THE PPR REVIEW PROCESS

Civil Service Rules 10.13 and 10.14 deal with the process of reviewing an employee’s PPR rating.

Most agencies use the Civil Service process. However, some agencies have received approval from Civil Service to use an alternate performance review process. Employees are urged to become aware of the agency’s performance evaluation process; if the agency uses the process defined in Chapter 10 of the Civil Service rules, the employee should be aware of the provisions of that Chapter. A copy of Chapter 10 of the Civil Service rules can be accessed here.The information contained in this document addresses the PPR Review process from the standpoint of our Rules; if you agency uses an alternate process, you should obtain additional information from your agency Human Resources Office.

In the process defined in the Civil Service rules, the review process begins at the agency level; once a decision has been rendered at the agency level, the employee may then request a review by the Director of Civil Service. The Civil Service review cannot be pursued until the agency has completed its review; therefore, employees are again urged to become aware of Civil Service rules and the agency’s policies and procedures governing the review process. An employee who submits the review request to Civil Service before submitting it through the agency may find that the deadline for requesting the agency review has expired. In that case, the agency is under no obligation to perform the agency review, and since there can be no Civil Service review unless there has first been an agency review, the employee may lose his/her review opportunity for that rating period.

IMPORTANT NOTE regarding PPR & MERIT INCREASES: The approval of a merit increase is related to an employee’s performance in that an employee who has been rated below “satisfactory” is prohibited from receiving a merit increase. However, there is no rule that requires the agency to approve a merit increase just because an employee has achieved a rating of “satisfactory” or better. Many agencies have policies that prohibit the granting of merit increases to employees who have received a low rating in one or more factors, depending upon the importance of that factor to the employee’s job or the mission of the agency. These policies are perfectly legal and acceptable. The Department of Civil Service will not process review requests that are solely based on the lack of a merit increase.

“Unrated” Rating

An employee whose anniversary date has passed and who has not received an official signed copy of the PPR rating is “unrated”. An “unrated” has the same effect as a “meets requirements” rating.

While there are some circumstances where an “unrated” is acceptable, these are rare. Most often, these are situations that involve an employee who has been out on extended leave for a long enough period that the supervisor does not have sufficient information to render a meaningful rating.

For any employee who has not received his/her rating form on or before the rating date used by the agency (usually this is the employee’s anniversary date), we recommend that the employee immediately submit a request for agency review. The request must be postmarked or received in the agency Human Resources Offices no later than 15 days after the employee’s anniversary date (or for a review of a re-rating, the date that is 15 days after the date that falls six months after the anniversary date).

The request for review process will ensure that the employee receives an official rating from the agency for the rating period. An employee who is not satisfied with the rating given during the agency review process may proceed to the Director’s Review

Employee Disagreement with the Overall Rating Given

From time to time, an employee will disagree with the rating given. Since the overall rating given to an employee is calculated using the ratings given for individual factors, then it is in the employee’s best interest to take note of the expectations and comments for each individual factor to determine the exact nature of the disagreement.

Agency Level Review – rule 10.13

Rule 10.13 deals specifically with the first review process, which occurs AT THE AGENCY.

Any permanent employee who disagrees with his/her rating has the right to have the rating reviewed by the designated reviewer. The rules simply state that the designated reviewer cannot be the supervisor who conducted the official rating. Apart from that, an agency is free to name one or more designated reviewers for PPR ratings.

Some agencies designate the next supervisor in the chain (the supervisor of the supervisor who conducted the official rating). In other agencies, the designated reviewer may actually be a committee of individuals who review contested ratings.

Employee’s Responsibility / Agency Review

It is the employee’s responsibility to do the following when requesting an agency review:

• Submit a written request for review

• Submit the request to ensure that it is postmarked or received in the employer’s HR Office no later than 15 calendar days after the employee’s anniversary date (or for a review of a re-rating, no later than 15 days after the date that falls six months after the anniversary date).

• In the written request, the employee must provide the following:
• Explanation of why the employee believes a higher rating is warranted
• Supporting documentation, if it exists, that the employee wants the Reviewer to consider
• If the review request is due to the employee being “unrated”, then the written request can very simple. A sample review request for an employee who is “unrated” can be found here.

After the review request has been submitted, the employee can expect that the reviewer (or the review committee) will be in contact to discuss the contested rating. The rules require the reviewer to discuss the contested rating with both the employee and the rating supervisors; these discussions may take place separately.

When the review is complete, the reviewer must notify the employee, the Rating Supervisor and the HR office of the results of the review. Any change the Reviewer makes to the rating will be retroactive to the anniversary date or, if the review occurs for a re-rating, the re-rating date, which is the date that is six months after the anniversary date.

Review by Director of Civil Service – Rule 10.14

A permanent employee who disagrees with the Reviewer’s decision has a right to have the PPR file reviewed by the Director of Civil Service or the Director’s designee.

A request for Director’s review must be postmarked or received by the Director within 30 calendar days following the date the employee received a copy of the Reviewer’s decision. Civil Service cannot accept a review request until the agency review process has been completed. Review requests submitted to Civil Service prior to the completion of the agency review process will be returned to the employee.

Employee’s Responsibility / Civil Service Director Review

It is the employee’s responsibility to do the following when requesting a Director’s review:

• Submit a written request for review

• Submit the request to ensure that it is postmarked or received in the Director’s office no later than 30 calendar days after the employee received the Reviewer’s decision.

• In the written request, the employee must provide the following:
• Why there was no basis for the contested rating
• Supporting documentation, if it exists, that the employee wants to be considered

• Although not required, it is helpful if the employee includes a copy of the agency review request the employee submitted to the agency along with a copy of the reviewer’s decision.

If the review request is timely, the Director or his designee shall obtain and review the employee’s PPR file.

In the Director’s review process, the reviewers’ jobs are driven by this sentence in Rule 10.14(c):

“. . . When the Director or his designee finds that the agency violated any rule in this Chapter or that there was no documented, rational basis for a rating, the Director may order any contested rating changed as he deems appropriate . . . “

How to Prepare Your Request for Director’s Review

Many employee review requests do not meet the requirements of Rule 10.14(b), which states in part “. . . the employee must explain why there was no basis for the contested rating.”

A simple conclusion on the part of the employee that the rating supervisor had no basis for the rating is not sufficient. It is also not sufficient to simply disagree with the supervisor’s evaluation of the level of performance given by an employee on a task or job that has been performed.

It is important to be as specific as possible by including FACTS that you believe support your conclusion or disagreement.

Identify:

• The parties involved
• Places
• Dates
• Any other factual information that is pertinent

Supporting facts may include:

• Facts (not just a conclusion) that indicate the supervisor’s written comments actually reflect a higher level of performance than the rating given

• Facts, not conclusions, that show that the supervisor’s comments are not true

• Facts that show that your supervisor knew you were performing as you were in the specific areas addressed in the rating, but that the supervisor did nothing prior to the formal rating to inform you that your work was not meeting expected standards.