Elimination of Time-in-Grade

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposed a regulation that would eliminate the requirement that competitive service employees must serve at least one year in a position at a particular grade level before becoming eligible for a position at the next hire grade level. The time-in-grade requirement had been in existence since 1950. The proposed regulatory change would apply to positions at the GS-05 grade level and above. In its notice proposing the change, OPM acknowledged that the time-in-grade requirement was "established to prevent excessively rapid promotions in the competitive service."