Washington, DC

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Classification Appeal Decision
Under section 5112 of title 5, United States Code

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Damon B. Ford
Classification Appeals and FLSA Claims
Program Manager
Agency Compliance and Evaluation
Merit System Accountability and Compliance

08/19/2022

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Date

As provided in section 511.612 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, this decision constitutes a certificate that is mandatory and binding on all administrative, certifying, payroll, disbursing, and accounting officials of the Government.  The agency is responsible for reviewing its classification decisions for identical, similar, or related positions to ensure consistency with this decision. There is no right of further appeal.  This decision is subject to discretionary review only under conditions and time limits specified in the Introduction to the Position Classification Standards (Introduction), appendix 4, section G (address provided in appendix 4, section H).

Since this decision changes the series of the appealed position, it is to be effective no later than the beginning of the fourth pay period after the date of this decision as permitted by 5 CFR 511.702.  As indicated in this decision, our findings show the appellant’s official position description (PD) does not meet the standard of adequacy described in section III.E of the Introduction.  Since PDs must meet the standard of adequacy, the agency must revise the appellant’s PD to reflect our findings. The servicing human resources office must submit a compliance report containing the corrected PD and a Standard Form 50 showing the personnel action taken.  The report must be submitted within 30 days from the effective date of the personnel action to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Agency Compliance and Evaluation, Washington, DC, office.

Introduction

The appellant’s position is currently classified as Health Technician, GS-0640-05, but she believes it should be classified in different series at a higher grade level in either the Nursing Assistant Series, GS-0621-06/07, the Education and Training Series, GS-1702-06/07, or the General Supply Series, GS-2001-06/07. The position is in the Dermatology Clinic, Specialty Medicine Service, Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory Care Center, Veterans Administration Central Ohio Healthcare System (VACOHS), Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in Columbus, Ohio.  We have accepted and decided this appeal under sections 5103 and 5112 of title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.).

General issues

 The appellant makes various statements about the classification review process conducted by her agency and compares her current position to a similar but higher graded position she previously held in another clinic.  She also makes other statements including allegations of identity theft and VA’s breach of a settlement agreement.  In adjudicating this appeal, our responsibility is to make our own independent decision on the proper classification of her position. By law, we must make that decision solely by comparing her current duties and responsibilities to OPM position classification standards (PCS) and guidelines (5 U.S.C. 5106, 5107, and 5112).  Since comparison to standards is the exclusive method for classifying positions, we cannot compare the appellant’s position to others, which may or may not be classified correctly, as a basis for deciding her appeal.  Because our decision sets aside all previous agency decisions, the agency’s classification review process and the appellant’s concerns regarding personal matters are not germane to the classification appeal process. 

The appellant alludes to the amount of work she performs by stating she completes the same, if not more, duties now than in her previous position at the GS-06 grade level.  However, volume of work cannot be considered in determining the grade of a position (see The Classifier’s Handbook, chapter 5).

Both the appellant and her second-level supervisor believe the appellant’s current PD of record (number 03623-0) is not completely accurate.  A PD is the official record of the major duties and responsibilities assigned to a position by an official with the authority to assign work.  A position is the duties and responsibilities that make up the work performed by the employee. Classification appeal regulations permit OPM to investigate or audit a position and decide an appeal based on the actual duties and responsibilities currently assigned by management and performed by the employee. An OPM appeal decision classifies a real operating position, and not simply a PD.  This decision is based on the work currently assigned and performed by the appellant. 

Our review disclosed inaccuracies in the appellant’s PD.  For example, it states the position performs phlebotomy functions but we find this function is no longer performed in the appealed position.  However, on August 1, 2022, the appellant informed us that she was temporarily detailed for 90 days to perform phlebotomy duties at the installation’s patient laboratory. Nonetheless, the duties performed by an employee in a position to which he/she is detailed for a time-limited basis are not reviewable under OPM’s classification appeals process (5 CFR 511.607(b)(3)).  Contrary to the PD, we find the position does not interpret the results of specialized tests ordered by the provider nor notifies the provider of the test results. Test results are recorded in the patient’s electronic medical record and can be accessed by the authorizing provider.  The PD states the position provides assistance in the Pulmonary and Orthopedic Clinics, but we find the position does not perform duties in either specialty clinic.  Therefore, the appellant’s PD of record does not meet the standard of adequacy addressed on pages 11-12 of the Introduction, and the agency must revise it to reflect our findings.

