Human Resource Policy Manual (HRPM)
Volume 1. Employment
EMP-1.29
Career Enhancement Program (CEP)
This Chapter applies to: (1) Non-bargaining unit employees/positions and (2)
bargaining unit employees/positions, except where the applicable collective bargaining
agreement contains conflicting provisions or the subject has not been negotiated.
Chapter Established on: July 4, 2012
This Version Effective: July 4, 2012
Background information: This chapter establishes rotational assignments for career
enhancement throughout the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The chapter
allows for pay retention, transportation expenses, and administrative return rights InAccordance-With (IAW) agency policies. Previously rotational assignments were
authorized within the Air Traffic Organization (ATO). FAPM 330-4 Appendix 9, Air
Traffic Career Progression Plan, addressed career enhancing moves within the ATO
and provided for pay retention. The policies were cancelled and Policy Bulletin #58 was
issued to provide pay retention when an Air Traffic Controller Supervisor (MSS) moved
from a MSS-2/3/4 position into an ATO Service Area/Headquarters position and the
move was deemed to be career enhancing.
Table of Contents
1. Purpose
2. Scope
3. Definitions
4. Responsibilities
5. Delegation of Authority
6. Program Management
a. Identifying and Announcing Career Enhancement Assignments
b. Conditions for Career Enhancement Assignments
c. Selections
d. Documentation
7. Pay Retention
8. Travel, Transportation, and Per Diem
9. Evaluations
1. Purpose: The purpose of the FAA Career Enhancement Program (CEP) is to
address FAA corporate and LOB/SO needs by offering employees temporary career
developmental experiences that match current and future workforce priorities, address
succession planning strategies, emergency resource needs, special projects or studies,
and changes in mission. Benefits of the program for managers also include the ability
to expand an understanding of the LOB/SO organization by providing regular rotational
opportunities. FAA employees are similarly benefited through a better understanding of
FAA/LOB's mission and operations, as well as the enhancement of competencies, and
expertise.
Candidates for these assignments will be considered for placement without regard to
race, color, religion, sex, age, genetic testing, national origin, veteran status, lawful
political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability (if not a job factor), or
membership/non-membership in an employee organization.
This chapter provides criteria for identifying and filling rotational assignments within the
FAA. FAA employees may participate in these assignments within/to core
compensation pay plan positions, or within/to positions in other pay plans. Pay
retention criterion and procedures that may be applicable to career enhancement
assignments are also referenced in this chapter.
For intra-agency rotational assignments refer to Department of Transportation
Rotational Assignment Program,
http://dotnet.dot/emploveeservices/CareerQpportunities.html.
2. Scope: This chapter applies to all FAA employees serving on permanent excepted
appointments, and currently assigned to the journeyman level or above in their career
field. This program does not preclude a manager's/supervisor's current authority to
detail, reassign, promote etc. employees in accordance with agency policy. In addition,
this chapter does not replace or modify other career development programs such as;
Upward Mobility, Developmental and Intern Appointment Programs.
While this program offers employee career development opportunities, as a result of a
rotational assignment, there is not a guaranteed future assignments based on his/her
gained experience. However as part of succession planning and a return on
investment, the LOB/SOs should not preclude employees on rotational assignments for
further advancement and/or utilization of the new skills, upon completion of the CEP.
3. Definitions:
a. Career Enhancement Assignment: Career enhancement assignments are
short term career enhancement assignment opportunities that equip employees
with additional expertise to further the DOT/FAA/LOB/SO mission and/or meet
succession planning goals. Career enhancing assignments are temporary not to
exceed one (1) year and may be extended in one year increments for an
additional two (2)-years, NTE 3 years (total). The assignment is intended to
contribute to the mission of the agency, meet agency needs and enhance the
employee's background and broaden the individual's range of knowledge, skills,
and abilities, and other characteristics (KSAs). Career enhancement occurs
when an employee: 1) is assigned to a managerial/supervisory/staff position, or;
2) has attained a journeyman experience in a different option or to a position with
a different set of complexities, responsibilities and scope of experience. (Note:
Careers are not enhanced when an employee is assigned to a position in which
the employee has already had experience). Upon completion of the assignment
the employee will return to his/her home organization.
