Employee Performance Appraisal Plans (EPAPs)

 Instruction MemorandumUnited States Department of the InteriorBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENTWyoming State OfficeP.O. Box 1828IN REPLY REFER TO: Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009-18281400-451 (953) POctober 11, 2012EMS TRANSMISSION:Instruction Memorandum No. WY-2013-002Expires: 9/30/2013To: All SupervisorsFrom: Associate State DirectorSubject: Employee Performance Appraisal Plans (EPAPs)Closeout of Fiscal_Year (FY) 2012 DD: 10/31/2012Performance Awards Submitted to HR DD: 11/30/2012Initiation of FY 2013 DD: 11/30/2012Program: The Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) AwardsProgram 370 DM 451, Performance Management System 370 DM 430, 1400-430 and 1400-451.Purpose: The purpose of this Instruction Memorandum (IM) is to: (1) serve as an annual reminder of therequirements regarding Employee Performance Appraisal Plans (EPAP), (2) provide guidance anddeadlines for processing performance-based cash awards and Quality Step Increases (QSI), and (3) notifyyou of performance appraisal forms for Non-SES Employees and Supervisors to be used for the FY 2013appraisal cycle released in September 2012.Policy/Action: EPAPs must be completed for FY 2012, and new EPAPs for FY 2013 must be put in place by the specified deadlines using the new forms released in September 2012. Specific guidance follows.Background: Supervisors are required to develop an EPAP within 60 days of the employee entering on duty. Supervisors must evaluate each employee‘s performance against that established criteria either when the employee leaves duty or at the end of each FY, whichever is sooner, as long as the employee has been on duty at least 90 days.Closeout of EPAPs for FY 2012Completed EPAPs should show the employee and the rating official signatures reflecting the notificationand initiation of performance standards, receipt of training, at least one progress review, and the end-of year rating.EPAPs with an overall summary rating of Exceptional (level 5), Minimally Successful (level 2), or Unsatisfactory (level 1), must be approved by both the rating official and a reviewing official. All Exceptional (level 5), Minimally Successful (level 2), or Unsatisfactory (level 1) summary ratings must be reviewed and approved by the Associate State Director, prior to discussion with the employee. The authority to serve as a reviewing official is delegated to Field Managers or higher level managers, however, concurrence from the Deputy State Director (DSD) or District Manager (DM) is required.Each Division and District must submit their completed EPAPs as a complete group to Human Resources (HR), and must account for all employees in their Division, Office, or District. All EPAPs must be received in HR no later than October 31, 2012.Processing of FY 2012 Performance AwardsThe award funds available for FY 2013 based on 0.9 percent of the total projected salary base are shownbelow:Office FY 2013 Award LimitWY910 Total $26,316WY920 Total $51,989WY930 Total $27,267WY950 Total $52,490WYDO Total $170,752WYPO Total $111,825WYRO Total $89,518Total $530,157This includes performance-based cash awards based on an employee’s end-of-year EPAP Rating of Record (ROR), as well as Special Thanks for Achieving Results (STAR) awards granted throughout the year in recognition of special accomplishments.Employees are not entitled to awards, and awards are not guaranteed regardless of rating level. All awards are given at the discretion of the supervisor.Performance Award amounts must be in accordance with the Department’s Performance Management System, 370 DM 430:-Employees with ratings of Superior (level 4) are eligible to receive up to 3 percent of their gross income-Employees with ratings of Exceptional (level 5) must be considered for an award, and are eligible to receive up to 5 percent of their gross income or a QSI-QSIs cannot be delayed beyond December 31, 2012, without Department approval-Employees receiving Level 4 or 5 ratings can be approved for a time-off award up to a maximum of 40 hours in lieu of a cash award.Employees with ratings of Fully Successful (level 3) or lower are not eligible to receive an end-of- year performance award, but may receive a STAR for reasons other than sustained performance tied to the EPAP rating.End-of-year performance-based cash awards and QSIs are intended to reward employee achievements and should be granted in a manner that differentiates between levels of performance.In accordance with Wyoming’s Delegation of Authority, awards up to $910 (gross) can be approved by the first-level supervisor. Awards greater than $910 (gross) must have concurrence/approval from the DM or DSD.Performance Awards for each office will not be processed until all EPAPs for that office have been received in HR. In addition, all awards will undergo a procedural review prior to processing; therefore, supervisors will not distribute or notify employees of awards prior to the SF-50 being placed in the employee’s Official Personnel Folder (OPF).Each Division or District must enter performance-based cash awards, time-off awards, and QSIs into FPPS and forward a hard copy of the award to the Human Resources Office no later than November 30, 2012, using the DOI Awards Form DI-451, revised June 2010. A fillable version of this form is located on the HR intranet page web.wy.blm.gov/953/forms.htm. A copy of the front page of the employee’s completed EPAP is to be attached to the awards form as documentation supporting the award. Initiation of EPAPs for FY 2013 Supervisors must adhere to the Department’s Performance Management System, 370 DM 430 when initiating EPAPs.The DOI’s EPAP forms, DI-3100S for supervisors and DI-3100 for all other employees (both dated September 2012), must be used to establish critical elements and standards for employees within 60 daysof the beginning of the performance appraisal cycle, or no later than November 30, 2012. These forms are located on the EPAP intranet page web.wy.blm.gov/953/epaps/index.htm.Employees may have up to five critical elements, but must have at least one critical element. Supervisors should develop enough elements to adequately assess the employee’s performance of the essential functions of their position. Every employee is expected to have at least one critical element that is linked to the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) goals of the DOI/BLM. This element should cascade from the State Director and/or Associate State Director’s EPAP(s). The GPRA goals can befound in DOIs Strategic Plan for Fiscal_Years 2011 - 2016, which is located on Wyoming’s EPAP intranet page web.wy.blm.gov/953/epaps/index.htm.When initiating EPAPs both the supervisor and the employee should fill out sections A-1, A-2, and A-3 of the front page of the EPAP form. The employee training information required for section A-2 is now included in the non-supervisory EPAP form, DI-3100, and is available on Wyoming’s EPA intranet pageweb.wy.blm.gov/953/epaps/index.htm.A new section has been added to both the supervisory and employee EPAP forms. Section A-4, Individual Development Plan (IDP), is optional for employees; however, all supervisors are required to have an IDP that is updated annually. Per Personnel Bulletin 06-04, dated November 9, 2005, requiredtraining as well as individual training needs and development activities will be identified in the IDP. IDPs provide a connection between the employee's career interests and needs to the organization’s mission and priorities. Employees and the rating officials should develop IDP goals together.EPAPs are required for all employees in place for at least 90 days. This includes details, temporary promotions, students, or other temporary assignments that are at least 90 days in length.All EPAPs for FY 2013 are to be initiated by November 30, 2012.Timeframe: Effective ImmediatelyBudget Impact: N/AManual/Handbook Sections Affected: Reference material includes 5 CFR 430,5 CFR 51,370 OM430,370 OM 451, Personnel Bulletin 07-07, and BLM Manual1400-430.Coordination: This policy was coordinated with the Deputy State Directors and District Managers.Contact: Please refer questions to Missy Cook, Human Resources Specialist, at (307) 775-6352 or rcook@blm.gov.4 Attachments1 DI-451, Recommendation and Approval of Awards (3 p)2 DI-31 00, Employee Performance Appraisal Plan (16 p)3 DI-31 OOS, Supervisory Performance Appraisal Plan (17 p)4 DOIs Strategic Plan for Fiscal_Years 2011 - 2016 ( 48 p)DistributionDirector (700), 5613 MIBCF