The performance appraisal system shall establish performance standards which will permit a fair, accurate, and objective evaluation of job performance. Each employee's evaluation shall be directly related to his official duties. Management, as required, shall provide assistance to employees in meeting their performance standards. Performance appraisals shall be a basis for decisions to train, reward, reassign, promote, demote, retain, or remove employees for reasons other than misconduct.

SECTION 19.02: Critical and non-critical elements shall be consistent with the current position description. Critical elements will be related to the major duties of a position. Critical and non-critical elements shall be communicated in writing to each employee at the beginning of the rating period and documented on an appropriate Form. The original copy will be given to the employee and the supervisor will retain a copy for his records. Management will invite comments from the Union prior to making changes to Region-wide critical elements and performance standards.

SECTION 19.03: Performance standards will be developed for each critical element. These standards will be used for the evaluation of performance and will, to the maximum extent feasible, permit the accurate evaluation of job performance on the basis of objective criteria related to the job in question for each employee or position under the system.

SECTION 19.04: When an employee is determined by the supervisor to be performing at an unacceptable level, the supervisor will notify the employee in writing of his unacceptable performance, what action must be taken by the employee to improve his performance to an acceptable level and what assistance will be provided by the Employer to help the employee improve his performance. The employee's annual rating period may be extended to accommodate the employee's opportunity to demonstrate improvement.

If performance fails to improve to an acceptable level after a reasonable period of time (not less than ninety (90) days), actions may be initiated to reduce the employee in grade or terminate the employee for unacceptable performance as provided in Article 26.

SECTION 19.05: Appraising performance is a continuing process done both informally or formally, whenever a supervisor reviews and discusses the work product of an employee. Both management and the Union support this concept of continual appraisal.

SECTION 19.06: Midyear Progress Review.

A midyear progress review and discussion will be conducted with each unit employee. This is a progress review and should not be formalized to the point of applying an interim or informal scoring of the job elements.

SECTION 19.07: The annual performance rating for all covered employees, auditor and administrative, will be recorded on the DCAA Performance Appraisal Form.

SECTION 19.08: Annual performance appraisals will be made according to the following schedule:

Anticipated Issuance

A.

Grade            Rating Period      Date to Employees

GS-10 and below  Oct 1 - Sept 30    Nov 15

GS-11            Oct 1 - Sept 30    Nov 15
 
GS-12            Oct 1 - Sept 30    Nov 15

Implementation of this schedule will begin at a date to be mutually determined by the Parties.

B. These performance appraisals will be the result of application of standards of performance to the employee’s performance on critical and non-critical elements of the employee’s position. The employee will be rated only on these elements.

C. The adjectival rating levels are found in DCAAM 1400.1. PMM Chapter 17, Performance Management System for Bargaining Unit Employees, dated 2/95, at Section 4-3(b).

D. Interim Appraisals.

1. An interim appraisal will be given to an employee who changes positions or supervisors during the annual appraisal cycle, if he has worked for the same supervisor in the same position for more than 90 days. This interim appraisal will be given to the employee at the time he changes positions or supervisors. It will then be considered in the development of the annual appraisal by the current supervisor.

2. Employees on temporary assignment for more than 90 days will be given an interim appraisal for that period.

E. Non-Delayed Appraisals.

1. Supervisors assigned to an organization element for less than ninety (90) days will not defer evaluations for this reason. He should use the interim appraisal prepared by the employee's previous supervisor(s) in developing the annual appraisal.

2. Appraisals for personnel laterally moved to a new or changed position more than 90 days prior to the time cycle for the annual appraisal, should not be delayed if the employee is otherwise eligible for promotion. Interim appraisals from previous supervisors should be used by the new supervisor in developing the Annual Appraisal.

3. Employees temporarily detailed to another organizational element at the time the appraisals are due will be rated by the supervisor to which they have been assigned at their permanent duty station. The employee's permanent supervisor will consult with the employee's supervisor of the temporary assignment to determine the rating to be assigned.