b. ATO Career Enhancing Assignments: Career Enhancing (CE) assignments
are permanent or temporary transfers (greater than 12 months) or movements to
an equivalent or a lower career level designed to broaden the experience and
qualification of individuals to further the DOT/FAA/LOB/SO mission and/or meet
succession planning goals. Career Enhancing assignments include the following
elements:
o Position is permanent
o Limited Pay Retention: Pay retention is subject to a 3-year limit
o All rules apply only if you haven't previously held the position on a
permanent basis at the same level facility.
c. ATO Career Progression Assignments: Career Progression (CP)
assignments are permanent promotions, transfers or MSS movements that
provide critical expertise that further the DOT/FAA/LOB/SO mission. These
assignments are intended to encourage good pools of qualified candidates. CP
assignments offer diverse experiences, which assist the agency in meeting
succession goals, and include the following elements:
o Pay Retention (No loss in pay when following a recognized career
progression, and Check/Return to Previous Rate)
o Applies to positions not previously held on a permanent basis
d. Career Diversity: Experience in varied positions which broadens the individual's
range of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's). Career Diversity is enhanced
when an employee is assigned to a staff position or a supervisory position or has
attained a journeyman position in a different option. Career Diversity is not
enhanced when an employee is assigned to a staff or supervisory position in
which he or she has already held on a permanent basis.
e. Pay Retention: An employee whose rate of basic pay would otherwise be
reduced as a result of a management action is entitled to retain his/her rate of
basic pay. Career enhancement assignments are included with limitations (see
paragraph 7).
f. Home Organization: The organization and duty station that the employee is
permanently assigned to immediately before accepting a rotational assignment.
Responsibilities:
a. Lines of Business and Staff Offices are responsible for the management of the
program within their organization, monitoring the career development, evaluating
the effectiveness of the program and reporting requirements. (See section 9b)
LOB/SOs are responsible for; position management within the organization, to
include identifying positions and grade/pay band levels for career enhancement
assignments; supporting employee participation within and outside of the
LOB/SO; and placing employees back to his/her position of record or to a
comparable position upon completion of assignment.
b. Employees are responsible for seeking rotational opportunities to enrich their
own skill development and/or to contribute their talent and technical expertise to
meet current agency needs. Additionally, employees are responsible for
successfully completing the assigned tasks, providing feedback on their assigned
positions, and to meet and discuss with their supervisor, as needed on his/her
progression in the CEP.
c. Human Resource Management Offices (HRMO) are responsible for advising
management and employees concerning the program. This includes creating
and posting announcements, preparing appropriate personnel forms to document
rotational assignments, annotating "Notification of Personnel Actions" with
eligibility for pay retention and administrative return rights, if applicable,
monitoring the duration of rotational assignments, and assisting in employees'
exercise of administrative return rights.
Delegation of Authority: LOB/SO's are delegated authority to develop nonconflicting supplemental LOB/SO specific career enhancement policy, subject to the
Assistant Administrator for Human Resource Management (AHR-1) concurrence.
Program Management:
a. Identifying and Announcing Career Enhancement Assignments. Career
enhancement assignments are project/product/management oriented, and
related to mission requirements and priorities. The experience should provide
insight into the overall agency programs and enhance the employee's
competencies; as well as provide opportunities to interact with other program
areas. Career Enhancement assignments are temporary not to exceed one (1)
year. The one year assignment may be extended an additional 2-years, NTE 3
years (total). A "Career Enhancement Assignment Agreement" must be
executed. (See: Reference Material: Agreement: Career Enhancement
Assignment (Sample). Prospective assignments are announced using a wide
variety of methods to locate and encourage applicants, including contact with
special emphasis program managers. In addition, rotational assignments must
be announced using competitive processes and AVIATOR (FAA's Job
Application System).
