I The right you have
Under 5 CFR part 511 subpart F, you may request an OPM decision on the appropriate occupational series or grade of your official position. The statutory principle behind it is equal pay for substantially equal work.
| Who | Route |
|---|---|
| General Schedule | 5 CFR part 511, subpart F |
| Federal Wage System | 5 CFR part 532, subpart G |
| Former employees | Cannot file at all |
The appeal must be in writing, and you may file at any time. There is no deadline on the appeal itself — which is exactly what makes the next section so costly.
II Where the money stops
An appeal decision can be retroactive only if it corrects a classification action that resulted in an actual decrease in pay.
Two people, very different outcomes
Undergraded for six years. You have been doing GS-13 work in a GS-12 position and nobody ever downgraded you. There is no action to correct. A win takes effect the day OPM receives your appeal. The six years are gone.
Most people are in the second situation, and most spend a year deciding. That year is not recoverable at any point afterwards. If you believe your position is misclassified, the date you file is the date the money starts — so the cost of deliberating is measurable, and it is in the calculator below.
Where a downgrade did occur, exceptions to the 15-day limit exist at 5 CFR 511.703(d). Retroactivity is also based only on the duties existing at the time of the demotion, not duties assigned afterwards.
III What It Is Worth
What Does the Delay Cost?
IV Agency or OPM
You may appeal to your agency where it has an established appeal system with authority to review the decision, or directly to OPM if an agency appeal has not already been made.
| Route | Trade-off |
|---|---|
| Agency first | Possibly quicker and less formal. Then OPM if dissatisfied |
| Straight to OPM | Skips a round. Forgoes the chance of an informal fix |
An OPM classification decision is final and mandatory for the agency. It can change the grade, the series or the title. Your agency does not get to disagree with it. Reconsideration is available within 45 days on evidence of technical or procedural error — but that is discretionary, not an appeal as of right.
V What a desk audit is
An evaluation of a position to determine whether the duties actually performed correspond to the classification and grade assigned. An employee or a supervisor can request one, and agencies run them as part of classification review programmes.
One expectation worth correcting: unless a collective bargaining agreement requires it, a desk audit is not mandatory for resolving an appeal. The HR specialist may elect to conduct one at their discretion, where it would help clarify the facts.
So a desk audit is a tool in the process, not the process itself — and asking for one is not the same as filing an appeal.
VI Making the case
OPM’s own guidance is blunt: do not understate or exaggerate your duties and responsibilities.
A classifier who finds one inflated claim discounts the rest of the submission. The stronger approach is documentary rather than descriptive: products you actually produced, decisions you actually made, and the level at which they were reviewed. “I independently approved X, and it went to the customer without further review” carries weight. “I have extensive responsibility for X” carries none.
The comparison that decides it is between your actual duties and the OPM classification standard for the series and grade you are claiming — not between you and a colleague who holds the higher grade. Read the standard before you write anything.
Your position description is the document under challenge, so start by reading it against what you actually do. The gap between the two is your case. The GS scale explains how series and grades are structured.
VII If it goes the other way
A classification review can lower a grade as easily as raise one. If that happens you are entitled to prompt written notice specifying:
- The effective date
- Your right to appeal to the agency or OPM
- What information must support an appeal
- The time limits for preserving retroactivity
- Your entitlement to grade or pay retention under 5 U.S.C. 5362 and 5363
A decision lowering a grade takes effect no later than the beginning of the fourth pay period after the decision, under 5 CFR 511.702. That is the window in which to act — and the 15-day clock for retroactivity runs from the effective date, not from the notice.
Before you file
- Read your position description against what you actually do.
- Find the OPM classification standard for the series and grade you are claiming.
- Gather products, decisions and review levels — not adjectives.
- Work out what the grade difference is worth annually.
- Understand that a win starts the day OPM receives it, not earlier.
- Decide agency-first or straight to OPM, and why.
- If you were downgraded, file within 15 calendar days of the effective date.
- Put it in writing. Verbal requests are not appeals.
Questions
Yes. Under 5 CFR part 511 subpart F, an employee or their designated representative may request an OPM decision as to the appropriate occupational series or grade of the employee's official position. You may submit an appeal of your official position at any time, and it must be in writing. Federal Wage System employees use the job grading appeal route in subpart G of part 532 instead. Former employees cannot file a classification appeal at all.
Almost certainly not, and this is the detail that costs people the most. The effective date of a classification appeal decision can be retroactive only if it corrects a classification action that resulted in an actual decrease in pay. If you have simply been performing higher-graded work without ever being downgraded, there was no such action to correct, so a successful appeal takes effect from the date OPM receives it. The years you were underpaid are not recoverable.
Where a reclassification action did reduce your grade or pay, retroactivity requires that you appeal to either the agency or OPM within 15 calendar days after the effective date of that action. Miss it and even a successful appeal is prospective only. Exceptions to the time limit exist in 5 CFR 511.703(d). Because 15 calendar days is a very short window, the moment to act is when the downgrade notice arrives, not after you have thought it over.
Either, subject to a sequencing rule. You may appeal to your agency where it has an established appeal system with authority to review the decision, or directly to OPM if an agency appeal has not already been made. Many people go to the agency first and then to OPM if dissatisfied. Going straight to OPM is permitted and avoids one round, though it also forgoes the chance of a quicker informal fix.
Yes. An OPM classification decision is final and mandatory for the agency, which is what makes the route worth the effort. It may change the grade, the series or the title of the position. You can request reconsideration within 45 days if you can show evidence of technical or procedural error in the decision, but reconsideration is discretionary rather than an appeal as of right.
An evaluation of a particular position to determine whether the duties and responsibilities actually performed correspond to the classification and grade assigned to it. An employee or a supervisor can request one, and agencies also conduct them as part of position classification review programmes. Note that unless a collective bargaining agreement requires it, a desk audit is not mandatory for resolving an appeal: the HR specialist may elect to conduct one at their discretion where it would clarify the facts.
OPM's own guidance is blunt about it: do not understate or exaggerate your duties and responsibilities. Exaggeration is the more common error and the more damaging one, because a classifier who finds one inflated claim will discount the rest of the submission. The stronger approach is documentary rather than descriptive — products you actually produced, decisions you actually made, and the level at which they were reviewed.
You are entitled to prompt written notice specifying the effective date, your right to appeal to the agency or OPM, the information needed to support an appeal, the time limits for preserving retroactivity, and your entitlement to grade or pay retention under 5 U.S.C. 5362 and 5363. A decision lowering a grade takes effect no later than the beginning of the fourth pay period after the date of the decision, under 5 CFR 511.702, so there is a short window in which to act.