United States Department of Agriculture 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 

Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration

 Directive MRP 4511.1 2/16/06

CLASSIFICATION APPEALS WITHIN THE MARKETING AND 

REGULATORY PROGRAMS MISSION AREA

1. PURPOSE

This Directive states the Marketing and Regulatory Programs’ (MRP) mission area 

policies and procedures regarding appealing the classification of positions within the 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 

(APHIS), and Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration. 

2. REPLACEMENT HIGHLIGHTS

This Directive replaces: 

a. AMS Directive 310.1, Classification of Positions, dated 4/15/91. 

b. APHIS Directive 435.1, Classification Appeal Procedures, dated 9/1/82.

3. POLICY 

Federal employees have the right to appeal the classification of their positions at any time 

if they disagree with the official classification. However, prior to filing an appeal, 

employees are strongly urged to discuss their concern(s) with their supervisor and/or 

their servicing Human Resources Specialist (HRS) for classification in an attempt to 

resolve their concern(s) prior to engaging in the appeal process. If the concern(s) are not 

resolved by their supervisor and/or through discussions with their servicing HRS, 

employees may appeal their position’s classification using a variety of options. Employee 

appeals will be submitted without fear of restraint, interference, coercion, or reprisal. 

4. POSITIONS COVERED BY THIS DIRECTIVE

 

 a. All positions in the General Schedule.

 b. All positions in the Federal Wage System (FWS). 

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Distribution: AMS, APHIS, GIPSA Originating Office: MRPBS-HRD-HREB
 

5. POSITIONS NOT COVERED BY THIS DIRECTIVE 

 In accordance with the provisions of Title 5, United States Code, Chapter 51, the 

 following groups of positions are excluded from coverage of this Directive: 

 a. All positions in the Foreign Service. 

 b. All positions classified to the AD (i.e., Administratively Determined) pay system. 

 

 c. All positions classified to the MMA (i.e., Milk Market Administrator) pay system 

 of Dairy, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). 

 d. All positions in the Senior Executive Service (SES). 

e. All GS-15 employees who assert their position should be reclassified to the SES. 

 

6. APPEALABLE ISSUES 

 a. The position’s occupational series. 

 b. The position’s grade level. 

 c. The position’s title. Only titles that are mandated by the appropriate 

 classification standard may be appealed. (For example, Budget Analyst is the 

 mandated title for non-supervisory positions in the GS-560 series and, therefore, 

 is an appealable issue.) 

 d. The inclusion in or exclusion of the position from the General Schedule pay 

 plan, i.e., the FWS, which covers labor, trades, and crafts work. 

7. ISSUES WHICH ARE NOT APPEALABLE 

 a. The series, grade, or pay system of a position to which an employee is detailed or 

 temporarily promoted. 

 b. A proposed classification action. 

 c. The classification of any position to which an employee is not permanently 

 assigned by an official personnel action. 

 d. The classification of a position based on a comparison to another position and not 

 to published Office of Personnel Management (OPM) classification standards. 

 e. The classification of someone else’s position. 

 f. The accuracy of OPM-published classification guides or standards. 

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 g. Whether or not a major duty should be included or excluded from the position 

 description. 

 h. An assignment or detail which is outside the scope of the work normally 

 performed. 

 i. The official title of a position that is not mandated by the appropriate 

 classification standard. (For example, the GS-301, Miscellaneous Administration 

 and Program Series, does not contain mandated titles; therefore, the title assigned 

 to a position in the GS-301 series is not an appealable issue.) 

 j. The accuracy or consistency of mission area supplemental classification guides 

 used to classify a position. 

 Some of the above issues may be covered by administrative or negotiated grievance 

 procedures. Refer to the appropriate directive or bargaining unit agreement for further 

 information. 

8. TIME FRAMES FOR FILING AN APPEAL 

 a. Employees may file an appeal of the current classification of their position at 

 any time. 

 b. Employees may file an appeal of a notice that a reclassification of their position 

 will take place upon receipt of the official notice.

 c. To preserve any rights to retroactive pay benefits, an employee may file an appeal 

within 15 calendar days of the effective date of a reclassification of his/her 

position (i.e., the effective date of the personnel action (SF-50) that appoints or 

assigns the employee to the reclassified position which results in the loss of pay 

or grade.) 

 d. FWS employees must file an appeal to OPM within 15 calendar days of the date 

 they receive a decision from either the APHIS Human Resources Division or the 

 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of Human Capital 

 Management). FWS employees should refer to Section 9. below for specific 

 information regarding the filing of FWS appeals. Additionally, for further 

 information regarding timeframes for FWS employees choosing to appeal to 

 OPM, refer to the Employee Fact Sheet on Position Classification Appeals which 

 is available through an Internet web link cited in Section 13. b. below. 

 

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9. WHERE TO FILE AN APPEAL 

 

 a. General Schedule Employees. In accordance with USDA Personnel Bulletin 

511-1, mission areas are required to offer employees at least one level of 

classification appeal or review within the mission area. Thus, the first avenue of 

appeal for an employee is to file with the Office of the Director, Human 

Resources Division, Marketing and Regulatory Programs Business Services 

(MRPBS), APHIS. 

 b. Employees may choose to bypass this first avenue and appeal directly to: 

 (1) The Director, Office of Human Capital Management, USDA, or 

 (2) The Office of Personnel Management. Classification appeal 

 decisions issued by OPM constitute final classification decisions, and 

 employees may not appeal unfavorable OPM decisions to either USDA or 

 the mission area. 

 c. Federal Wage System Employees. OPM regulations prescribe that employees 

 whose position is currently classified under the Federal Wage System must first 

 appeal to their Agency, i.e., either with the APHIS, Human Resources Division or 

 the USDA, Office of Human Capital Management. 

 d. General Schedule and Federal Wage System Employees. Attachment 1 contains 

 further information on where to file an appeal. 