It is important to note that temporary assignments do not lead to non-competitive
conversion to permanent assignments or promotions, nor are they intended to
serve as a "test run" for employees whom a LOB/SO is considering to hire.
Participants may compete for other permanent opportunities while on a
temporary rotational assignment; however, pay retention and administrative
return rights, if applicable terminate upon movement out of the assignment.
b. Conditions for Career Enhancement Assignments.
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Must be made competitive through the FAA on-line competitive vacancy
announcement process. The vacancy announcement must clearly state:
o "The position is a "Career Enhancement Assignment";
o "The assignment is temporary", and include the terms and conditions
(length and agreement);
o "May become permanent" if applicable;
o "Eligibility for pay retention, travel allowances and administrative return
rights, if applicable";
o "Upon completion of the assignment the employee will have administrative
return rights to their home organization/location/position".
Temporary rotational assignments are for a period of up to one year. This
assignment may be extended in one year increments for an additional 2
years, not to exceed (NTE) a total of 3 years, with the mutual approval of the
home organization and the organization which has the established rotational
program.
Employees must meet all applicable qualification, suitability and medical
requirements, must be able to be certified as technically proficient/current (if
required);
Employee must have a current performance rating of "Fully Successful" or
better, or equivalent rating;
Employee must have a recommendation from their supervisor to participate in
the rotational assignment;
Employee must have not previously held the same position/duties/function on
a permanent basis;
The LOB/SO must complete a "Career Enhancement Assignment Agreement"
(see the Reference Material: Agreement: Career Enhancement Assignment)
with the selected employee to develop the individual's technical skills and soft
skills over the assignment period. (Please see section 6d below for further
details);
A new agreement must be signed and approved each time the temporary
rotational assignment is extended;
New performance objectives must be developed each time an extension of
the temporary appointment is approved;
Upon completion of the assignment, employees will have administrative
return rights to his/her original organization and to the same or a comparable
position at the same pay level (band/grade) and location, as previously held;
and,
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Employees who apply for and accept a permanent position within or outside
of the FAA before or upon completion of their rotational assignment will
forfeit their restoration rights back to their home organization and pay
retention (if applicable).
c. Selections. Employees are encouraged to discuss their interest in applying for a
career enhancement assignment with their supervisor. Supervisors are
encouraged to look favorably on rotational assignments where possible. If an
employee is selected for a CEP assignment, it is important that both the
participating employee and his/her supervisor discuss appropriate arrangements
so that the rotational assignment is amenable to all parties. Supervisors are
encouraged to consider the career development needs of the applicants and
diversity issues within their organization. The assignment should provide a
meaningful experience for the participants and address the needs of the
sponsoring LOB/SO.
d. Documentation. Prior to starting the rotational assignment, and with each
extension of the temporary appointment, the LOB/SO and selectee will generate
an agreement documenting the objectives of the assignment and the
developmental activities/duties that will be performed to meet the objectives. The
Reference Material: Agreement: Career Enhancement Assignment is the format
for this agreement.
1) The following must be specified in the agreement:
• Duration and location of the assignment.
• Outline of developmental objectives.
• Schedule of appropriate assignments and training, if appropriate.
• Officials responsible for the assignment.
• List of items the organization will fund (e.g., travel, per diem, etc.).
• Evaluation of employee's progress.
• Conditions terminating the agreement.
• Written endorsement from sponsoring senior management for the
proposed assignment.
• Statement that the participant will return to his/her position of record at the
conclusion of the assignment.
2)
The following authorized signatures must be on the agreement:
• Employee.
• Managers of the sponsoring and home organization.
