3-1. Pay plan and series determination

• Pay plan. All positions covered by this pamphlet are in the GS pay plan and use the prefix GS. The CIPMS does not use the GM pay plan at any grade level.
• Series. Series selection is important as it determines the basic qualifications which will be required and the career path of the position. Series selection for jobs which have duties in more than one series is discussed in Section 3-5.
  1. The method for determining an occupational series is essentially the same as under Title 5, OPM procedures; that is, the position should be placed in the series which best reflects:
     • the primary type of work in the job;
     • the highest level of work performed; and
     • the paramount qualifications required to perform the work.
  2. If a series definition is different from that provided by OPM, it must be approved by DoD and provided in Part I of the appropriate AOG. In some instances, the AOG will additionally specify the series coverage and exclusions. (For example, the inclusion and exclusion of Intelligence Training Specialists is specifically discussed in both the GS-132 and GS-1700 AOGs.)

3-2. Title determination

• Official title. CIPMS official titles, to include supervisory titles, are specified in Part I of the AOGs.
  1. Official titles must be used. The official title of a position is specified on the job description and used on the SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action.
  2. If the official title is generic in nature (e.g., Intelligence Specialist), Army may supplement it with a more specific designation in parenthesis as part of the official title. This is to further position understanding and identification. The parenthetical designation (to include abbreviations when necessary) will be stated in the Army portion of Part I or under functional descriptions in Part II. For example, an Intelligence Specialist may have the primary function of a General Military Analyst, specified in an AOG as part of the official title and abbreviated as GMI Analyst. The full official title of the position, then, would be Intelligence Specialist (GMI Analyst).
• Other titles. Functional and organizational titles may be specified in the body of the job description.
  1. Functional titles, if-specified in Part II of the AOGs, describe a further designation within the series. An example of such a designation might be a GMI Analyst position which is further designated in the job description as an Imagery Analyst.
  2. Organizational titles describe a position's placement within the structure (e.g., Division Chief) rather than functional area.

3-3. Grade determination

• Factor Degree Descriptions (FDDs). Job descriptions are evaluated using FDDs in the appropriate AOG for nonsupervisory positions and in the PGS, Part 3, for supervisory/managerial grading for supervisory and managerial positions. These principles apply when selecting the FDDs:
  1. FDDs used must relate to only one kind of work which is alike in series, grade, title, etc. Many times this will encompass all the duties and responsibilities of a position. However, a position may have two or more kinds of work, such as security administration and counterintelligence operations or some higher graded and some lower graded work, etc. In these instances, the point rating must be done for each kind of work separately. (See section 3-5 for assistance in evaluating positions with more than one kind of work.)
  2. Factors must be evaluated independently, but they are not mutually exclusive. Therefore, it is unlikely that a position would have widely varying factor levels. For example, it would be unusual to have a position which required a high level of knowledge but which had specific, detailed guidelines or close supervision.
  3. Factor degrees from different AOGs or guides may not be used in evaluating a single kind of work; that is, do not use one AOG for Factors A, C and another AOG for D and E in evaluating the same kind of work. This is due to the close relationship between the factor descriptions and the duties covered by a guide. Mixing their use could result in unwarranted emphasis or points to some factors over others.
• Criteria for assigning points.
  1. The AOG factor degree descriptions have been written to illustrate common levels expected within each occupation or function and to match the PGS definitions of the factor degrees. The descriptions serve as reference points in a rating scale or continuum of difficulty representative of the total range of difficulty in each factor (from zero points to the highest points for each factor).
  2. For a factor to warrant the full point value of a described degree, it must be equivalent to the overall intent of the description and substantially meet each subfactor (see illustration at the end of the chapter) s described in the PGS or AOG as appropriate.
  3. When the overall intent of-a factor degree description is not met, the point values allocated may be adjusted (interpolated) based on sound management and position classification judgment. The person classifying the position determines the proportion of points (in 5-point increments) assignable to the factor using the following principles:
     • Most factors have two or more subfactors. If the job matches one level for one subfactor and a different level for the second or third subfactor, the points for the factor would be a value between those levels. For purposes of rounding to the nearest 5-point increment, when the total is placed equally from two increments, place the points at the higher increment.
       
