European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 17, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 letters the stars and stripes May clarification of the rules governing the is system the situation wherein a former Young executive has been trapped into a Low clerical position in not having lived in Europe in excess of 24 and being in the same situation i have heard Many ver Sions of this sad tale from others trapped by acting in Good Faith and Fol towing guidance of uninformed or uncaring civilian personnel office co person ensuring that applicants receiving advice get All the facts concerning the employment and Are thereby Given the option of selecting a Lowe rank or choosing an alternate path such As waiting for a possible High rank relocating or driving great expending great time exploring All even remaining seems to me to be the responsibility of the civilian personnel office and based on the writers letter of and the numerous complaints i have it appears these administrators Are not properly administrating in my opinion the official response to the writer does not adequately the employee asked for help out of the not some Standard Burea cratic unfortunate because of similar there were no Defini Tive guidelines offered As that Type of response Doest help the writer Fig ure a Way to get out of the Deaden the writer didst appear to fully comprehend the intent of the letter to which was in All i publicly acknowledge that the As in Many other types of organizational has some Marvel Ousby competent employees just like these people Are caring and they never knowingly give out false information and their goal is to be of help in finding the applicant a Job which is As Well suited for the applicant As the applicant is for the As to the poor Little clerical that if you Are mature you May realize by now that you just like me should never have jumped in without checking out the water though i am Here working at a much less prestigious and Lowe paying position than in the i am fortunate enough to have a Good supervisor and a great office where the workers enjoy marvelous Camara regardless of where you work or in what you with a positive attitude and a Bright do improve your office and yourself think of new and startling ideas for improving the organizational change the furniture fix up the smile at everyone walking in the and Good morn thank you for when you answer the you May still be locked into a Deaden but it will be the position that is a not Davis Germany without examining the merits of the writers the co answer was unclear and unfulfilling As How about a replay and ask the co to explain the following this time Grade Rule mean that an individual in the system cannot jump grades even into a different if qualified if a qualified budget per son took a gs4 clerical position because there were no vacancies in Field at the could he or she apply for a gs7 budget vacancy at a later Date and what is appointment from an office of personnel management certify mentioned in the co answer As a Means out of the catch 22 situation but not explained last and most what is the co doing to get the Rule changed just explaining this frustrating situation is not nor is briefing his staffing specialists and making up a new Arthur Heidelberg editors note a spokesman from the office of the Deputy chief of he us a r replies thank you for the Opportunity to fur ther explain Federal time Grade restrict because of the Many facets of the they Are discussed in some detail in an Effort to fully clarify the Basic authority for time Grade restrictions is in title code of Federal regulations and is implemented by Feder Al personnel manual pm sub chapter 6 and army regulation subchapter the purpose of the restrictions is to prevent excessively rapid pro motions in positions subject to the general schedule is classification a full explanation of these restrictions the office of personnel manage ment has identified positions which nor Mally have a two Grade interval promotion Structure in pm appendix for All is positions gs12 and above to be advanced to a position at is 12 and above a candidate must have held a position for at least one year at the next lower Grade a gs11 after one year can be advanced to a for is positions classified in one Grade interval patterns to be advanced to a position at gs6 through is 11 which is in a line of work properly classified at on Grade a Candi Date must have held the next lower Grade for at least one year a gs6 who has served one year at the gs6 level can be advanced to gs7 positions that Are classified in on Grade when there is no position at the next lower Grade in the unit under the immediate supervisor of the position to be filled referred to As Normal line of promo a candidate can have at least one year of service in positions no More than two grades lower than the position to be filled and be advanced two for a unit has gs10 and gs11 positions classifiable in on Grade interval a gs7 position does not it must not exist and not merely be in this exam a gs6 who has served at least one year at the gs6 could be advanced to gs8 no gs7 a gs8 could not be advanced to gs10 since a gs9 position exists in the for positions classified in two Grade interval patterns to be advanced to a Posi Tion at 9 or 11 which is in a line of work properly classified at two Grade in a candidate must have held a Posi Tion for at least one year that was no More than two grades lower than the Posi Tion to be for positions gs5 and below a candidate May be advanced to a position in Grade gs5 or below if the position is no More than