§536.201. Mandatory grade retention. — Inbound Citations

(c) When an employee is offered a position with grade retention under this section in anticipation of a reduction in grade, the agency must inform the employee in writing that acceptance of the position is not required and that declination of the offer will not affect the employee's entitlement to grade retention under § 536.201 if the agency actually moves the employee to the lower-graded position.

(d) Eligibility for grade retention under § 536.201 or § 536.202 ceases under the conditions specified in § 536.207.

(a) Eligibility for grade retention as a result of an entitlement under § 536.201 ceases if any of the following conditions occurs at any time after the employee receives written notice of the reduction in grade, but before the commencement of the 2-year period of grade retention:

(1) The employee has a break in service of 1 workday or more;

(2) The employee is reduced in grade for personal cause or at the employee's request (based on the actual grade of the employee's position rather than the employee's retained grade and, when a movement to a different covered pay system is involved, a comparison of comparison rates under § 536.105);

(3) The employee moves to a position under a covered pay system with a grade that is equal to or higher than the retained grade (as determined under § 536.105), excluding a temporary promotion;

(4) The employee declines a reasonable offer of a position with a grade equal to or higher than the retained grade (as determined under §§ 536.104 and 536.105);

(5) The employee elects in writing to terminate the benefits of grade retention; or

(a) Grade retention under § 536.201 terminates if any of the conditions listed in § 536.207(a) occurs after commencement of the 2-year period of grade retention.

(a) An employee is eligible for grade retention under § 536.201(a)(1) only if the employee has served for at least 52 consecutive weeks in one or more positions under a covered pay system at one or more grades higher than the grade of the position in which the employee is being placed. Such service is deemed to include service performed by an employee of a nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the Department of Defense or the Coast Guard (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 2105(c)) who is moved to a position in the civil service employment system of the Department of Defense or the Coast Guard, respectively, without a break in service of more than 3 days.

(b) An employee is eligible for grade retention under § 536.201(a)(2) based on a reclassification of his or her position only if, immediately before the reduction in grade, that position was classified at the existing grade or a higher grade for a continuous period of at least 1 year.