Rank Award Eligibility Expanded

Certain senior career federal employees would become eligible for Presidential Rank Awards, which up to now have been limited to career members of the Senior Executive Service, under interim rules that the Office of Personnel Management published in the August 13 Federal Register. The rules carry out a provision of last year’s Treasury-Postal appropriations measure, which defines a “senior career employee” as an individual appointed to a position classified above GS-15 who is not serving under a time-limited appointment or in an excepted service position. Senior career employees are individuals who occupy Senior-Level (SL) or Scientific-Professional (ST) positions. Under the rules, agency heads may nominate senior career employees to be awarded the ranks of Distinguished Senior Professional (a lump-sum payment of 35 percent of base pay) for sustained extraordinary accomplishment and Meritorious Senior Professional (a lump-sum payment of 20 percent of base pay) for sustained accomplishment similar to the nominations of career members and the eligibility criteria are consistent with those used for the SES.