3 FAM 4890
Meritorious Service IncreaseS (MSI) AND QUALITY PERFORMANCE AWARDS
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(Office of Origin: HR/PE)
3 FAM 4891 Meritorious Service IncreaseS (MSI)
3 FAM 4891.1 Authority
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
a. Authority for a Meritorious Service Increase (MSI)
is 22 U.S.C. 3966(b) (Section 406(b) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as
amended).
b. To the extent that the FAM and the applicable
Procedural Precepts for Foreign Service Meritorious Service Increase Panels
(MSI Precepts) differ, the MSI Precepts govern this process.
3 FAM 4891.2 Definitions
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
a. Especially meritorious service is outstanding
performance and/or service in the areas of policy leadership, collaboration
across functional lines and human resources development. It applies to
superior performance exceeding normal work expectations, irrespective of
potential to serve at a higher grade.
b. A Meritorious Service Increase (MSI) is a permanent
increase to the next higher salary step within a Foreign Service class granted
on the basis of especially meritorious performance and/or service. It is in
addition to any regular within-class step increase provided in accordance with
section 406(a) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as amended.
3 FAM 4891.3 Eligibility
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
a. The following employees are eligible for nomination for an MSI:
(1) Career members of the Foreign Service in grades 07
to 01;
(2) Generalist career candidates recommended for
tenure by a Commissioning and Tenure Board prior to the MSI nomination
deadline; and
(3) Specialist career candidates who are eligible for
competitive promotion.
b. The following employees are not eligible to receive
an MSI:
(1) Senior Foreign Service employees;
(2) Foreign Service career candidates (other than
those generalists recommended for tenure by a Commissioning and Tenure Board
prior to the MSI nomination deadline and those specialists eligible for
competitive promotion);
(3) Employees in classes and occupational categories
subject to administrative promotion per 3 FAM 2329.3-2;
(4) Limited Non-career Appointees;
(5) Employees who received an MSI during the same
assignment;
(6) Employees who previously received a Superior or
Meritorious Honor cash award for the same performance and/or service; and
(7) Employees who have been directly referred to a
Performance Standards Board by the most recent Foreign Service Selection Board,
provided that such referral has been approved by the Director General and is
based at least in part on the most recent Employee Evaluation Report (EER).
3 FAM 4891.4 Criteria
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
a. Nominations must only cover consistently outstanding
performance and/or service which occurred in the most recent rating period for
those employees serving in assignments of 12 months or less, or during a period
of 12-24 months for employees serving in assignments of more than 12 months.
b. The award nomination submitted in support of an MSI
must satisfy one or more of the following criteria:
(1) The employee has demonstrated sustained
exceptional performance and/or service over the period under review that is
distinctive and/or above and beyond the normal call of duty;
(2) The employees quality of performance and/or
service, particularly in difficult circumstances and conditions, demonstrated
exceptional judgment, initiative, adaptability, resilience and resourcefulness;
(3) The employee has significantly and substantially
contributed to and advanced Department or Mission goals and the Departments
Leadership and Management Principles in the areas of policy, management, and/or
human resources, regardless of post or assignment;
(4) The employee has demonstrated character and
conduct that modeled the Departments six core values and that placed the
Departments success above personal achievement; and
(5) The employee has excelled at interpersonal
relations that enhanced a productive and collaborative work environment with
colleagues at all levels.
3 FAM 4891.5 Procedures
3 FAM 4891.5-1 Conferral
of MSIs
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
The conferral of MSIs is governed by the MSI Precepts.
3 FAM 4891.5-2 Nominating
Procedures
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
a. MSI nominations open season will be governed by the
MSI Precepts.
b. Only individual employees may be nominated for
MSIs. Nominations for group awards are not accepted.
c. Anyone may nominate an employee, but all
nominations require approval by an official in the employees chain of command,
such as Bureau Office Director, post Principal Officer, or other senior
official.
d. Nominations must be submitted on Form DS-1903.
e. Approved nominations will be forwarded to the
appropriate Bureau MSI Committee for review and recommendation to the
Department MSI Panels.
f. Decisions of the Bureau MSI Committees and the
Department MSI Panels will be based solely on the individual nominations.
3 FAM 4891.5-3 Bureau
MSI Committees
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
a. Bureau MSI Committees will review all nominations
for employees of that Bureau in accordance with the Procedural Precepts for
Foreign Service Meritorious Service Increase Panels and the Bureau Guidance
for Meritorious Service Increases Committees (Bureau Guidance).
b. Bureaus will convene MSI Committees annually to
review MSI nominations according to the timetable established by HR/PE and
published in the MSI Precepts and Bureau Guidance.
c. Bureau MSI Committees will select a maximum number
of nominations as determined in the MSI Precepts, based on the Bureaus
eligible Foreign Service population, to be put forward to HR/PE for further
competitive review by the Department MSI Panels. HR/PE will annually provide
each Bureau with its maximum MSI nomination number, before the Bureau MSI
Committee begins to meet.
d. In those Bureaus with fewer than 15 eligible Foreign
Service employees, a maximum of one MSI nomination may be forwarded to the
Department MSI Panels.
