee about to be detailed becomes aware that the detail - will last for more than 30 days. The request should contain the signatures of the employee’s permanent supervisor and-the individual who will be the employee’s supervisor when the detail begins. Requests should be submitted to the appropriate servicing Headquarters personnel operations branch or to the Executive Director, IG, which- ever services the organization the employee is permanently assigned to. The request must be accompanied by appropriate justification. Approved details of more than 30 days shall be documented on the Standard Form 50 (SF-50), “Notification of Personnel Action.” (5) Details of 31 to 120 days to classified positions at the same or a lower grade may be extended for up to 1 year in 120-day increments. Requests for extensions must be processed in the same manner as original requests for details of more than 30 days. Details to unclassified positions cannot be extended beyond 120 days. (6) During a major reorganization, as determined by the Director of Administration, details to positions of a higher grade may be extended for up to 1 year in 120-day increments. Requests for extensions in this situation must be processed in the same manner as other requests for extensions. (7) When a major reorganization has not been determined to exist, details to positions of a higher grade may be extended for up to 240 days in 120-day increments. Requests for extensions in this situation must be processed in the same manner as other requests for extensions except that they must be submitted at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the first 120-day period and must include a justifi- cation describing the requirement for the extension, the reasons that alternate methods of filling the position are inappropriate, and a statement of the action that will be taken to eliminate the need for any further extension, since further extension is not permitted.

4 HQ 3300.1 11-21-83 (8) Competition is required for details of more than 120 days to positions at a higher grade or having known promotion potential. Competition is also required for details of shorter duration if, by the end of the detail period, the employee will have served for an aggregate of more than 120 days in the preceding 12 months in either temporary promotions or details to higher graded positions or to positions with known promotion potential. Competition shall include posting a vacancy announcement, ranking qualified candidates, and certifying the best qualified candidates to the selecting official as prescribed by merit promotion policies set forth in DOE 3335.1, and in the appropriate collective bargaining agreement. The appro- priate collective bargaining agreement must also be reviewed to see if it requires competition for details to higher graded positions of less than 120 days. 7. DETAILS OUTSIDE OF HEADQUARTERS. A detail between Headquarters and other Departmental Elements, Federal agencies, or outside the executive branch, is accomplished essentially as described above. In addition to the SF-52, requests for such details must be documented by a letter or memorandum identifying: the employee’s permanent position by title, series, and grade; the position to be occupied by title, series, and grade; the duties to be performed; the timekeeper for the position to be occupied; and the expected duration of the detail. For details to other Federal agencies or outside the executive branch, the letter must also state whether the detail will be reim- bursable or not. Documentation for reimbursable details must include a completed DOE F 4200.33, “Procurement Request-Authorization, ” and the salary and benefit costs of the detailee for the detail period must be stated. Details from Headquarters to other Federal agencies or outside the executive branch must be approved by the Secretary or Deputy Secretary. See DOE 3300.1 for further information. 8. TEMPORARY PROMOTIONS. a. Authority. Temporary promotions are authorized by the servicing Headquarters personnel operations branch chief, or when appropriate, the Executive Director, IG, in the same manner as other personnel actions. b. When Permitted. (1) Temporary promotions are used to compensate employees for higher graded duties performed for a limited duration when necessary services cannot be obtained by other more desirable or practicable means. (2) The employee must meet the qualification requirements and be other- wise eligible for the higher level position and is paid at the higher level while so assigned. The employee must meet the requirements of the Handbook X-118, “Qualification Standards for Positions Under the General Schedule,” or the X-118C, “Job Qualification System for Trades and Labor Occupations," as well as possess any other knowledge, skills, and abilities required by the position, and must meet the HQ 3300.1 11-21-83 time-in-grade requirement for promotion. (3) The appropriate collective bargaining agreement must be reviewed to see when temporary assignments to higher graded positions must be processed as temporary promotions, and not as details. c. Procedures. (1) Documentation. Initial temporary promotions, extensions, and terminations must be requested on an SF-52 with appropriate justification attached. These requests must be sent to the appropriate servicing Headquarters personnel operations branch or, for IG action, to the Executive Director, IG. Approved temporary promotions are documented on the SF-50 which also is prepared when temporary promotions are extended or terminated.