Position information

The VACOHS provides a variety of medical and behavioral health services (e.g., cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, urgent care, neurologic, and social work).  The appellant is the only Health Technician working in the Dermatology Clinic (clinic), which focuses primarily on diagnosis and treatment of skin diseases.

Although the appellant has a supervisor (Registered Nurse (RN)-Specialty Nurse Manager), she works directly with, and takes direction from clinic providers and RNs who provide guidance and assign new tasks as needed.  The appellant carries out recurring tasks independently without specific instruction but refers any problems and unfamiliar situations to the clinic providers or RNs for assistance.

Three weeks prior to procedures (i.e., removal of moles or skin tags) and/or biopsies, the appellant completes scheduled appointment form letters and mails them to the appropriate patients. Two weeks prior, she assembles each patient’s procedure packet, which includes printing copies of pathology reports, listings of current medications taken and medications to which allergic, and patient identification wrist bands from the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS), and biopsy photographs from the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VISTA).  Each day procedures and/or biopsies are scheduled, the appellant accesses the Cerner Millennium /Power Chart system and prints a listing of that days’ appointments.  Before the first procedure or biopsy of the day, she prepares the procedure room by cleaning the room’s flat surfaces with disinfectant, placing the patient’s procedure packet in the room, and setting up the needed instrument trays and supplies.  The appellant examines each instrument to ensure it is clean and not damaged, escorts the patient to the procedure room, provides personal protective equipment (PPE) to the patient and provider, assists with positioning and draping the patient, reviews photographs to ensure the correct location on the patient’s body has been marked, and performs other similar duties, as needed.  During the procedure or biopsy, she provides and holds the requested instruments and supplies, cuts sutures, blots blood, cleans the wound, properly handles and labels specimens, and assists with applying the dressing, as requested.  Once complete, the appellant prepares the room for its next use.  This includes removing the soiled drapes and towels, disposing of used needles and blades in accordance with established procedures, pretreating used instruments and placing them in the biohazard room so they can be retrieved and sterilized, and cleaning and disinfecting the room’s flat surfaces.  The Cardiology Device Clinic performs a few procedures each month using the clinic procedure rooms and the appellant also provides assistance, as requested, to that clinic’s staff before, during, and/or after procedures.

The appellant provides one-on-one training to new medical residents from Ohio State University, and RNs and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) assigned to the clinic, to learn the techniques used during procedures and biopsies.  The training covers various subjects such as how to hand instruments safely to the provider, how to open sterile instrument packs and instrument trays, how to drape the patient, how to load a suture on a needle driver, and how to pretreat soiled instruments. 

When a clinic provider notifies the appellant that new equipment, supplies or instruments (e.g., various types and sizes of scissors, various types of forceps, surgical knife handle, procedure and biopsy instrument trays, and retractors) are needed, she requests approval from her supervisor to gather the required information to submit the purchase request.  When approval is received, the appellant looks for the requested item(s) in catalogs listing General Services Administration approved vendors.  After verifying she located what is needed with the provider, she requests a quote from the vendor.  The appellant accesses the Supply Chain Management program in VISTA and completes the purchase request form.  She then submits the form through VISTA and emails the vendor quote to the Purchasing Department whose personnel gather all purchase requests and submit them to the committee established to approve or deny such requests.  If clinic requests are approved, the Purchasing Department makes the purchase(s) and the appellant receives the item(s).  As of late August 2021, she no longer submits purchase requests for instrument trays and specialty instruments.

The appellant serves on the committee for reusable medical equipment (RME).  The committee meets monthly and includes the various clinic supervisors.  The topics discussed include identifying which new instruments are being used in the VACOHS and the proper way to clean and store them; what RME the clinics need; updates on contracts to be awarded (e.g., instrument repair and sharpening); and updates on upgrades to ventilation systems in areas where RME are used.  Meeting minutes are distributed through email to all committee members.

Twice a year, the appellant performs an inventory of all the chemicals used in the specialty medicine services (e.g., Dermatology, Allergy, Cardiovascular, and Oncology).  If her on-line searches find chemicals containing new hazardous materials, she prints copies of the sheet(s) explaining how to handle the hazardous material and places it in the Dermatology Material Safety Data Sheet book.

