If an agency gives a summary performance rating when it does its mid-year review, can that rating be used for crediting performance in a reduction in force if it was given before the cut-off date?
No. Only ratings of record can be used as the basis for assigning additional service credit during a reduction in force. Performance ratings are used to capture performance information for many different kinds of situations, including mid-year or quarterly reviews, details, employee transfers, etc., and are factored into the employee’s rating of record at the end of the appraisal period, but they do not constitute ratings of record themselves. The reduction in force regulations were written specifically to minimize confusion over which ratings can be used for reduction in force purposes by limiting the crediting of years of additional service to ratings of record only.
