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Show P.ie 1 June is, l)7(i HILL TOP TIMES 1 New Classification System For White Collar Employes Eventually, new GS standards will be published for all white collar occupations in the federal civil service. Approximately 38,000 nonsupervisory jobs in AFLC will be converted to FES. Graham indicated that CSC does not expect massive grade changes from the new system. Tests have shown grades under FES correspond closely to grades of correctly classified jobs in the old system. "However." Graham pointed out, "all the standards will be updated by CSC when rewritten to reflect changes in various The U.S. Civil Service Commission (CSC) is implementing a new classification system for the U.S. Government's white collar emnloyes. R. Graham, Air Force Logistics According to John Command's (AFLC) position management chief, the new system, called the Factor Evaluation System or FES, will ultimately be applied to all general schedule (GS) employes, including those in AFLC. Graham said application of the new system will begin in AFLC in December 1976 and is expected to take five years to complete. We'll make trial applications of these and report any problems to CSC. These occupations will be the first covered by FES when actual implementation begins in December. Q: Will FES affect my position? A: If you now hold a GS job in grades 1 through 15, your will be classified using the FES. job eventually This is a tremendous Undertaking for the CSC, and while they're well underway writing new FES standards, the system won't be completely implemented until 1981. The first change most employes will be aware of will be new job descriptions, rewritten in the new FES format. Until new standards are written for all GS occupations, we'll be operating under both the old and new systems. What occupations are being looked at now? Q: A: Draft standards have been issued for the following series or occupations: - mail and file clerk - clerk 2 stenographer 8 secretary GS322 - clerk typist accounting technician - nurse 0 - dental technician 1 - mechanical engineer Q: Aren't these jobs mostly the lower graded ones and jobs now occupied mostly by women? Why is that? GS-30- 5 GS-31- GS-31- GS-52- 5 GS-61- Q: Why have a new system? GS-68GS-83- A: Well, there was considerable complaint about the old one being hard to understand and very difficult to use. The narrative standards in some occupations were lengthy and subject to much differing interpretation on A: To get the bugs out of the system, CSC wantd to apply FES to jobs used in most federal agncies, yet get a spread the part of the employe, supervisor and personnel classification specialist. Tests of the new system indicate it provides accurate grades as required by public law. yet is relatively easy to apply. The CSC savs if? ciier to understand by classifiers, managers and employes than the present system and is more flexible to accommodate new occupations or major changes in positions. Q: How did the new sstein across the grade spectrum. We're sure these occupations were chosen for that reason. With these occupations, the system will get an extensive shakedown in the trial application, both from the standpoint of using the new standards and orientation of the maximum number of classifiers and supervisors. Q: What does the term factor evaluation - in the title refer to? What are the factors? co.ne about? A: The Oliver Task Force A: By congressional mandate. A House subcommittee studied the present system extensively from 196? to 1969 and directed CSC to adopt a new approach to job classification. A CSC task force (named Oliver Task Force ) devised FES between 1970 and 1972. The system has been under study and test since then. After completion of testing and prior to the decision to implement, CSC consulted extensively with the various federal agencies, national unions and professional groups. The commissioners announced nationally in December 1975 their decision to implement. found that all GS jobs have nine factors which contribute in varying degrees to grade levels. These are: Knowledge required by the job. e Supervisory controls. e Guidelines available. e Job complexity. o Scope and effect of the job. Personal contacts. Purpose of personal contacts. Physical demands. Work environment. There will be several levels defined in the FES standards for each of these factors in what are called factor level descriptions. There will be factor level descriptions written especially for each job series. For example, there are nine possible knowledge levels and three possible work environment levels. The standards describe these and assign a number of points for each applicable level. o o o o Q: What happens now? A: Right now CSC is preparing the first of some 250 and position classifiers are being trained on the new-standard- 0 s new system. The CSC has drafted standards for eight occupations for review bv each installation. There are approximately three million swimming pools in the backyards of Americans. Whether permanent or portable they have one thing in common they are filled with water and therein lies the problem. Water safety applies not only to a lake or ocean, but wherever people swim. It becomes your responsibility to "safety-proofpool as much as possible. Here are some " your rules fo follow: Never swim alone; Safety Rules For Home Pools Run a tight ship - never ?;1!o a horseplay ; Discourage showoffs; Keep nefcr pool Uittle. glasses. tools ;md other h,'i.nls from htvh 9 Evs:i;il m Vh watch out for the youn dimmers, n children are Unti kef p hrm out of the jnol: Handie rrM"iJae,ijr'T in-ln- with rare follw ;ar fuily. 'LOGNEWS chemicals pool u '?on I occupations, resulting from new technology or automation and grade changes might occur for this reason." f ', AFLC since will to continue Additionally, improve and standardize organizational and staffing structures, other grade changes could be expected, occurring at the same time as FES implementation. f. Intensive planning is now underway to implenent the FES and minimize any potential adverse impact on the AFLC work force. Representatives of all AFLC Civilian Personnel Office (CPO) recently completed CSC training on the new system I (LOGNEWS) Questions And Answers About FES The following questions and answers on the new system and its application are provided to clarify its impact on AFLC employes. 1, : all nine factors are evaluated and point levels assigned based on which levels best fit the work situation. The total points then convert to a numerical grade, GS-- 1 In "the classification process, through 15. The standards will also contain some typical job descriptions already point rated and graded. These are called benchmarks. If these bench marks essentially describe your work situation, it's already point rated and graded, right in the standard. Q: Can I see the standards? v A: Position classification standards, both the old and the new (when published in final form), are public domain. Standards used in evaluating your position may be reviewed in your CPO, at regional and area offices of the CSC and the commission's library in Washington, CD. Ccpio may be purchased from the superintendent of documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 20402. Q: Will my grade change? AFES will operate within the grade level definitions of the current law (Title 5. U.S. code). Therefore, if a position is classified correctly under the current method, the grade will probably remain the same. There will be changes in some occupational standards which could result in a grade change. However, this would be the result of changes in the work itself; not the use of FES. Q: Can I appeal a grade assigned under FES? A: Yes. No changes have been made in the procedure for appealing the classification of a position. If you have questions on how appeals are made, you should see your CPO. They can give you specific information and, if you prefer, let you see the Air Force and CSC guides on appeals. Q: A: W hat do I do now? Will I be contacted? Just sit tight. Your supervisor will eventually be called on to redescribe your job in the factor format. However, your job will not be classified under FES until a new standard is issued for your occupation. At some point before your position is classified, a personnel specialist might ask questions or watch you work to assure full information needed for the position analysis and evaluation. Whether interviews are held depends on such matters as how well the personnel specialist knows what you do, if there have been recent changes in your position, etc. (LOGNEWS) |