• Human Resource Management Office (HRMO)
CEP assignments will be documented on an SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action,
to assure the employee receives recognition/credit in his or her Electronic Official
Personnel File (eOPF) for the rotation.
7. Pay Retention: For movements into or within Core Compensation pay plan, pay
retention is authorized IAW Comp 2.11c. Movement of the MSS employee within
the AT pay plan, pay retention is authorized IAW Comp 2.1 AT. Employees in FG
and FW pay plans are authorized IAW FAPM Letter 536. Pay retention must be
authorized and approved before the effective date of the assignment and may not
be made retroactive.
a. Limitation: When an employee on a temporary assignment and on pay
retention is extended or selected for a second rotational assignment, he/she will
continue to receive pay retention. However, employees may not have more than
3 consecutive rotational assignments and continue to receive pay retention, or
retain return rights. Employees will not receive pay retention for more than 3
consecutive years. Pay retention terminates if converted to permanent.
8. Travel, Transportation and Per Diem: Travel authorization for temporary and
permanent duty station changes will be determined by the sponsoring organization.
All travel and per diem for temporary and permanent duty station changes will be
IAW Federal Aviation Administration Travel Policy (FAATP).
9. Evaluations:
a. Employee Evaluation of Assignment. Each employee who participates in a
CEP assignment shall prepare a mid-year and final review narrative evaluation of
his/her experiences during the assignment and provide copies to the home
organization and sponsoring supervisor. Employee evaluations must also be
prepared during each extension of the temporary appointment. The evaluation
should be linked to the work plan and include items such as:
• An overview of the tasks and projects completed during the CEP assignment,
including information that describes how the assignment provided career
experiences that enabled the employee to develop knowledge and skills that
will benefit the agency and facilitate the employee's career development
plans.
• Include any accomplishments/milestones achieved during the assignment,
and whether or not the assignment objectives were met.
• Information about the positive and/or negative aspects of the assignment.
• Recommendations, if any, for improving the administration of the program to
make the assignments more valuable for future participants.
In addition to the employee's evaluation, the sponsoring organization should prepare
a similar evaluation that addresses the same items mentioned above.
b. Program Evaluation. The LOB/SO in collaboration with managers, supervisors,
and employees will be responsible for evaluating the overall program activities
and effectiveness. The program evaluation should reflect the goals and mission
of the organization and succession planning, and include:
• Overview of the mission and goals of the organization and success/impact of
utilizing CEP to meet those goals. Including information that describes how
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the assignments provided career experiences and fulfilled succession
planning objectives.
Accomplishments/milestones achieved during the CEP assignments.
Information about the positive and/or negative aspects of the CEP
assignments.
Recommendations, if any, for improving the administration of the program to
make the assignments more valuable for future participants.
Performance Appraisals. The employee's performance will be evaluated IAW
PM-9.1 and any applicable collective bargaining agreement. If the rotational
assignment is 90-days or longer the sponsoring supervisor must prepare a formal
performance plan no later than 30 days after the start of the assignment. For
those assignments that are 90 days or greater, the sponsoring supervisor will
close out the performance plan at the end of the performance cycle and/or
assignment and issue the employee the applicable performance summary. This
performance summary will be forwarded to the employee's manager of record to
be given consideration in the employee's overall performance summary at the
end of the performance cycle. For assignments less than 90 days the
development of formal performance plan is not required. However, the employee
may request that information regarding his/her performance during the rotational
assignment be provided to his/her permanent immediate supervisor. If at any
time during the performance cycle the employee is not performing at an
acceptable level as required by the performance plan the rotational assignment
will be terminated,
Use this Chapter in conjunction with:
HRPM COMP 2.11c - Demotions and Pay Band and Pay Retention in Core
Comp:
HRPM COMP-2.1AT, Managers and Supervisors Pay in the Air Traffic
Controllers Compensation Plan
FAPM Letter 536: Grade and Pay Retention Under the Civil Service Reform Act
HRPM EMP 1.14 - Permanent Internal Assignments
Pay Rules Guide for Managers and Supervisors in the Air Traffic Controllers
Compensation Plan (Pay Plan AT)
Reference Material: Agreement: Career Enhancement Assignment
EMP-1.29a - Career Enhancement Program - ATO Supplement - Air Traffic
Organization Career Enhancement and Career Progression Assignments
(ATO-CEP/CPA)
Revision History Log
Date/Policy
Februarys 1999FAPM
Letter 330-4, Merit
Promotion Program,
Appendix 9,
Revision
Addressed career enhancing moves within the air traffic
controller workforce in Air Traffic and authorized pay retention
for these moves
September 2009
Policy Bulletin #58
Designated certain moves from MSS-2/3/4 positions to ATO
Headquarters/Service Area positions as career enhancing,
thus making them eligible for pay retention
October 5, 2010
Policy Bulletin #58,
Revised.