F. Deferred Appraisals. The preparation of annual performance appraisals will be deferred when:

1. The employee has not, for any reason, actively performed in his current line and level of work for a minimum of 90 days. In such cases, the regular evaluation date will be deferred sufficiently to provide three (3) months performance as a basis for making the rating.

2. The employee is a newly appointed employee subject to the one (1) year probationary period. After completion of the probationary period, the employee will receive the annual appraisal and annually thereafter in accordance with Section 19.08A, above.

SECTION 19.09: Supervisors assigned to an organizational element for fewer than ninety (90) days as the rater will not defer an annual rating for this reason. In this instance, the new supervisor should rely on the exit summary rating provided by the previous supervisor when developing a rating of record.

SECTION 19.10: When an employee received an overall rating of Exceeds Fully Successful or Outstanding, as defined in this Article, he will receive consideration for an award. An employee who receives such a rating but does not receive an award can inquire and receive an explanation from the immediate supervisor.

SECTION 20.02: This section pertains only to non-competitive promotion procedures to Senior Level (GS-12) positions.

A. Objective.

All qualified and eligible auditors shall have an opportunity to demonstrate their qualifications for promotion to the Senior (GS-12) Auditor level. The mechanism used to document the required proficiency is successful completion of a specific number of audits in each of at least four (4) of seven (7) types of audits as required by the addendum to DCAA Form 1436-5 (Auditor Qualification Analysis for Career Promotions). In addition, all auditors must demonstrate proficiency in QM/EDP applications. The required proficiency for promotion to the Senior (GS-12) Auditor levels will be documented by the successful completion of an approved Career Development Plan (CDP).

B. Definitions and Responsibilities.

1. Qualified and eligible. An employee meets these criteria when DCAA has rated his overall performance at the next lower level (GS-11) at the fully successful level for the prior consecutive six-month period.

2. Career Development Plan (CDP). A plan which provides for assigning within a given period of time, usually a period of six months, a specific number of complex audits in at least four (4) of seven (7) types of audit activity specified by the addendum, DCAA Form 1436-5.

3. Demonstrated proficiency. Satisfactory completion of the audits assigned pursuant to the CDP is evidenced by a satisfactory rating on the Assignment Review Form (DCAAF 1417-1). Documentation relating to the unsatisfactory performance of an audit must be adequately explained with appropriate references to work papers, etc. In the event that the job critique/review sheet is not prepared for a complex assignment included in the CDP, the assignment will be considered to be successfully completed at the complex level.

4. The employer agrees to provide each eligible auditor with appropriate guidance in performing the audit assignments included in the auditor's CDP. Such guidance will be documented and initialed by the auditor and supervisor and placed in the audit assignment file.

5. The supervisory auditor is responsible for preparing the career development plan.

C. Implementation of the Career Development Plan.

1. The Career Development Plan will be developed in consultation with the respective auditor after the auditor has been determined to be qualified and eligible as defined in paragraph B.1 above. The CDP will provide for completion of the specific audits specified therein, usually within six (6) months of the establishment of the CDP.

2. The number of completed audits specified in the CDP will be determined by the cognizant supervisor using (at minimum) the following criteria.

a. The most recent annual and midyear performance appraisals.

b. Supervisory auditor's professional judgment.

c. Audits successfully completed by the auditor prior to the CDP can be used to satisfy CDP requirements providing the audits used are adequately documented with selected audit critique sheets and meet the requisite degree of complexity.

3. The employer, while maintaining the right to assign work, recognizes the desirability to assign audits to each eligible auditor so that each auditor's CDP can be fulfilled in the shortest possible time. Audit assignments will be assigned fairly and equitably among all auditors with a CDP.

4. Employees will be immediately informed when they do not satisfactorily perform an audit assigned pursuant to a CDP. These employees will be given the opportunity to repeat their CDPs every six (6) months or sooner so long as they achieve a fully successful rating at the GS-11 level. They will not be required to repeat types of audits for which they have demonstrated satisfactory performance pursuant to a prior CDP.

