Classifying federal positions that fall outside the typical grade or factor levels defined in published standards requires applying broader guidance from the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) primary standard. This foundational document, along with specific digests, supports accurate classification when existing series standards lack the necessary criteria for higher or lower grade levels.
Key Insights
- The primary standard outlines generic evaluation criteria and sub-factors for nine classification factors, enabling agencies to assess positions that exceed or fall below published grade ranges.
- Series standards typically include only the factor levels applicable to the most common grade range for that occupation, requiring supplemental references when classifying positions outside that range.
- OPM digests 0308 and 0403 provide guidance on extrapolating factor levels and incorporating related standards, advising agencies to use the full primary standard and exercise caution when making grade-level determinations beyond published criteria.
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We're going to move to Module 4, Grades or Factor Levels that Exceed the Standards. Grades or Factor Levels that Exceed the Standards. And so in this module, we're going to explain how positions can be classified when the grade or the factor levels are not described in published standards.
We're going to apply the rules for classifying positions with a grade or factor level that is not described in published standards. To be able to understand using the guide or factor levels not described in published standards when classifying positions, you must look at the primary standard. The primary standard is the standard for all standards.
The primary standard was created before all the other standards were created in the FES format, OK? And so in this standard, it is the guide that they created every additional classification standard in the FES format from the primary standard. It is written in generic terms. And so I want you to understand that in this primary standard, for each of the nine factor levels, it lists the evaluation criteria and the sub-factors for each of the nine factor levels.
We know the factor levels are:
- Factor 1: Knowledge Required by the Position
- Factor 2: Supervisory Controls
- Factor 3: Guidelines.
- Factor 4: Complexity
- Factor 5: Scope and Effect
- Factor 6: Personal Contacts.
- Factor 7: Purpose of the Contacts
- Factor 8: Physical Demands
- Factor 9: Work Environment
For each of those nine factors, there are sub-factors. And in the primary standard, they have the total number of sub-factors for each factor for every position within the federal government. When you go to a series standard, and you look at factor levels, they may not have all of the sub-factor levels included in that particular series standard.
Why? Because OPM does an evaluation to determine the range of grades that are typical in the federal government for a particular series. And so if you have a position and it is a supply technician, the OPM will survey the federal government, and they determine that across the federal government, the supply technicians, clerical, and technician positions go from grade 3 to grade 7. And so in that series standard, it does not give you all of the criteria included in the primary standard. It will only give you the criteria for each factor level that will factor the positions that you evaluate to grades 3 through 7. If you needed the position to be a grade 2 or grade 8, you would have to use another series standard in conjunction with that series standard to get the missing sub-factor levels.
And so let me give you a quick example. We're going to go to factor level one, knowledge required. Factor level one, knowledge required by the position.
It tells you in the first paragraph what this factor measures. This factor measures the nature and extent of information or facts that a worker must understand to do acceptable work, et cetera. And then it gives you the sub factor levels and the corresponding points.
And so factor level 1-1 has 50 points. When you're classifying the position, remember that you must use the total number of points that are assigned to that factor level. And so we have factor level 1-1.
Then we have factor level 1-2. And it goes from factor level 1-1 to factor level 1-9. And so factor level 1-9 is the highest sub-factor level for 1,850 points in factor level one.
So it goes from factor level 1-1 for 50 points, factor level 1-2, so on and so forth, to factor level 1-9. When you look at a series standard, and I'm using the supply technician and clerical series standard as an example, because that position is classified, OPM has determined that that position throughout the federal government, the general amount of positions, because OPM has determined that throughout the federal government, those positions in that series run from GS-3 to GS-7. It's not for factor level 1. It's only going to give you the factor levels that will equate to a grade 3 through 7. If you needed a grade 8 in the series standard, that information is not included.
You have to get that information from somewhere else. And so I hope that enlightens you to why the standards may not have the criteria needed to make the position lower or higher. So classification standards that have grade level criteria normally described for those typical grades for the work covered by that series standard, this does not provide, this does not preclude agencies from properly classifying positions at levels above and below the grade range specified in the standard.
And so you must extend the requirements. You must extend the requirements. And so OPM has published two digests that explain how to do that.
Okay? Two digests that explain how to do that. The first digest is digest number 0308, dated November 1983. And so it talks about extrapolation and cross-series comparison.
And so in most cases, the published standard for a series will provide the best guidance for evaluating classifiable positions within that series, but which are above or below the grade range provided by the standard, or which are in other specializations not covered by the standard. In these instances, then, the published standard for the series in which the position is classified should normally serve as the first point of reference, with the other standards being used primarily to corroborate or reinforce the initial evaluation. The primary standard can be used to evaluate factors of positions that significantly exceed the factor-level descriptions that are contained in the standard.
OPM cautions us about the use of several different series to compare and support the extended criteria. Positions should be compared with the entire patterns of grade-level characteristics set forth in the standard. A part of one standard cannot be used without applying the entire standard.
And so if you have a situation where you need to look at factor-level 1-7, and the standard that you're reviewing only goes to factor-level 1-6, then it is always wise to use the primary standard because the primary standard is written in generic terms. When the standard is created, they add the occupational information for that series standard. And so OPM cautions us not to use another series standard to evaluate factor levels that are missing from the standard that you're using.
And so let's look at the next decision, the use of related standards for factor extrapolation. This is digest number 0403, dated January 1984. And so it says, since it summarizes, to give credit, even just one additional level requires that the duties, responsibilities, and qualification requirements substantially and significantly exceed the printed grade-level criteria.
You want to compare the same level of the related FES standard, only if available, two positions in question should be compared fully, not on a selected factor basis, to related FES standards and to position factors being evaluated to ensure that they are evaluated in terms of the overall intent of the standard. The primary standard and the related standard, only if available, should be used and considered together for this specific purpose. The coordinated application of the primary standard, general, and specific criteria of the related standard provides more reliable and fair means for evaluating a factor above or below the coverage of the directly applicable standard.
Positions classified like this are unusual for the particular occupation; make such decisions very carefully. And so OPM admonishes us to use the primary standard with the applicable classification or series standard when trying to make grades lower or higher than the published standard for that series.
