Ames Federal Employees Union

If you received a rating you felt was low, I suggest you request reconsideration (by checking the box, or by sending an e-mail to your supervisor if you decide to request it after you had an opportunity to check the box.)

If you receive a reconsideration decision that does not satisfy you, then we can consider proceeding on a grievance. There are a number of things to consider:

1. Were there procedural errors in the way your EPCS was developed or your rating determined? If so, we can grieve the procedural issues.
2. Were there factual disputes? Did you submit your input into your evaluation in writing? Were your inputs included in the evaluation?

In the first case, if you grieve the matter, it’s not likely that the Center will bother correcting procedural issues. If you take it all the way to an arbitrator, it is probable that the best outcome you can expect is that the arbitrator will order the Center to re-evaluate you with the correct procedure (the arbitrator likely won’t rate you themselves when procedural errors occurred.) Or the arbitrator may feel that the procedural error did not rise to the level of significance warranting re-rating.

If it is a factual dispute or you otherwise feel you were rated lower than you deserved, the most likely outcome would be that the arbitrator would look at your evidence and at management’s evidence and the arbitrator might overrule management’s rating…but arbitrators are likely to be reticent to overrule management’s decisions unless it’s obvious that you deserved better.

Oh, and did I mention this will take 6 mo - 1 yr to process and will likely cost you thousands of dollars? I don’t mean to dissuade you, but performance evaluation (even with all of the mom and apple pie words about objective measures) boils down to a judgment call. You’re not likely to have success in a grievance unless there was gross negligence or your supervisor rated you much lower than you deserved.

However, if you received a “needs improvement” or “fails to meet” rating, I strongly suggest you grieve unless you do feel managements right. These ratings cause you the greatest harm, particularly if you’re up for a within-grade increase (WIGI) or bucking for a promotion (not likely to happen even if you win the grievance…Management is not fond of fighting with employees and promotion boards are secretive.)

As you are surely aware, the Union will be looking at performance evaluation metrics across the Center to make sure there isn’t systemic discrepancies.

Some tips:

1. HR and the Union agree that supervisors should use the Word document format for plans, based upon the sample standards developed jointly. The EPCS form from HQ leaves far too little space to develop reasonable standards.
2. Standards should objectively distinguish between the three levels of performance, the more objective the standards, the better for you, and for your supervisor. Supervisors, however, are likely to try to make them as general as possible so that they can exert the greatest amount of discretion as to how to rate people, but they run the risk of losing a grievance over the rating if the employee disagrees.
3. Your “plan” is fluid, and not limited to what is written in the official performance plan. Your supervisor can give you direction and change your plan verbally or in writing (hopefully the latter) at any time, but he/she must give you 90 days to perform the new plan in order to rate you on that new plan. If your plan changes significantly, suggest to your supervisor that the plan be revised. This can be done at any time. Management is under the gun to get something out, work with them and with their time line, but that does not mean they cannot work with you to clarify and improve your plan after the deadline.
4. Your plan should be reasonable for a person at your grade level, and should be consistent with your position description.
5. Sign your plan, if you agree with it.
6. If you have any problems, issues, or concerns, raise them with your supervisor and if he/she is unwilling to address your concerns, contact your HR rep or the Chief Steward and we can consider formal action or other methods of resolving the issue.

As the Center rolls through performance evaluations, I give the following recommendations:

Unlike signing plans, I recommend you sign your EPCS evaluation, whether you agree with it or not. Ask for a photocopy. Signing it is simply signifying receipt, not agreement. If you disagree with your evaluation, you can check the box asking for reconsideration, but I am not fond of this checkbox either. See below as to why.

Management can show you your evaluation, which must include the element and summary rating checkboxes checked, but they are not required to get your signature and they will file your evaluation with “employee refused to sign” in the signature block if you do not sign.

Obviously, this looks bad for you, if you are planning on bucking for a promotion or transfer, as it looks like you’re uncooperative. I also think the checkbox for reconsideration is similar. Lastly, I strongly discourage filing additional documentation that seems combative or shows disagreement. File all of the “kudos” and positive news about your performance as you see fit.

If you disagree (significantly) with your rating, whether in the text or the actual rating checkboxes, talk to the Union stewards and consider filing a grievance.

Now, previously, I would have said you have time to consider filing a grievance, but given the recent ruling regarding pay discrimination, which has an effect on the understanding of the legal concept of “continuing practice”, I think you may be limited to 30 days from seeing your evaluation to file.

– Chris Knight, Chief Steward, AFEU, IFPTE #30