Position classification and desk audits
Classification decides a position’s pay plan, series, title and grade. It is a judgment about the job, never about the person in it, and that single distinction settles most of the arguments it produces.
The parts that trip people up
What a classification decision is
Four determinations: the pay plan, the occupational series, the official title, and the grade. Each is made against OPM’s published position classification standards for that occupation rather than against local custom.
The evaluation statement is part of the decision, not paperwork after it. A grade nobody can reconstruct from the record is a grade that will not survive challenge.
The desk audit
A desk audit is a structured review of what a position actually does, usually through interviews with the incumbent and the supervisor plus a look at the work product, to test whether the position description matches reality.
It is commonly requested when someone believes their grade is too low. What it evaluates is still the position: whether the duties as actually assigned and performed meet the criteria for a higher grade. Strong performance in a lower-graded job does not raise the grade.
Position descriptions
The PD is the record of the assigned duties and responsibilities, and it has to be accurate and current. A PD that describes work the position no longer does, or omits work it now does, makes every downstream decision unsafe: the grade, the qualification requirements, the vacancy announcement.
Where it connects
Classification is upstream of most federal HR. It sets the grade that drives pay, it fixes the series that drives qualification standards, and it feeds the personnel action that documents any change. Get it wrong and the error propagates through the SF 50 and pay setting alike.
Training on this
Priced on GSA Schedule contract 47QRAA24D004K, available as a private class for one agency on your own dates, and fundable with an SF-182.
Classification
All dates Eastern, refreshed daily from the Graduate School USA catalog.
Questions we get
What is a desk audit?
A structured review of what a position actually does, usually combining interviews with the incumbent and supervisor with a look at the work itself, to test whether the position description and the assigned grade match reality.
Can a desk audit raise my grade?
It can result in a higher grade, but only if the duties as actually assigned and performed meet the criteria for one. Classification evaluates the position, not the person, so working hard in a lower-graded job does not raise the grade. Neither does volume of work on its own.
What does a classification decision actually assign?
Four things: pay plan, occupational series, official title and grade. All four come from applying OPM's published classification standards for the occupation to the duties in the position description.
Who decides, and can it be challenged?
The agency classifies the position. An employee may file a classification appeal, to the agency or to OPM, on the series, title or grade. This is why the evaluation statement matters: a decision that cannot be reconstructed from the record is hard to defend.
How often should position descriptions be reviewed?
Whenever the work changes materially, and periodically regardless. A PD that has drifted from the actual duties undermines the grade, the qualification requirements and the vacancy announcement built on it.
Classification is upstream of pay, qualifications and staffing, which is why an error there does not stay contained.
Training classifiers?
Tell us whether your team needs the basics, the Federal Wage System, or advanced work on appeals and evaluation statements.