       EXAMPLE: Factor B--Guidelines has two main subfactors:
       
       
       • the nature of the guidelines used., and (b) the degree of interpretation required to apply the guidelines. A position closely matches factor degree B-3 on the nature of the guidelines. It meets degree B-2 on the degree of interpretation required or allowed. Therefore, one-half of the lower-level points and one-half of the higher-level points would be used, added and then rounded to the nearest 5-point level. (Factor B-2 equals 25 points, divided by 2 to equal 12.5 points. Factor B-3 equals 50 points, divided by 2 to equal 25 points. The sum of 37.5 points is rounded to 40 points.)
       • If one or more subfactors are between several factor degrees, judgment must be used to determine a factor value which best indicates the overall evaluation of the factor.
• Conversion to grade level. The sum of the individual factor scores is converted to a GS grade by use of a Grade Conversion Table. The grade assigned indicates the Job's grade band placement and the base salary range applicable to it.
• Borderline total point consideration. As a rule, conversion of the points to a grade level is sufficient to determine the final grade of a job. However, if the total point value is within five points of the maximum or minimum for a grade, each factor should be carefully reconsidered to be sure the evaluation is correct. Local procedures should be established for resolving the grade conversion-
1. If the total points are still borderline after this reconsideration; and
2. the final grade is questioned.


All procedures should provide for the participation of the supervisor/manager of the position and advice from personnel specialist in making the decision. Final resolution of disagreements resides with the local commander who has been delegated appointing authority.
• Use of even grade levels in two-grade interval series.
  1. Normally, positions in the Professional/Administrative Career Path are two-grade interval series; that is, the progression is GS-5/7/9/11, omitting the even grades of GS-6/8/10. However, use of a point-rated factoring system with one conversion chart for all grade levels allows the possibility of even grades in these series. (AR 690-XX, paragraph 2-4b, provides rules for use of even/single grades when such use affects groups of positions or a career program.)
  2. Management within MACOMs or Activities must make a conscious decision to follow either progression pattern (GS-5/7/9/11 or GS-5/6/7/8/9/10/11), based upon position management principles and consideration of position staffing requirements including qualifications, recruitment and retention. Generally, the need to develop a career ladder for either progression pattern will require development of job descriptions for the grade levels in the pattern.
• Use of judgment. AOGs are prepared by functional subject matter experts and career program managers with the assistance of personnel management specialists and are developed in accordance with the PGS. AOGs are also developed with the goal of describing intelligence and intelligence-related occupations within a structure which increases classification's responsiveness to needs of management, career patterns and occupation changes. AOGs should be viewed in terms of overall intent, and judgment is needed when assigning points to the factors of the job to ensure that the resulting grade level reflects that intent.

3-4. Supervisory positions

• Series Determination. The occupational series for a supervisory position is determined in like manner to nonsupervisory positions as described in this Guide; that is, in conjunction with AOGs and directions on mixed positions. If management skills alone are required, a general series such as Program Management, GS-340, may be appropriate.
• Title Determination. The basic title for supervisory and managerial positions is determined through reference to the appropriate AOG for the kind of work supervised or the AOG used in determining the series of the position. The prefix "Supervisory" is added to that basic title unless the title of such position already denotes supervision or management.
• Grade Determination. Part 3 of the CIPMS PGS is applied directly to CIPMS supervisory and managerial positions.
1. Activities should carefully use position management in the creation of supervisory and managerial positions. For example, as a minimum, supervisory duties should be required as a major duty (at least 25% of the position's time). Although the number of positions supervised is not credited in the grading of a position, an Activity should consider the number of subordinate positions to be supervised in determining the need to create new supervisory positions.
2. Positions excluded from the CIPMS PGS, Part 3, but graded by specific AOGs or CIPMS PGS, Part 2--the nonsupervisory part, include those positions with-
• Supervisory responsibility only in the absence of the regular supervisor,
• Responsibility for either technical or administrative supervision but not both (for example, staff authority for field positions), or
• Nonsupervisory managerial responsibility (for example, project/program managers).
3. Crediting supervision of non GS positions.
• Military positions.
  • If the supervisor does not at least meet all of Factor D-1 for the military positions, their use in the evaluation of the supervisory position should be questioned. When the extent of supervision adds to the difficulty of the supervisory duties sufficiently to be measured but does not contain all the responsibilities normally achieved in supervising civilian positions, the appropriate point level may be determined through the use of interpolation with Factor D.
  • A CIPMS equivalent grade for the military position(s) will be used in applying Factor E.
• Federal Wage System positions. General Schedule supervisory positions that direct a mixed GS and FWS work force will use the following chart in conjunction with Factor E:


