DEAR(Sanitized)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00357R000600130059-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 24, 2001
• Sequence Number: 59
• Content Type: LETTER

,_ Approved For Release 2001/05/23 : CIA-RDP82-00357R000600130059-2
STATI ITL Dear Mr
I apologize for the delay in responding to your letter of
March 1976 requesting a review of your eligibility for retroactive
promotion or back pay for the period you, as a GS-11, were assigned to
a GS-12 position. Your claim was one of several submitted in response
to,he-publication of the Comptroller General decisions B183086 and
)0. The Office of General Counsel has made a lengthy and extensive
B1849
J
ii
_
w
e
of the decisions and'he regulations and laws on which they are
based, and ha that these decisions do not apply
to Agency positions or personnel. The Civil Service Commission regula-
tions involved in the Comptroller General decisions are not directly
applicable to Agency employees and the Agency has no regulations of its
own which mandate procedures comparable to the Civil Service Commission
regulations.
The CSC regulations on which the General Counsel decisions are
based are contained in Federal Personnel Manual (FPPM), Chapter 300,
(L, rl )-t"i4 c.-4c -
Subchapter 8 and do not extend to employees of CIA. Coverage in--hamL
is expressly limited to details of employees serving in competitive
positions or positions under the General Schedule.
a5t-?serve ice- cc p t, ti vP posi ns or- - i sl Ions eT the" General,-.,,
SthedulL6." Title 5 U.S.C., Section 2it37, 2 JI define the "competitive
service" to include all appointive positions in the executive branch
except "positions which are specifically excepted from the competitive
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service by or under statute." The Agency is specifically exempt from
the provision of the Classification Act of 1949 as it relates to the
classification of positions under the General Schedule and to pay rates
for positions under the General Schedule. CIA employees are appointed
under the authority of Section 8(a) of the CIA Act, which authorizes
expenditures for personal services notwithstanding "any other provisions
of law," and CIA positions are excluded from the competitive civil service.
CSC re4ations also pcQvide that
our'
regard
gutty to fix the pay o rsonnel wi
"An officer such as e DC-1 who has statutory
for the c'4gssification iawJ ur, ess =u.E-uici
restricted by s ion, elect to fix
accordance the p "sions of the Gener
Sche e. However, this ele 'n does not make
'6e position subject to the authority-given'to
the Commission by law."
With regard to Agency regulations, there is no provision for
procedures comparable to those in the FPM Chapter 300, Subchapter 8,
on which the Comptroller General decisions are based. While the CIA
regulations provide as a matter of policy that "assignments will
normally be made to a position at the employees grade," they also
allow for assignment to a position of higher grade for training purposes
(the position affords the employee broader developmental opportunities)
or because the employee is the best qualified person available at that
time for the position. Moreover, it is significant in relation to this
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subject, the Agency has never determined directly or by implication
from its practices, either prior or subsequent to the recent Comptroller
General decisions, that its regulation'require temporary promotions
in the circumstances of your situation. As the Comptroller General
acknowledges in these decisions the interpretation of regulations by
an Agency charged with their administration is entitled to be given
great weight.
The propriety of CIA's assignment policies has been acknowledged
by the Comptroller General. In a decision dating back to December 1959
(B140877), it was held that mere adoption of the principles of the
Classification Act in the Agency regulations, rules.and actions does
not requre
) innght of express exemption of CIA from the Act, and the
Agency's due statutory authorities, that CIA follow 5 U.S.C. 38
(now 3341) which essentially limits details to 120 days. The Comptroller
General held that the employee's "qualifications-were considered under
the regulations of the Agency and determined to be proper" and that
as the compensation received during the period was at the grade officially
held during the period, there was no basis for allowing a claim for
the additional compensation. , y s If ..f , -7 Lam. -J dQ ds 4
Ayou %.laui*,a. ller
86 :.,"and B149 A'0 "" c not ;..applicable -to .A,ge , . ,
Neither, w ...find there has been conflict
in,yo it aszigm%p,t,u, h . #,gene mpubtish`ed-T"r=icons re-ldt ve to employee
,grade and sh ade of the positib assi.t. If the above does
not satisfy your concern, please feel free to contact this office. Yo-6---
may, -of course ,-bm1-'an appeal directly to the Director of Central
,-Intelligence through the Inspector General of the Agency.
Approved For Release 2001/05/23 : CIA-RDP82-00357R000600130059-2