3 FAM 4891.5-4 Approval
Procedures
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
a. The Director General will convene annual Department
MSI Panels to review nominations in accordance with MSI Precepts and to make
recommendations for conferral of MSIs.
b. HR/PE will certify to the Department MSI Panels the
nominations to be considered for MSIs and provide technical advice and staff
support to the panels.
c. The Department MSI Panels will evaluate the
nominations and will rank order them, in the order of their relative merit, in
accordance with the MSI Precepts and make recommendations to the Director
General.
d. The Director General will review the findings and
recommendations of the Department MSI Panels.
3 FAM 4891.5-5 Denial
of MSIs
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
a. An employee may not receive an MSI if s/he is low
ranked by the most recent Foreign Service Selection Board and the low ranking
is in part based on the most recent EER.
b. Candidates who have been recommended and reached for
MSIs will be vetted for issues of loyalty,
security, misconduct, suitability, or malfeasance. The Director General (DG) may temporarily remove an
employee recommended for an MSI pending resolution of an open matter under
review by any of the vetting offices. Upon conclusion of the matter, if the
case is resolved with no adverse action against the employee, the DG will grant
the MSI retroactive to the effective date of that years MSIs. If the matter
that gave rise to the temporary removal results in an adverse action against
the employee, the MSI recommendation will be referred to the DG for further
consideration based on the nomination, the adverse action determination, and
any written statement from the employee. If, based on these materials, the DG
determines that the employee should receive the MSI, the DG will grant the MSI
retroactively. The DGs decision is final.
3 FAM 4891.5-6 Implementation
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
a. A Meritorious Service Increase (MSI) becomes
effective within three pay periods following the announcement of the MSI
recipients.
b. With respect to the members next within-class step
increase, if, after receiving an MSI, a members salary is set at a step with a
52-week waiting period, i.e., at step 9 or below, the next regular within-class
step increase will be effective 52 weeks from the members last regular
within-class step increase. If, after receiving an MSI, a members
salary is set at a step with a 104-week waiting period requirement, i.e., at
step 10 or higher, the next regular within-class step increase will be
effective 104 weeks from the members last regular within-class step increase.
c. Those approved for an MSI who have reached the
highest step of their grade (FS 02-07, step 14 or FS-01, step 10 and higher) by
the effective date of an approved MSI will be granted a cash payment in the
amount of $2500 in lieu of a step increase.
3 FAM 4892 quality performance awards
3 FAM
4892.1 Description
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees Only)
A Quality Performance Award
(QPA) is a cash award for Civil Service employees at grades GS-15 and below who
display sustained outstanding performance but are at the highest step of their
current grade or are subject to a pay cap and thus, per 3 FAM 3124.4-4(a), cannot receive a Quality Step Increase (QSI).
Recommendations for QPAs, as with QSIs, will be considered annually in
conjunction with and immediately following the annual performance appraisal
process.
Together with QSIs, QPAs are
granted through a two-step process as laid out in 3 FAM 3124.4 and the Precepts for Civil Service Quality Step
Increase and Quality Performance Awards Committees and Panels (Precepts):
nomination and review by Bureau Awards Committees and a second competitive
review by Department-level Panels. To the extent that the language of the
Precepts varies from that in 3 FAM 4892 and/or 3 FAM 3124.4, the language in the Precepts shall govern.
3 FAM
4892.2 Eligibility
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees Only)
QPAs, together with QSIs,
are subject to the eligibility requirements of 3 FAM 3124.4-4 and the governing Precepts.
3 FAM
4892.3 Criteria
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees Only)
In addition to the
eligibility requirements, documentation submitted in support of a QPA, as for
QSIs, must clearly support the criteria outlined in 3 FAM 3124.4-5 and the governing Precepts.
3 FAM
4892.4 Limitations
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees Only)
QPAs, together with QSIs, are
subject to the limitations of 3 FAM 3124.4-6 and the governing Precepts.
3 FAM
4892.5 Justification, Recommendation,
Approval, and Removal
(CT:PER-893; 12-11-2017)
(State Only)
(Applies to Civil Service Employees Only)
QPAs, together with QSIs,
are subject to 3 FAM 3124.4-7 and the governing Precepts.