The appellant’s duties also include inventorying the clinic’s supplies and discarding those that are outdated.  She completes scheduled appointment form letters for Dermatology’s Photodynamic Therapy Clinic and mails them to the appropriate patients.  The appellant takes patients vital signs (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature) and updates the patient’s record in CPRS.  She delivers clinic specimens to the laboratory daily.  The appellant uploads photographs of areas to be biopsied to the patient’s record in VISTA and accesses the individual provider’s log within the Dermatology Biopsy Log in CPRS and inputs the patient’s name, date, and location of biopsy.  She uses basic knowledge of first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to address unexpected emergencies.

In reaching our classification decision, we have carefully reviewed all information provided by the appellant and her agency including her official PD which, although not completely accurate, we have incorporated by reference into this decision.  In addition, to help decide the appeal we conducted separate telephone interviews with the appellant and her second-level supervisor.  We did not interview the appellant’s immediate supervisor because at the time of our fact-finding the supervisor had occupied her position less than one year (i.e., only since April 2021) and would not have knowledge of the work currently assigned and performed by the appellant. 

Series, title, and standard determination

The agency has classified the appellant’s position in the Health Aid and Technician Series, GS-0640, titling it Health Technician, and evaluated it by application of the Nursing Assistant, GS-0621 PCS.  As previously noted, the appellant believes her position should be classified in the Nursing Assistant Series, GS-0621, the Education and Training Series, GS-1702, or the General Supply Series, GS-2001.  As explained below, we do not concur with the agency’s series and title determination and find that the use of the grading criteria in the GS-0621 PCS to evaluate the position is inappropriate.

The GS-0640 series includes positions involving nonprofessional work of a technical, specialized, or support nature in the field of health or medicine when the work is of such generalized, specialized, or miscellaneous nature that there is no other more appropriate series.  Such work is either (1) characteristic of two or more specialized nonprofessional series (“mixed” positions) in the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group, GS-0600, where no one type of work controls the qualification requirements, or (2) is sufficiently new, unique, or miscellaneous that it is not specifically included in a specialized nonprofessional series in the 0600 Group.  Most "mixed" positions are appropriately classified in a specific series because one type of work is usually paramount in terms of requiring the higher level of skill and knowledge.  Such positions are classified in the series which best covers the paramount knowledge required to perform the primary duties of the position. 

The GS-0621 series includes positions which involve a variety of personal care, nursing care, or related procedures which do not require (a) the knowledges and skills represented by the licensure of practical and vocational nurses by a State, territory, or the District of Columbia, or (b) fully professional nurse education.  Positions are classified in this series when the primary responsibility is for personal patient care, supporting diagnostic procedures, technical nursing treatments, patient charting and patient teaching which do not require a full professional nurse education or knowledges and skills represented by licensure.  The performance of these tasks involves direct work relationships with patients and participation as a member of the treatment or nursing care team in direct service to patients.  Examples of work for this series include but are not limited to:  (1) providing nursing care to patients; (2) assisting doctors and nurses in the care and treatment of the ill receiving medical or outpatient treatment; and (3) assisting doctors and nurses in ambulatory care units by setting up examination rooms, preparing patients, and passing instruments and medical supplies for use in examinations.

The GS-1702 series includes positions involving nonprofessional work of a technical, specialized, or support nature in the field of education and training when the work is properly classified in the Education Group, GS-1700, and is not covered by a more appropriate series.  The work characteristically requires knowledge of program objectives, policies, procedures, or pertinent regulatory requirements affecting the particular education or training activity.  Employees apply a practical understanding or specialized skills and knowledge of the particular education or training activities involved, but the work does not require full professional knowledge of education concepts, principles, techniques, and practices.  

The GS-2001 series includes positions which involve (1) a combination of supply work covered by two or more two-grade interval series in the Supply Group when no other series is appropriate for the paramount knowledge and abilities required for the position; or (2) other analytical or administrative supply work not specifically covered by another series.  In deciding whether any combination of work is classifiable in the GS-2001 series, it should be kept in mind that specialized supply and related activities have some similarities.  Specialized supply work includes line, staff, and analytical work in distribution facilities and storage management, inventory management, packaging, and cataloging.  Related activities include supply program management, procurement, and data processing in support of supply operations.  Every effort should be made to classify positions to a more specific series than GS-2001.  When a position includes a combination of supply activities, typically one type of work is usually paramount in terms of requiring the higher level of skill and knowledge.  Such positions are classified in the series which best covers the paramount knowledge requirement.