10. EMPLOYEE’S RIGHT TO A REPRESENTATIVE 

An employee may select an individual to represent him/her during the course of his/her 

appeal proceedings. A representative must be designated as such in writing and cannot be 

a supervisor with line or staff authority over the appellant’s position, or be any official 

having classification authority over the position (e.g., a Human Resources Officer or 

HRS (Classification). A representative shares with the appellant the responsibility for 

cooperating in processing the appeal, including providing information in a timely fashion 

and in the manner specified. A representative is not entitled to be present during any 

factfinding sessions about the appellant’s position. If the representative is an employee of 

the mission area and is otherwise in duty status, he/she will be granted reasonable time by 

his/her supervisor to prepare and present an employee’s appeal. 

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11. PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING AN APPEAL 

 An appeal must be in writing and include the following information for adjudication by 

 any reviewing authority. Failure to provide this information in the timeframe provided 

 may result in rejection of the appeal. 

 a. The appellant’s name, mailing address, and office telephone number. In those 

cases where the appellant designates a representative, the name, mailing address, 

and office telephone number of the designee also must be included. 

 b. Exact location of the appellant’s position within the organization (e.g., agency, 

division, branch, section, unit, etc.). 

 c. The current classification of the appellant’s position including pay plan, 

occupational series, title, and grade. 

 d. A copy of the appellant’s official position description, along with a statement 

containing the appellant’s views as to its accuracy. If the position description is 

considered to be inaccurate, provide a description of the work being performed 

and steps taken to have the official description changed. 

 e. The requested pay plan, occupational series, position title, and grade. 

 f. Reason(s) why the appellant feels his/her position is currently misclassified, or 

why the position should be brought under or excluded from the General Schedule 

or Federal Wage System. The employee should include any statement of facts 

which he/she feels supports his/her request. 

An employee may not file a classification appeal electronically because the appeal must 

 have an original signature by the appellant and/or the appellant’s designated 

 representative, if applicable. Additionally, a classification appeal frequently contains 

 supporting documentation such as position descriptions, organization charts, and work 

 samples that are not available electronically. 

12. WITHDRAWING AN APPEAL 

 An appeal may be withdrawn, in writing, at any time by notifying the office handling 

 the appeal. As stated above, an appeal may be cancelled if the appellant and/or his/her 

 representative are not responsive to requests for information within the timeframe 

 provided. 

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13. INQUIRIES 

 Further information on the classification appeals process may be obtained by: 

 a. Contacting your servicing HRS for classification in the Human Resources 

 Division, MRPBS, APHIS. 

b. Reviewing the Employee Fact Sheet on Position Classification Appeals, 

MSO-98-3, OPM, which is accessible through this Internet web link: 

www.opm.gov/fedclass/html/gsclass.asp

 c. This Directive can be accessed at http://www.usda.aphis.gov/library

/s/ 

William J. Hudnall 

Deputy Administrator 

MRP Business Services 

Attachment 

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Attachment 1 

APHIS Directive 4511.1 

2/16/06 

MAILING ADDRESS FOR FILING CLASSIFICATION APPEALS 

 

For APHIS, MRPBS, HRD appeals: 

 

 Director 

 MRPBS Human Resources Division 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture 

 Room 1709, South Building 

 Stop 3440 

 1400 Independence Avenue, SW 

 Washington, D. C. 20250 

For Office of Human Capital Management, USDA appeals: 

 Director 

 Office of Human Capital Management 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture 

 Room 316-W, Jamie L. Whitten Building 

 1400 Independence Avenue, SW 

 Washington, D. C. 20250 

 

For OPM Appeals: 

 Location of Your Duty Station OPM Address 

Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area 

including in Maryland: the counties of 

Charles, Montgomery, and Prince George’s; 

in Virginia: the counties of 

Arlington, Fairfax, King George, Loudoun, 

Prince William, and Stafford: 

the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls 

Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park; 

Europe and any overseas area not included 

elsewhere. 

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, 

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, 

Virginia (except those locations served by the 

Washington, D.C. Oversight Division) 

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, 

OPM Washington DC Oversight Division 

1900 E Street N.W, Room 7675 

Washington, D.C. 20415-0006 

OPM Atlanta Oversight Division 

75 Spring Street S.W., Suite 1018 

Atlanta, GA 30303-3109 
 

Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, 

North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, West 

Virginia, Wisconsin 

Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, 

Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, 

Utah, Wyoming 

Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, 

(except those locations served by the 

Washington, D.C. Oversight Division), 

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, 

New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode 

Island, Vermont, Virgin Islands 

Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, 

Oregon, Washington, Pacific Ocean Area 

OPM Chicago Oversight Division 

230 S. Dearborn Street, DPN30-6 

Chicago, IL 60604-1687 

OPM Dallas Oversight Division 

1100 Commerce Street, Room 4C22 

Dallas, TX 75242-9968 

OPM Philadelphia Oversight Division 

600 Arch Street, Room 3400 

Philadelphia, PA 19106-1596 

OPM San Francisco Oversight Division 

120 Howard Street, Room 760 

San Francisco, CA 94105-0001