Appraisal: The process of evaluating employee performance against established performance standards.
Appraisal Period: The official appraisal period begins October 1 of each year and ends on September 30.
Benchmark Performance Standards: Defined levels of performance used to evaluate the accomplishment of critical elements.
Career Path: Categories of occupations grouped by similarities in work, qualification requirements, pay ranges, and career progression.
Change to Lower Pay Band: Change of a NIST employee to:
Comparability Increase: An annual adjustment determined by the NIST Director for the purpose of making NIST pay rates comparable with non-Federal pay rates for the same levels of work.
Critical Element: A component of an employee's job consisting of one or more duties and responsibilities, which contributes toward accomplishing organizational goals and objectives and which is of such importance that acceptable performance on the element is necessary for acceptable performance in the position.
Critical Shortage Highly Qualified Applicants: Applicants who meet high academic and training standards for direct hire into entry level positions, including:
Critical Shortage Occupations: Hard-to-fill occupations for which OPM has authorized a special salary rate which require essential job-specific skills that are in short supply, including:
Evaluation Feedback Meeting: A meeting conducted by a Rating Official to discuss an employee's final rating, performance pay increase and performance bonus, as applicable.
NIST-01, Performance Management Record: A form that documents an employee's performance plan, progress review(s), and appraisal.
Objective: A brief statement that defines what a critical element is intended to accomplish.
Pay Adjustment: An adjustment in base salary within the same career path and pay band.
Pay Band: A range of pay and a level of classification within each career path. Pay bands replace the grades of the General Schedule (GS). A pay band may be equivalent to one or more GS grades (see Career Paths and Pay Bands chart under Classification).
Pay Intervals: A portion of the full pay range of a pay band. The normal range of pay in a band is divided into three intervals, the normal range being defined as the range from the minimum rate of the band to the non-supervisory ceiling, which is the highest pay rate of the highest GS grade in the band, including any special rates for occupations in the band. The maximum rate of Interval I is 4/9 of the normal range of the band, the maximum rate of Interval 2 is 7/9 of the normal range of the band, and the maximum rate of Interval 3 is equivalent to the non-supervisory ceiling of the band. The maximum rate of Interval 4 is 3 percent above the non-supervisory ceiling of the band. The maximum rate of Interval 5 is 3 percent above the maximum rate of Interval 4.
Payout: Term used to describe the decision made regarding performance pay increases.
Pay Pool: The organizational level, either Division or Operating Unit, where employees are combined into one or more peer groups for performance decisions including, rating, score, pay increase and bonus.
Pay Pool Manager: The Division Chief (and in some cases, the Operating Unit Director) who is responsible for rendering the final decisions on ratings, scores, performance pay increases and bonuses.
Performance Bonus: A one-time, performance-based cash award.
Performance Improvement Plan: A plan given to an employee whose performance is unsatisfactory in one or more critical elements for the purpose of identifying the deficiencies and how to correct them to attain and sustain performance at the Minimally Meets Expectations level.
Performance Management: The process of setting performance expectations, monitoring progress, measuring results, and appraising and rewarding or correcting employee performance.
Performance Pay Increase: An increase to base pay based on an employee's performance rating, career path and Pay for Performance 'I' Matrix.
Performance Plan: The document developed at the beginning of the appraisal period which defines the critical elements and performance standards against which an employee's performance is appraised.
Performance Review Meeting: An optional meeting between a Rating Official and employee. The purpose of this meeting is only to discuss the employee's accomplishments and give the employee an opportunity to present his or her assessment of the results achieved against the critical elements and standards established in their performance plan.
Progress Review: A formal meeting between a Rating Official and employee to discuss the employee's progress toward meeting performance objectives. Necessary changes are also discussed at this meeting. Performance deficiencies and recommendations for improvement are also discussed at this meeting.
Promotion: Change of NIST employee to:
Rating: Six performance levels used to define performance: Exceptional Contributor, Superior Contributor, Significant Contributor, Contributor, Marginal Contributor, and Unsatisfactory.
Rating Official: The employee's first line supervisor who is responsible for informing the employee of the critical elements of his/her position, establishing performance standards for those elements, appraising performance and determining tentative ratings, and payouts.
Reassignment: Change of an employee from one position to another position, without a change in salary. This definition covers changes in career paths, as long as there is no change in salary.
Required Activity/Results: A task, duty or project which needs to be accomplished in support of a critical element.
Reviewing Official: The person at an organization level above the Pay Pool Manager responsible for reviewing the decisions of the Pay Pool Manager when the Pay Pool Manager was also the Rating Official. The Reviewing Official has the authority to change the decisions of the Pay Pool Manager.
Shortage Categories:
Supervisor: An employee who has full supervisory authority over three or more employees. Full supervisory authority includes tasks such as assigning work, evaluating performance, approving leave, providing training and instruction to subordinates, revising work schedules, recommending or taking appointment and promotion actions, combining work with other units, and planning resource needs.
Supervisory Differential:
Supervisory Pay Interval: The full extension of a pay band through Interval 5 in Pay Bands I – IV in all career paths and Interval 4 or 5 for ZA or ZP Supervisors in Pay Band V. Division Chiefs at Pay Band V can extend to Interval 5, Non-Division Chief supervisors at Pay Band V are limited to Interval 4.
Unsatisfactory: The unacceptable level of performance where the employee failed to meet the minimum benchmark performance standard on one or more critical elements. An unsatisfactory rating renders an employee ineligible for a comparability increase, performance pay increase or bonus and subjects the employee to one of the following: reassignment, reduction in pay band or removal from the Federal service.
Veterans Preference (www.opm.gov):