The appellant’s position does not meet the GS-0640 series which is a “catchall” series for nonprofessional positions in health and medical work for which no other adequate series coverage exists.  Unlike this series, the appellant’s work is not “mixed” because it does not involve a combination of two or more technical functions characteristic of other technician series in the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group, GS-0600, or involves work which is sufficiently new, unique, or miscellaneous that it is not more appropriately classified in any other series in the GS-0600 Group.  As opposed to the GS-0640 series, the appellant performs a variety of specific nursing care duties characteristic of a particular subject-matter series in the GS-0600 Group which is not general in nature.  The appellant’s position also does not meet the GS-1702 series which involves nonprofessional education or training work not covered by another established series in the Education Group, GS-1700.  While the appellant spends some time providing one-on-one training to her coworkers on procedure setups and techniques, unlike this series she does not perform support duties facilitating the work of professional education personnel in education and training activities.  Finally, the appellant’s position does not meet the GS-2001 series.  While she inventories dermatology supplies and submits purchase requests for needed items, she does not perform a combination of supply work (e.g., storage and inventory management, packaging, cataloging) covered by two or more two-grade interval series in the Supply Group, GS-2000, when no other series is appropriate, or other analytical or administrative supply work not specifically covered by another series.

The appellant’s duties are typical of those performed in positions classified in the Nursing Assistant Series, GS-0621.  Like this series, her primary responsibility is to provide a variety of personal patient care that does not require professional nursing education, knowledge, or skill represented by licensure.  For example, each day procedures and/or biopsies take place, the appellant prints that day’s schedule.  She prepares the procedure room by cleaning the room’s flat surfaces with disinfectant, sets up the needed instrument trays and supplies, and examines each instrument to ensure it is clean and not damaged.  She provides PPE to the patient and provider, assists with positioning and draping the patient, and hands instruments to the provider as requested.  The appellant inventories the clinic’s supplies, discards outdated supplies, and completes and mails to patients scheduled appointment form letters.  Similar to GS-0621 positions, she takes patient’s vital signs, establishes the purpose of the visit, observes overall patient condition, and gathers information to establish the patient’s level of depression, alcohol usage, suicide, and fall risk.  Consistent with this series, the appellant follows standard infection control protocols and processes when handling and labeling biopsy specimens and when pretreating contaminated instruments.  Like this series, she is responsible for entering information into electronic patient medical records, such as CPRS and VISTA.  She is also responsible for providing one-on-one training to new residents from Ohio State University, and RNs and LPNs assigned to the clinic on the techniques used during procedures and biopsies.

To further support assigning the position to the GS-0621 series, the appellant’s second-level supervisor stated qualified candidates applying for the appealed position need to possess various knowledges and skills.  These include taking vital signs, recognizing patient emergencies, performing basic life support, and the ability to communicate medical information to medical and non-medical individuals.  The second-level supervisor further stated that to perform the primary duties of the position qualified candidates need experience in the nursing assistant field or have worked as medical or health technicians or military hospital corpsman. 

Based on our fact-finding the appellant performs duties typical of positions classified in the GS-0621 series.  Approved titles for positions in the GS-0621 series are Nursing Aid for all positions at grades GS-01 and GS-02 or Nursing Assistant for positions at grade GS-03 and above.

Decision

The appellant’s position is properly classified in the Nursing Assistant, GS-0621, series with assignment of the appropriate title as noted above.  OPM has statutory authority under Chapter 51, U.S.C., to review the work of title 5 positions and determine the title and series of those positions.  However, Public Law 111-163, dated May 5, 2010, removed certain VA employees, including GS-0621 Nursing Assistants, from a number of personnel administration provisions of title 5, U.S.C., administered by OPM, particularly coverage under Chapter 51 for grade determination.  Therefore, we are returning this appeal to the agency for appropriate grading action under hybrid title 38 guidelines since evaluation of the grade of the work performed is excluded from the coverage of Chapter 51 of title 5, U.S.C., including the classification appeal provisions contained in 5 U.S.C. § 5112.

 

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