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Understanding Eligibilities and Qualifications as Part of the Application Process for 

Commissary Career Program (CCP) Positions

Eligibilities. As part of the application process, you identify how you want HR to consider you for the 

position, referred to as selecting your eligibility/eligibilities. Not selecting at least one eligibility or 

selecting a single eligibility that does not apply to you removes you from further consideration. 

Under the CCP announcements, your eligibility choices are: 

• Reassignment, Change to Lower Grade or Re-promotion (Noncompetitive)

• Promotion (Competitive)

• Military Spouse registered in Program S of the Priority Placement Program (PPP)

All CCP positions are under the General Schedule (GS) pay schedule (aka pay plan); however, not all 

DeCA employees have a GS pay plan. Some DeCA employees have a Federal Wage System (FWS) pay 

plan -- Wage Grade (WG), Wage Leader (WL), or Wage Supervisor (WS). Determining whether your 

selection for a position would result in a reassignment, change to lower grade or promotion can be 

confusing. When moving from a FWS position to a GS position, the determination oftentimes involves 

setting pay, which requires a level of knowledge retained by HR professionals, and not easily conveyed 

here. 

The information below provides a definition, as it relates to applying for a CCP position, followed by 

some examples of the most common scenarios. This information intends only to provide further 

clarification of the definition’s practical meaning. If after reading this information you are uncertain 

which applies to you, you may contact DLA HR for further assistance or select all the eligibilities you 

think might apply to you and your situation. 

Noncompetitive Choices

Reassignment—the change of an employee from one position to another without promotion or change 

to lower grade. Reassignment includes movement to (1) a position in a new occupational series, or to 

another position in the same series and (2) a different position at the same grade but with a change in 

salary that is the result of different local prevailing wage rates or a different locality payment.

Examples

1) Your occupational series changes and your pay plan and grade level remain the same. Example: 

GS-0301-07 to GS-0341-07

2) Your pay plan, occupational series, and grade remain the same. Example: GS-0501-12 to 

GS-0501-12

3) Your pay plan, occupational series, and grade remain the same and your pay changes because 

your geographic location is different. Example: GS-0201-14 in Alaska with a total annual salary 

of $133,480 moves to GS-0201-14 in Washington, D.C. with a total annual salary of $133,689. 

Change to Lower Grade—personnel action that moves an employee, while serving continuously in the 

same agency, to a position (1) at a lower grade when both the old and new positions are under the 

General Schedule or under the same type graded wage schedule, or (2) with a lower rate of basic pay 

when both the old and the new positions are under the same type ungraded wage schedule or in a 

different pay-method category.

Examples

1) Your pay plan stays the same and your grade level decreases. Example: GS-13 to GS-11. 
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2) Your wage pay plan changes and your hourly rate decreases. In accordance with current DeCA 

policy, the CCP is a formal Agency-wide recruitment program. As such, positions filled through 

this program entitle employees who accept downgrade assignments to pay retention. Pay 

retention means your pay in the new position will not be set lower than your current basic 

salary. 

Re-promotion—placement into a grade previously held on a nontemporary basis in the competitive 

service.

Example

Several years ago, you occupied a permanent position in the competitive service at the GS-10 level. 

Your current position is a GS-07. If you apply and are selected for a GS-10 position, you can be repromoted to the position based on having permanently held that grade previously. 

Competitive Choice

Promotion1

—a personnel action that changes an employee to a position (1) at a higher grade level 

within the same job classification system and pay schedule (aka pay plan) or (2) with a higher rate of 

basic pay in a different job classification system and pay schedule. 

Examples

1) Your pay plan stays the same and your grade level increases. Example: GS-06 to GS-07 or GS-07 

to GS-09. 

2) Your pay plan changes from FWS to GS and your annual rate of pay increases by any amount

(even just $.01). 

a. You are a WL with an hourly rate of $27.07 applying for a GS-08 position. The job 

announcement shows a salary range of $45,810 to $59,557. 

b. Calculate your annual salary by multiplying your hourly rate by 2087. (27.07 x 

2087=56495.09). Your annual salary rounds to $56,495.

c. Compare the result of 2b with the annual salary range appearing on the job 

announcement. If your annualized salary falls within that range, your selection for the 

position may be a promotion.

2

 

Qualifications. As part of the application process, you identify how you meet the minimum qualification 

requirements for the position. Based on grade level there may be as many as three ways to meet the 

minimum qualifications required by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). 

1) Possess the required experience at the appropriate grade level (next lowest grade),

2) Possess the educational equivalent of the required experience, or

3) Possess a combination of experience and education that equals 100% of the qualification 

requirement.

 1 For these purposes, promotion refers to movement with an increase in pay rather than an increase in hierarchical 

standing.

2 This one requires research, calculations, and comparisons. It is more complex than the example because the CCP 

announcements show a salary range from the step 1 of the lowest grade being recruited to the step 10 of the 

highest grade being recruited. To find the correct comparative salary chart for your situation, access 

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2018/general-schedule/. You can then 

compare the annualized wage salary to the GS salary table for the specific location and grade level. 
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CCP announcements cover multiple grade levels, meaning there are more than two responses from 

which to choose, and you can only select one response. When choosing your response, select the 

highest level of qualification you possess and be sure that the information in your resume supports that 

response. 

Example: You are a GS-09 applying for promotion to GS-10. Promotion to GS-10 requires that you have 

one year of creditable specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade, which provided you 

with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and 

is directly in or related to the position. As the vacancy announcement covers grade levels GS-08 to GS13, there are response options for each of those grade levels. Since you have been in your current GS09 position for 18 months, do you choose the response that begins with GS-09, or something else? 

The quick answer to this example is to select the response that begins with the grade level you are 

seeking. In this case, GS-10. Why? In order to be considered for the GS-10 position, you must first 

meet, at a minimum, the GS-10 qualification requirements. Keep in mind you may meet the minimum 

qualification requirements based on one year of creditable specialized experience, possession of any 

educational equivalent described in the response, or a combination of education and experience 

described in the response.

Updated October 2018