(2) The appropriate collective bargaining agreement must be reviewed to determine when competitive procedures must be used to effect temporary promotions. If the agreement does not state otherwise, or if the employee is not covered by an agreement, temporary promotions of less than 120 days do not require competition. Competitive selection is also required for temporary promotions if, by the end of the temporary promotion period, the employee will have served more than 120 days in the preceding 12 months in either temporary promotions or in details to positions at higher grades or having known promotion potential. Competition shall include posting a vacancy announcement, ranking eligible candidates, and certifying the best qualified candidates to the selecting official. (3) The initial period of temporary promotion may not exceed 1 year. At the end of the year, the situation must be reviewed by the servicing Headquarters personnel operations branch or, for an IG action, the Executive Director, IG, to assure that a temporary promotion is still appropriate. If the requirement still exists, the temporary promotion may be extended for up to 1 additional year with the approval of the Director of Headquarters Personnel Operations or, for IG actions, the Executive Director, IG. (4) Extension of a temporary promotion beyond 2 years requires the prior approval of the Office of Personnel Management. If a temporary promotion will be required for more than 2 years, a justification must be submitted to the appropriate servicing Headquarters personnel operations branch chief, or for IG actions, to the Executive Director, IG, at least 60 days prior to the end of the 2-year period. The justification shall contain: the length of extension required; the reason the situation is temporary; why alternate methods of filling the position are inappropriate; and discussion of the job from which the employee is temporarily promoted and what impact its vacant status creates. HQ 3300.1 11-21-83 (5) (6) (7) An employee selected for a temporary promotion must be informed in writing of the temporary nature of the promotion and assured of being returned to his or her regular position when no longer needed in the higher grade, whether or not the expected period has ended. A statement documenting the above will be typed in the remarks section of the SF-50, “Notification of Personnel Action,” and a copy will be placed in the employee’s official personnel folder. Neither adverse action nor reduction-in-force procedures apply when a temporary promotion is ended within 2 years and the employee is returned to his or her regular position or placed with the employee’s consent and without time limit in a different position in a grade no lower than the employee’s regular position. If a temporary promotion lasts more than 2 years, it must be terminated by use of the adverse action procedures indicated in DOE 3750.1, Chapter III, “Nondisciplinary Adverse Actions.” Competitive promotion procedures apply when making a temporary promotion permanent, except that if the temporary promotion was made initially under competitive procedures and the fact that it might lead to a permanent promotion was made known to all candidates, the employee’s temporary promotion may be converted to a permanent one without further competition. 3. TERM PROMOTIONS. (1) (2) (3)

A term promotion may be made only if approved by the Director of Personnel. Such promotions must be made competitively using merit promotion procedures. A position description which reflects the temporary nature of the duties must be established. If the duties become permanent, the term promotion must be terminated and the position must be reestablished as a permanent one and filled under competitive procedures. Each employee promoted under this authority must sign a written agreement which indicates the duration of the promotion; the nature of the assign- ment; that the employee will be returned to the original position from which promoted, or one at the same grade and with the same promotion potential, at the conclusion of the project or the termination of the specified rotation period; and that the “return to the former or equivalent position will not be subject to adverse action procedures or reduction-in- force procedures. If the employee is not in a bargaining unit, the agreement must also state that termination of the promotion at the conclusion of the project or the end of the specified rotation period is not grievable under DOE 3771.1. If an employee is returned to the position from which promoted, or one at the same grade and with the same promotion potential, if any, before the conclusion of the project or the end of the specified rotation period, the adverse action procedures found in DOE 3750.1, must be used, and the termination of the promotion is grievable under the appropriate procedure. HQ 3300.1 11-21-83 7 (and 8) (4) Term promotions and terminations of term promotions must be requested on an SF-52 with appropriate justification attached. These requests must be submitted to the appropriate servicing Headquarters personnel operations branch or, for IG actions, the Executive Director, IG. Approved term promotions are documented on the SF-50, which also is prepared when a . term promotion is terminated. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY: HARRY L. PEEBLES Deputy Director of Administration