Agricultural Marketing Service, Specialty Crops Program, Specialty Crops Inspection Division

Employee Rotation Policy (June 2022) 

SCI Division Management Series

Page 1 of 6 

EMPLOYEE ROTATION POLICY

This policy provides a framework for rotating assignments and duty locations for Agricultural 

Commodity Graders (ACGs) to help ensure the integrity and objectivity of our inspection staff. 

Supervisors must ensure that ACGs assigned to in-plant inspections, terminal market inspections, 

and area office labs, including State inspectors assigned to market offices and shipping points, are 

rotated on a regular basis to mitigate the risk of excessive familiarity between our ACGs and staff

at the facilities where they are assigned. All ACGs are subject to an employee mobility agreement 

and may be rotated at any time as deemed appropriate by SCI management. Under certain

conditions, as explained below, an ACG’s official duty station can be changed to facilitate 

compliance with this policy.

In-Plant Assignments

ACGs assigned to work in a plant generally rotate to a different facility due to workload demands. 

Each January, the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) must evaluate the actual duty point (i.e., in-plant 

assignment) for each ACG that has been continuously assigned to the same processing facility for 

5 years or longer. The OIC should consider the questions on the SC-388, Annual Review of InPlant Assignments (More than 5 years), to help determine whether to seek approval of an in-plant 

assignment longer than 5 years: 

A. What is the grade level of the ACG and the location of the assignment?

B. How long has the ACG been assigned to the facility?

C. During this period of time, has the ACG worked on other assignments, such as

Temporary Duty Assignments? If so, how many and of what duration?

D. Has there been a change in ownership of the company? If yes, when?

E. Has plant management changed in the areas where the ACG has contact? If yes,

identify the positions in which there has been a change in management and when

the change occurred.

F. Has the ACG had the same supervisor for the past five years?

G. Could increased supervision or verification of the ACG’s work be an option in lieu

of reassignment? Provide specifics of how this could or could not be accomplished.
SCI Division Management Series Employee Rotation Policy 

Effective Date: June 2022 Page 2 of 6 

H. Would it be advantageous for the ACG to be assigned to a different plant to gain

more knowledge/experience in commodity grading and enhance their career

development?

I. What would be the impact on the SCI Division if the ACG was assigned to a

different plant?

If the OIC determines that the ACG should remain at the same duty point, the OIC must submit a 

completed SC-388, Annual Review of In-Plant Assignments (More than 5 years) (see Appendix I 

for a sample), to the appropriate Regional Branch Chief (RBC) no later than January 31 of each 

year. If the RBC determines an extension should be granted, they are to forward the SC-388 to the 

Associate Director of Field Operations for approval. If the answers provided to the above 

questions are sufficient to mitigate the risk of excessive familiarity, the extension will be granted, 

the ACG may remain at the same facility and no additional measures are needed. 

If the risk has not been sufficiently reduced, the RBC and OIC must develop additional measures 

(e.g., mandatory temporary duty assignments; additional supervisory and/or certificate reviews,

including reviews by others outside of the chain of command; and additional onsite and/or remote 

video conference events to conduct inspection or certificate reviews) to ensure that there is not too 

much familiarity between the ACG and the plant staff. The additional measures must be 

documented and approved by the Associate Director of Field Operations before the extension is 

approved. 

If the extension is not granted, the ACG must be assigned to a different duty point. 

Area Office Lab Assignments and Terminal Market Inspection Assignments

Supervisors must rotate all qualified ACGs among all applicants as equally as possible. 

Assignments should not be made based on conveniences (e.g., the applicant is located near the 

ACG’s residence). Work assignments subject to rotations include lot inspections, sampling 

assignments, tank ship duty, in-plant shift work, contract houses, weekend work, temporary duty 

assignments, out-of-town inspections, and typical “on the market” inspections. In addition, 

overtime, weekend, holiday, and “call-back” assignments must be rotated as equally as possible. 

It is acceptable to provide the first opportunity to volunteer for such assignments to lower-grade 

personnel if they have the skills necessary to perform the work. The equitable rotation of ACGs 

can be verified by assessing the “Daily Log of Inspections,” SQL report SS-114, or comparable 

assignment sheets. 