Added standardized language about bargaining unit
employees. Deleted Core Compensation to accommodate all
pay plans
Reference Material: Agreement: Career Enhancement Assignment
AGREEMENT: Career Enhancement Assignment (SAMPLE)
EMPLOYEE INFORMATION:
Employee Name:
Position Title (Pay Plan/Series/Grade):
Home Organization and Location
Address/Phone:
3NMENT AS:
Position Title (Pay Plan/Series/Grade):
Organization and Location
Address/Phone:
ASSIGNMENT PERIOD: Beginning
, (date)
will be on a
month assignment in the
(Employee's name)
(Office/code/organization)
I. OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM
A. General Familiarization: The employee will compile and analyze relevant directives
and instructions that will form the basis for developing overall policies and procedures
for the acquisition of transportation systems.
OBJECTIVE: The employee will understand specific information regarding the
acquisition policies and procedures of higher authority.
B. Role Definition: The employee will determine the role of the OA Acquisition Policy
and Procedures Manager in the organization and in the acquisition process, including
the development of a position description, and will be part of a team that will develop the
functional statement for the branch.
OBJECTIVE: The employee will gain first-hand experience in developing an
effective organization.
C. Special Assignments: The employee will participate in the acquisition process for
transportation systems.
OBJECTIVE: The employee will gain a thorough knowledge of acquisition
management for transportation systems as well as a basis for future assignments
as a technical/deputy division director or deputy project manager.
II. OFFICIALS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROGRAM
The Associate Administrator for Corporate Operations is responsible for the program's
direction and control. The Associate Administrator for Corporate Operations (Host Site)
and the Associate Administrator (employee's permanent position) are responsible for
the fulfillment of the terms of this agreement.
III. FLEXIBILITY PROVISIONS
When evaluation of the employee's program indicates the necessity, this agreement
may be modified to meet changing developmental needs. While early termination of this
agreement should generally be based on a mutual agreement between representing
parties, any party may terminate for sufficient reason(s).
IV. EVALUATION OF EMPLOYEE'S PROGRESS
The employee will submit a mid-program and a final review of progress to the host and
home organizations that will cite projects accomplished, training received, and a brief
evaluation. The employee's immediate supervisor at the host site will evaluate the
employee's progress as appropriate. Upon completion of the temporary assignment, the
host supervisor will appraise the employee's performance against the established
standards and discuss such appraisal with the employee's supervisor of record. The
supervisor of record will consider the received appraisal in arriving at the annual
performance appraisal/rating. As endorsed in the above situation, a member might have
earned more than one review/appraisal by the end of the year.
V. EMPLOYEE STATUS AT CONCLUSION OF THE ASSIGNMENT PERIOD
Upon completion of the assignment period, the employee will return to his/her home
organization and regular duties from which he/she was assigned.
APPROVAL SIGNATURES:
Participant
Date_
Supervisor of Record
Date_
Hosting Assignment Supervisor
Date_
Human Resources Management Office:
Date_