3. Modify the standard 15-grade classification system that applies to those employees not covered by a broadbanding system. The director of OPM should submit proposed legislation to Congress by fall 1994 that amends the classification law to give employing agencies authority to make final classification decisions and to eliminate OPM's review and compliance authority, effective one year after enactment. During the one-year interim period, agencies should give appropriate training to line managers who will be given classification responsibilities and develop appropriate decision support systems (e.g., human resource planning and costing models). OPM should immediately begin the process of simplifying the standard classification system by reducing the number of job categories used for classification purposes and by developing abbreviated standards that focus solely on full-performance (i.e., journey) levels of work. In addition, as recommended earlier in HRM01, OPM should issue regulations by spring 1994 deleting the requirements that employees serve some minimum amount of time at a lower grade level to qualify for a higher grade (i.e., time-in-grade requirements).(18) OPM should be responsible for developing and maintaining the classification tools to be used by agencies participating in the modified standard 15-grade classification system. OPM should publish the primary classification standard setting forth the basic evaluation criteria that will guide all classification decisions. In the first stage of the simplification effort, it should also publish 30 to 50 job-specific classification standards that cover only the most populous jobs and selected benchmarks. Eventually, all paper standards will be eliminated and replaced by a manager-friendly automated classification program. Since OPM standards will focus solely on full-performance levels of work, agencies will be free to assign grades to entry and developmental levels under their own authority and standards, consistent with job qualification requirements.(19) Agencies should classify full-performance level jobs using the OPM standards, subject to a requirement that final classification decisions be made at a level of management that operates under a fixed budget that includes all pay-related costs. OPM will not have authority to overrule an agency classification action. Each department or agency should be required to provide for internal reviews of a position's classification when requested by an employee. A classification decision would be appealable to a body outside the agency, such as the Merit Systems Protection Board, only on the limited grounds that the decision constituted a prohibited personnel practice; the agency's judgments as to the value of different types of work would not be subject to review.(20) A governmentwide job titling system should be retained to support a governmentwide human resources database and external salary surveys; however, job categories should be consolidated to the maximum extent appropriate. It is expected that the number of job series (currently over 450) would be reduced by one-half or more. The modified standard classification system is expected to greatly simplify the job classification process and provide agencies and their line managers with greater flexibility along with accountability for proper administration. The link between classification and budget will be strengthened. With the elimination of its review and compliance authority, OPM would no longer have the role of classification police. The elimination of the time-in-grade requirements will allow managers to promote qualified employees without delay; in addition, since the minimum time-in-grade requirements seem to be viewed by many employees as length-of-service requirements triggering automatic promotion, their elimination may help reinforce the principle that promotions are based on qualifications and abilities, not longevity. Endnotes 18. See also "HRM01, Create a Flexible and Responsive Hiring System," action 5. 19. Ibid. 20. Title 5, United States Code, sec. 2302.
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