Wage Grade
GS Equivalent
WG-4 and below
GS-1 through GS-4
WG-5 and WG-6
GS-5 and GS-6
WG-7 and WG-8
GS-7 and GS-8
WG-9 through WG-11
GS-9 and GS-10
WG-12 and above
GS-11
• Contract employee positions. PGS, Part 3 includes supervisory positions which meet the lowest level described under all of the factors in this guide when the subordinate work is-performed partially or completely by private sector contractors. (See also military positions above.)
  • Application of Factor D should carefully consider the non-personnel functions described to determine an appropriate level.
  • A CIPMS equivalent grade will be used in applying Factor E.
4. (Crediting the grade-level of work supervised under Factor E is limited to positions or grade levels of work both administratively and technically supervised; that is, a subordinate grade level based upon unusual freedom from supervision should not be counted.. (This can be checked using Factor E in CIPMS-graded nonsupervisory job descriptions of the subordinate employees. It would be inappropriate, then, to credit full supervision of any nonsupervisory work which was credited at Degree E-5--75 points--or above.)
• Grading of deputy positions. A deputy position may be graded by either method below. If the two methods result in different grades, the position is normally placed at the higher grade.
1. Set the grade of a full deputy one grade lower than the grade of the supervisor/manager position as graded by PGS, Part 3. A "full" deputy is a position which shares in all responsibilities of the principal position, including all technical and administrative aspects of the organization supervised. Job descriptions for such positions may use a Statement of Differences to the principal position's job description to describe the Deputy's role.
2. Award point values on the basis of actual work assigned when the deputy has continuing nonsupervisory or supervisory/managerial responsibilities distinct from that of the chief. The major duty statements must reflect these non-deputy specialist or supervisory responsibilities. In these instances, a Statement of Differences to the supervisor/ manager job description normally would not be appropriate.
• Organizational grading structure. PGS, Part 3 evaluates supervisory and managerial responsibilities through five factors and does not use grade level of work supervised as a base level. Therefore, some subordinate positions may be evaluated at the same or higher level than the supervisory position, a concept which promotes dual-track career ladders. There is also no presumption that succeeding levels of organization automatically warrant an additional grade. If the resulting structure causes operating problems, management should carefully consider whether the supervisory position(s) or organizational layering is actually required.
• Lead positions. Positions in the clerical and technician career paths (e.g., GS-134 Intelligence Technician) which lead other positions in the work may be classified by the procedures described in Appendix B. A Statement of Differences to the job description of the positions led may be used to establish a job description for the leader. Add "Lead" as a prefix to the official title as in titling practices for supervisory positions.
• Coding of supervisory positions on personnel actions. In processing personnel actions, personnel offices should use OPM coding for first and second level supervisors, managers (should be .evaluated at degree D-4 as a minimum in Factor D point rating), and leaders. Coding for Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) supervisors and management officials, necessary for Title 5, U.S.C. positions under labor relations rules, does not apply.