two grades above the lowest Prade level held within the preceding year under contemporary appoint ment met this restriction for advancement to the Grade of the position to be at any time in the past previously held a position at or above the Grade level of the position to be filled at any time under any Type of a the number of advancements May and the number of grades she May be Are not limited so Long As one of the above terms is met at the time of each applicability to positions and actions the time Grade restrictions apply Only to filling positions subject to the general they apply Only when the candidate served during toe preceding year in a general schedule the candidate is subject to the restrictions if served during the preceding year under any Type of contemporary appoint the requirement applies to filling positions by and appointment or reemployment at a higher Grade within one year after separation from any contemporary limited exceptions there Are some limited exceptions to the applicability of the time Grade the most common is when Competition for the Posi Tion to be filled has been expanded to include candidates who have established eligibility under a office of person Nel management pm open competitive announcement and the candidate is within reach for appointment on an pm certificate of specific criteria governs the use of All waivers in cases of undue hardship or inequity in an individual Case of meritorious nature supported by facts which justify a finding of undue hardship to the activity or inequity to the employee or Aqda has been delegated the authority to approve waivers of time in Grade restrictions in the competitive serv major army commands have this authority for positions in the excepted serv a determination that a hardship exists must clearly show difficulty the Organiza Tion would experience were the employee not promoted to the higher graded Posi and the recruitment efforts that were made to locate a fully qualified candidate and Why these efforts were not successful or improper under the a finding of inequity must clearly show the circumstances leading to the injustice or an example of the basis for a request for a waiver is gradual accretion of higher level duties in a position Over an extended period of the position is the Only one in the activity to which the new duties could be the duties Are of a highly specialized or technical the duties have been continuously performed independently and successfully by the incur based on a finding of duties assigned and performed by the incumbent during a position management the position is loss of the incumbents serv ices would severely hamper the Mission of the activity because of ongoing critical projects which cannot be easily transitioned to another individual requiring orientation and the incumbent meets All qualification requirements for the upgraded position except for time in we recognize the complexity of the Federal personnel system and believe the Best Means of providing assistance is to advise individuals who write to stars and stripes to speak with a personnel professional at the Community an informed workforce is our goal and we Are taking every step possible from he Usa eur level to ensure that employees and applicants Are provided com plete and Correct information on All aspects of the Federal personnel As was stated Many family members accept positions at grades lower than that for which they qualify for Many jobs Are scarce in Europe and there Are Many More applicants than jobs we Hope this fully explains time in Grade writers should feel free to query their local Community co for additional the shaping of a Childs mind from the Start Tim was Beautiful inside and he had a natural desire to be with people and reach out to them and even when very Young he showed More concern for another Owen or pain than for his Tim is a very intelligent and imaginative when Tim was 8 years old he Learned How to play a new game called dungeons and i How neat that my son is smart enough to understand such an advanced he could read All that stuff and write pages and pages of carefully planned Tim started to the game was taking Over his own unique he started having trouble distinguishing truth from his Progress in school came to a All he wanted to do was play y i volunteered to work with the teacher in an individual Reading class for fast learning Stu it want unusual for there to be loud music playing in the classroom and at times my son would be laying on the floor with his friends around him playing learning nothing of i know this want a typical situation but it was Tim had More behavioural problems Tak ing Money from my Only thinking of his immediate he was losing his Many friends for various i began to think of him As a very lost Little soon after a Tim had a new Friend he got along Well i met this Childs Mother and we talked of our love and inter est in our later Tims Friend said he had to leave if he and Tim were to play be cause his Mother  allow him to play i Well the nerve of that woman who does she think she not Al owing these kids to play a after All i love my son at least As much As she loves i have Learned some things in the past four years and i implore you fellow parents to consider carefully what you allow to go into shaping our childrens would you pour their minds into a Mold of death and destruction or into one of love and life Tim is no longer going to play i can see he feels a Little confused by the void left by that game but in not worried be cause i know there Are so Many worthwhile things to fill that i own this and location withheld