D. In those special cases in which an employee who already has extensive audit experience accepts a lateral reassignment or downgrade to GS-11 in order to join the Agency, promotion or repromotion to GS-12 can be made as an exception to the above requirements. Promotion for these individuals may occur at any time the FAO manager and RAM believe the employee is fully capable of performing typical GS-12 level assignments in a manner consistent with the expected standards of performance for that position.

E. Employees who do not demonstrate ability for promotion to grade GS-12 will be retained at the GS-11 level if their performance at that level is at least a fully successful level. The Employer will continue providing assignments, training and coaching to assist in the auditor's career development and assist these auditors in any individual efforts that they elect to make in pursuing alternative career opportunities outside DCAA.

F. All employees being considered for promotion must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements.

SECTION 20.03: The Union shall be provided on a timely basis a copy of each job opportunity announcement issued by the Employer which impacts members of the bargaining unit.

SECTION 20.04: Employees on approved leave, training or temporary duty, may make arrangements with their supervisors or a co-worker to have applications filed for announced vacancies of interest to them. The individual assisting with the filing of the application is only responsible for submission of the materials already provided to him by the employee.

A. A detail is the temporary assignment of an employee to a different position for a specified period, with the employee returning to his regular duties at the end of the detail. Technically, a position is not filled by a detail, as the employee continues to be the incumbent of the position from which he is detailed. A detailed employee's immediate supervisor will take into consideration previous experience and work assignments providing guidance.

B. No detail will be made to evade the principle of recruitment through open competitive examinations. To the maximum extent, consideration should be given to use of temporary promotions in lieu of details. If a detail to a higher grade position exceeds sixty (60) days, a temporary promotion will be utilized to assign an employee temporarily to a higher grade position or a position with known promotion potential. If the temporary promotion exceeds one hundred twenty (120) days, competitive procedures will be used. Temporary promotions will not be given credit in merit promotion plans. Employees given temporary promotions will receive pay and allowances of the higher graded position.

SECTION 21.02: Detailed procedures regarding auditor rotation are found in DCAA Personnel Manual, Chapter 37. Any changes thereto will be in accordance with Article 8 of this contract.

SECTION 21.03: Any Union representative will be furnished, to the extent possible, three (3) weeks advance notification of any change in his duty station.

SECTION 21.04: Procedures for Extended TDY.

In the event that the Regional Director determines that persons are excess to work needs at a specific overstrength location, he will place on extended TDY to Field Audit Offices (FAOs) or Suboffices (SOs), where there are staffing shortages, persons from the commuting area of the overstrength location in accordance with the following procedures:
A. The Employer will provide the following to all employees in the commuting area of an overstrength office:
1. A list of all understrength FAOs and SOs.

2. The number of understaffed positions along with the qualifications of each in the understrength area.

B. Volunteers will be sought from all FAOs and SOs within the commuting area of the overstrength location with the right of first refusal going to the most senior qualified employee. A minimum of three business days will be provided for volunteers to come forward.

C. If the number of volunteers should be insufficient, then the least senior employee will be involuntarily selected.

SECTION 21.05: In the event an employee has been involuntarily selected for extended TDY, and he or she believes that extended TDY would cause severe hardship to the employee, the affected employee may promptly plead severe hardship to any member of the Hardship Committee. The Committee will consider the case within two business days, and issue its determination and recommendation to the Regional Director. If more than one employee pleads severe hardship, the Committee will rate the employees according to the degree of severity.

SECTION 21.06: The Hardship Committee will consist of the President of the Union or his designee, plus two more Local Union officials.

SECTION 21.07: Extended TDY is defined as a temporary assignment to an area outside the individual's normal commuting area for more than sixty (60) days.

SECTION 21.08: Seniority will be determined by service computation date (SCD). The SCD may be verified from an individual's Standard Form 50.