1. GENERAL: All personnel actions involving career progression shall be consonant with the spirit and intent of the merit system and the Civil Service Reform Act. The Employer will respond to the Union's requests for information concerning the staffing of vacancies within the bargaining unit. When appropriate, the Employer agrees to include information in training sessions for bargaining unit employees to enhance their understanding of the merit system and to assure fair promotion procedures. The Employer will ensure that all qualified employees have equal opportunity for promotion in accordance with Article 17 of this Agreement.
2. VACANCIES: Vacancy announcements shall be appropriately publicized so that all employees have an equal opportunity to compete. The Union shall be furnished with copies of all announcements of bargaining unit vacancies concurrently with their posting.
a. When a position is to be filled under the provisions of the Merit Promotion Plan, it shall be fully identified as to grade, title, organizational location, and whether permanent or temporary. If a position is announced as temporary and the announcement does not state that it may become permanent, the position will be announced again if it does become permanent.3. EVALUATION PANELS:b. The qualification requirements and selective placement factors for positions to be filled through merit promotion procedures shall be fully relevant to such positions.
c. Merit Promotion procedures will apply to selection by transfer, reinstatement or reassignment to positions with known promotion potential greater than present position of candidate or position last held in the competitive service.
d. Bargaining unit job opportunity announcements will be open for three (3) weeks from the date of the announcement.
a. When there are ten or more qualified candidates, a Merit Promotion Panel will be convened to evaluate and rank candidates on job related factors.4. PROMOTION EVALUATION FACTORS: Factors and weights used by the Employer to rank candidates must be fair, job related, applied equitably and form the sole basis for determining best qualified individuals in the merit promotion plan. Employees have the right to review and have copies upon request of the factors and weights for positions for which they are applying.b. When there are fewer than ten qualified candidates, no Merit Promotion Panel will be convened.
5. SELECTIONS: The selecting official may choose any candidate from the best qualified list.
6. NON-SELECTED EMPLOYEE RIGHTS: A non-selected employee who requests information regarding non-selection for a bargaining unit position advertised in accordance with the Department of State's Merit Promotion Plan may request representation by the Union. The following information about specific promotion actions shall be made available to an employee and/or representative upon request:
a. Whether the employee was considered for promotion, and, if so, whether he/she was eligible on the basis of the minimum qualification requirements for the position;7. CAREER LADDER PROMOTIONS:b. Whether the employee was one of those in the group from which the selection was made;
c. Who was selected for the promotion; and
d. In what area, if any, the employee should improve to increase chances of future consideration.
e. Union representatives shall be allowed to review any document used in the filling of vacancies where the Union demonstrates that a “particularized need” meets the criteria of FLRA case law and, in accordance with that criteria, is not in conflict with applicable law.
f. Any employee who has a complaint, for which the only basis is that he/she was not selected from a group of properly ranked and certified candidates, does not have a valid grievance.
a. Any employee, upon being assigned to a career ladder position, will be given a position description as required by section 1 of Article 14. The Employer will make available for employee reference, position descriptions and performance plans for all bargaining unit positions in the office. The plans indicate the level of performance expected of an employee at the next grade level. The time-in-grade requirement for a two grade career ladder position is one year.8. DEMOTION: If the Employer proposes to demote an employee(s) without personal cause due to reclassification or reduction in force and not at his/her own request, the Employer will notify the Union and give the Union and opportunity to negotiate as appropriate prior to taking such action.b. While it is the employee who is responsible for demonstrating ability to satisfactorily perform at the next higher level, the Employer will make a reasonable effort to assist employees who have not yet reached the full-performance level of a career ladder position. The employee’s readiness to be promoted will be addressed during the job performance discussions held under Article 18. Supervisors may also make such assessments at any other time during the year.
(1) For an employee who does not yet have the required time-in-grade, during the job performance discussion a date will be established for the supervisor and the employee to discuss what area(s), if any, the employee need to improve in order to be promoted. That date will be at least 90 days before the date the employee reaches his/her time-in-grade eligibility for promotion.c. If the employee is making progress, the supervisor will make a serious effort for the employee to have the opportunity to acquire pertinent skills and knowledge and to demonstrate performance that consistently meets promotion requirements as soon as is feasible. At the request of the employee, the Union may provide assistance. The employee may request a progress discussion at any time.(2) An employee who has the required time-in-grade, but has not yet demonstrated the ability to satisfactorily perform in all elements at the higher level, would have been informed of the area(s) that must be improved in order to be promoted by the supervisor during the job performance discussions stated above. Employees who have at least 18 months time-in-grade may request and receive in writing a list of areas to be improved in order to be promoted.
(3) Although paperwork is the first responsibility of the supervisor, employees should ask their supervisors at least 2 pay periods prior to the date the promotion is due as to whether the paperwork has been submitted. The employee will be provided a copy of the recommendation for promotion when it is submitted.
d. When an employee is rated fully successful or higher, has required time-in-grade for promotion and has demonstrated ability to perform satisfactorily at the next higher level in the career ladder, the supervisor will promptly recommend promotion. The promotion will be effective within two pay periods after these requirements have been met. In the event the processing is not timely after receipt in CA/EX/HRD, the promotion will be retroactive to meet the timeframe above.
e. Generally, if the employee is exceeding all work requirements at his/her current grade level, that is an indication that the employee is capable of performing at the higher grade level. Employees who have met the required time-in-grade for promotion from GS-5 to GS-7 and from GS-7 to GS-9 will automatically receive their promotions at the earliest eligibility date if they have obtained an Excellent or Outstanding overall performance rating at their current grade level.
9. DETAILS:
a. Manner: In the interest of effective employee utilization, details to positions or work assignments requiring higher or different skills will be based upon bona fide needs and will be consonant with the spirit and intent of this Article, applicable regula-tions and the merit system. Details may be used to meet emergencies or other situations such as occasioned by abnormal workload, changes in mission or organization, or absences of personnel.10. TEMPORARY PROMOTION: If an employee is detailed to a higher graded position, the employee will be paid at the higher grade if:b. Official Credit: Details in excess of thirty (30) consecutive days shall be recorded in the employee's Official Personnel File, and copies forwarded to the employee. Any detail may be recorded by memo to the employee’s Official Personnel File at the request of the employee.
c. Intent: The detail procedure shall not become a device to afford certain individuals an undue opportunity to gain qualifying experience or to prevent others from gaining such experience. Therefore, details shall be rotated to the fullest extent practicable consistent with the accomplishment of the mission of the Employer.
a. the employee meets the basic qualifications of the position;11. REASSIGNMENT: A reassignment is a change of an employee from a job with one position description to a job with another position description without a promotion or demotion, while serving continuously with the Employer. Employees reassigned to another position description at the same grade level shall be notified as soon as possible prior to the reassignment. If an employee is involuntarily reassigned, the Employer will explain the reasons why that particular employee must be reassigned versus other employees.b. the employee is performing at an acceptable level of competence in his/her permanent position; and
c. the employee’s detail is in excess of 30 days.
12. TRANSFERS:
a. When a new work location or subunit is established within Passport Services that is to be staffed by bargaining unit employees, and the Employer determines to fill bargaining unit positions by transferring unit employees from another Passport location, the Employer will transfer qualified volunteers prior to involuntarily transferring employees. Where an employee must be involuntarily transferred, the Employer will conduct an adverse action using RIF procedures; the use of service computation dates (SCD) would be used, with the employee having the lowest SCD being reassigned.b. Transfers shall not be used coercively or as a reprisal, and shall not be approved or denied for any discriminatory reason.