One-person terminal market locations must be subject to increased supervision. OICs must

conduct quarterly supervisory reviews. Over the course of a fiscal year, two supervisory reviews 

must be in person; one of the in-person supervisory reviews must be unannounced. As applicable, 

each quarterly review must include an evaluation of at least 25 certificates of each inspection type 

(e.g., SC 300, SC 205, and SC 301). In each calendar year, at least two relief ACGs must be

temporarily assigned to the market for at least one week in duration to cover for leave taken by the 
SCI Division Management Series Employee Rotation Policy 

Effective Date: June 2022 Page 3 of 6

incumbent ACG; the relief provided by these two ACGs should be at different times, not during 

the same week. 

If the same inspector is assigned to the same one-person terminal market for more than 5 years, the 

RBC and OIC must implement additional measures (e.g., mandatory temporary duty assignments; 

additional supervisory and/or certificate reviews, including reviews by others outside of the chain 

of command; additional onsite and/or remote video conference events to conduct inspection or 

certificate reviews). Any such additional measures must be approved by the Associate Director of 

Field Operations before implementation. 

Shipping Point Assignments

Shipping point inspectors work for State cooperators. Please refer to the Federal-State 

Supervisors Manual for instructions on rotating inspection assignments. Per guidance in the 

Manual, no shipping point inspector, including supervisors, may remain at any inspection point for 

more than 3 consecutive years. 

Requests for assignments of shipping point inspectors, including supervisors, of 3 years or more at 

a single location must be made in writing to the appropriate Federal Program Manager with 

approval granted by the Fed/State Management Branch Chief and the Associate Director of Field 

Operations.

Change in Duty Station

If the distance from an ACG’s previous duty station to a new duty station is less than 50 miles, 

the employee is not eligible for relocation expenses and their official duty station can be changed 

by issuing the employee a change in official duty station letter (see Appendix II for a sample) and 

processing an SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, with an approved justification from the 

RBC for the change in duty station attached (an email is sufficient). 

Any relocation of more than 50 miles requires a directed reassignment of the ACG and the AMS 

Administrator’s approval. Please consult with the appropriate RBC for additional guidance.
SCI Division Management Series Employee Rotation Policy 

Effective Date: June 2022 Page 4 of 6

APPENDIX I – SC-388 

Electronic version of the SC-388
SCI Division Management Series Employee Rotation Policy 

Effective Date: June 2022 Page 5 of 6

APPENDIX II – CHANGE IN DUTY STATION

[Your letter MUST be on SCI letterhead and follow this format]

Date

Mr./Mrs. Firstname Lastname

Agricultural Commodity Grader

Specialty Crops Inspection Division

City, State

Dear Firstname:

This is to notify you that your official duty station will be changed from City, State, to Different 

City, (Possibly Different) State, effective Date.

The relevant Parts of Sections of Chapter 302-Relocation Allowances of the Federal Travel 

Regulation are enclosed for your information. Section 302-1.1 (b) states that since the distance 

from your old duty station to your new duty station is less than 50 miles, you are not eligible for 

relocation expense allowances. Section 302.2.6 mentions that an exception to the above rule may 

be granted on a case-by-case basis. If you think you should be authorized an exception, you may 

submit your request for an exception to me. I will then forward it to my supervisors.

Please acknowledge receipt of this letter by signing and dating the copy identified as “Receipt 

Acknowledgement.”

If you have any questions, please contact me at ...

Sincerely,

Officer-in-Charge

Specific Area Office

Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) Division

Enclosures

__________________________________ _______________

Receipt Acknowledgement Date
SCI Division Management Series Employee Rotation Policy 

Effective Date: June 2022 Page 6 of 6

“SCI moving forward in the 21st Century using technology, innovation, and old fashioned hard work”

Non-Discrimination Policy: In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and 

employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from 

discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender 

expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income 

derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil 

rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all

programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information 

(e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible 

Agency or USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA 

through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be 

made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination 

Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and 

at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the 

information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. 

Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, 

D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.