3-5. Mixed positions

• General. Classification of most positions is a straight-line application of the principles discussed in the preceding sections; that is, from pay plan to series, title and grade, plus supervision if applicable. Some positions may include more than one kind of work. Examples could include positions with both supervisory and nonsupervisory duties, work covered by different series and or functions including intelligence and non intelligence duties, and positions with both technician and clerical duties. In addition, some positions are mixed as to difficulty and, therefore, grade level of the work. In these instances, classification of each kind of work may be necessary and judgment used on allocation of the final classification. Two basic principles to be followed in this judgment are the following:
1. In most instances, the kind of work which takes the. majority of the employee's time should determine the classification; and
2. Generally, the grade-controlling duties will determine the classification, ruling AOG or function within an AOG.
• Difficult series determinations. If the highest level of work performed does not represent the most.- appropriate series, determine the series by considering:
1. Paramount qualifications required and primary sources of recruitment;
2. Line of promotion or progression in the Activity or intelligence field;
3. Reasons for the position's establishment and/or existence; and
4. Background knowledges required.
When no series is dominant after applying the above criteria, a general series designation is available in some occupational areas. For example, the GS-301 Administrative series and the GS-801 Engineering series are used for positions in these areas when the positions are composed of work in two or more series of the group.
• Interdisciplinary or interfunctional positions.
1. For certain positions, there is no rigid or continuing requirement for one dominant area of expertise. The OPM concept of "interdisciplinary" applies only to recognized professional fields which require specialized education attained through academic training, such as engineering and physical science. Interdisciplinary and interfunctional under CIPMS allows for all series within a career path and functions within a series. For example, a position might equally be filled by persons with either a GS-080 or a GS-132 background or another position might be filled equally by persons with several different GS-132 functional backgrounds.
2. The job description should show clearly that the position is interdisciplinary or interfunctional in nature and indicate the various series or functions in which the position may be classified. If the position is vacated, no new job description needs to be written.
3. Persons with education and/or experience in either of two or more areas may be considered equally qualified for interdisciplinary and interfunctional positions, and the activity may not desire to recruit for a single area. Such positions usually involve either knowledges which are characteristic of either of two or more areas or a combination of knowledges. In such instances, the final series of the position is determined by the qualifications of the person selected to fill it.
• Difficult grade determinations. when the highest level of work takes less than the majority of an employee's time, it may still be grade-controlling if:
1. The work is officially assigned to the position on a regular and continuing basis;
2. It occupies a significant, substantial portion of time (at least 25 percent of the employee's time); and
3. The higher level knowledge and skills needed to perform the work would be required in recruiting for the position when vacant.
Grade assignment by these procedures warrants review from a position management perspective. It may not be an 'efficient or cost-effective use of funds and may not result in the fullest use of an employee's skills and abilities. However, if a situation cannot be-changed (e.g., a small office or a limited number of employees is available to fulfill the duties regardless of percentage), the grade level should be decided by these guidelines.
• Supervisory/nonsupervisory mixed duties. The major difficulty in evaluating mixtures of supervisory and nonsupervisory duties is in separating the two kinds of work.
1. If there are clearly two kinds of work (e.g., an intelligence analyst who also supervises intelligence technician positions), and one kind of work requires materially higher qualifications and constitutes the paramount responsibility, the position(s) is evaluated by the guide for that kind of work.
2. If the separation of work is less clear, treat duties involving advisory, representational, negotiating and other comparable duties as supervisory work if they are an integral part of the planning, directing and controlling of the work in the unit supervised. Treat such duties as nonsupervisory work if they are neither an integral part of the basic work performed by subordinates nor essential to overseeing the subordinates' work.
3. The job description will use the CIPMS factor format for the kind of work which is higher graded. If the two kinds of work are equally graded, the factor format for supervisory work will be used.
• Job descriptions. All GS positions in CIPMS will use the supervisory or nonsupervisory CIPMS format regardless of the standard(s) used to classify the positions (for example, OPM traditional or FES standards). A brief evaluation statement should be added to show consideration of other factors or kinds of work not adequately described.

3-6. Senior level positions

Procedures in addition to those in this Guide which are required for establishing all positions above the GS-15 level will be discussed in AR 690-XX.

3-7. Impact of the person on the job

The CIPMS classification program does not recognize a separate procedure for "impact of the person on the Job." Any impact may be reflected in the FDDs of the duties assigned to the position when the employee leaves the position, a position review may be conducted to determine any need for redescription.

3-8. Student trainee positions

• Coverage. Student trainee positions covered by CIPMS are in a specific program requiring both on-the-Job training in a program with CIPMS positions in the Activity and scholastic training in the specialty at a college or university. Student trainees perform pre-professional work and participate in research and/or analysis preparatory to entering the particular occupational field.
• Classification. within CIPMS, all student trainees are in the Pre-professional grade band of the Professional/ Administrative Career Path. Separate series (usually the "99" of the group as in "199" or "899") designate these positions. They are titled "Student Trainee" plus a parenthetical specialization for the specialty involved. The grade (usually GS-2/3/4) is determined by use of lower factor levels in the PGS rather than in the applicable AOG. For example, Factor A, "Essential Knowledges," would normally be less than Degree A-s which usually begins the entry level for a college/university graduate.