Within-Grade Increases: Rules, Denials, and MSPB Appeals

Within-grade increases are the step raises General Schedule employees earn by serving a set waiting period at their current step while maintaining acceptable performance. Each GS grade has 10 steps, and a within-grade increase (WGI) moves you up one step without a promotion or change in duties. The rules come from 5 U.S.C. § 5335 and 5 CFR Part 531, Subpart D.¹

Who Qualifies

Three conditions have to be true at the same time. You are classified and paid under the General Schedule, you occupy a permanent position, and you have not yet reached step 10.² Step 10 is the ceiling for a grade; past that, pay only moves through promotion, locality adjustment, or a government-wide raise.

“Permanent position” is broader than it sounds. It means any position not designated as temporary by law and not limited to one year or less, and it also covers a temporary or term promotion of at least a year.³ A two-year term appointment counts. A six-month detail does not. Presidential appointees confirmed by the Senate are excluded entirely.²

How Long You Wait Between Steps

The waiting period grows as you move up the grade:

Steps 1 to 4: 52 calendar weeks at each step.
Steps 4 to 7: 104 calendar weeks at each step.
Steps 7 to 10: 156 calendar weeks at each step.

These are calendar weeks, not hours worked.⁴ Part-time employees on a scheduled tour follow the same calendar clock as full-time employees; a 20-hour weekly schedule does not stretch the 52 weeks.

The Performance Requirement

Time served alone does not earn a WGI. Your most recent rating of record must be at least Level 3, which agencies commonly call “Fully Successful.”⁵ A “Minimally Successful” (Level 2) or “Unacceptable” (Level 1) rating blocks the increase. The determination is made by the agency head or a delegated official using a rating of record from the agency’s appraisal system.⁶

If no rating exists during the last 52 weeks of your waiting period because of creditable absences, paid leave, back-pay restoration, a detail without a rating, long-term training, or authorized partnership activity, the agency must waive the performance determination and grant the WGI.⁶ The presumption is that you would have performed acceptably in your regular job.

What Counts Toward the Waiting Period, and What Resets It

Most federal civilian service counts, including any branch of government, annual leave, sick leave, and other paid leave. Service under a temporary or term appointment also counts toward the waiting-period calculation, even though those employees are not themselves eligible to receive a WGI.⁷

Non-pay status like Leave Without Pay counts only up to a cap that matches your step tier:

Steps 1 through 3: up to 2 workweeks of non-pay status.
Steps 4 through 6: up to 4 workweeks.
Steps 7 through 9: up to 6 workweeks.

Any excess pushes your WGI date back by the amount over the cap.⁷ Take five weeks of LWOP at step 2, and three of those weeks exceed the two-week cap, so your WGI slides three weeks later.

Active military duty gets favorable treatment. If you leave federal employment for military service and return within 52 calendar weeks after separation (or within a year of hospitalization following separation), the military time counts toward your current waiting period. If you took a formal leave of absence and return through statutory restoration rights, military time also counts toward successive waiting periods.⁷

Some pay actions restart the clock. Any “equivalent increase” — most commonly a promotion to a higher grade, but also placement at a higher step under the maximum payable rate rule or a superior qualifications appointment — resets the waiting period.⁸ Three things that do not reset it: a government-wide statutory pay raise, a Quality Step Increase, and a locality pay adjustment.¹ The January pay bump does not push your next step back.

When the Increase Takes Effect

Once you meet both the waiting period and the performance standard, the WGI takes effect at the start of the first pay period after you complete the waiting period.¹ The agency must give you written notice of the determination as soon as possible after the waiting period ends.⁶ Most WGIs process automatically through payroll. When yours does not appear on schedule, that usually points to an administrative problem worth raising.

If a Within-Grade Increase Is Denied

A denial for unacceptable performance requires prompt written notice explaining the reasons.¹ The denial is not permanent. The agency must reassess your performance no later than 52 calendar weeks after the original eligibility date and again at least every 52 weeks while the denial stands. When you show sustained acceptable performance, the agency can grant the WGI, effective from that new determination rather than retroactively.⁹

Reconsideration

You have 15 days from the notice to file a written request for reconsideration explaining why the agency should reverse the decision. You are entitled to a reasonable amount of official time to review the materials the agency relied on.¹⁰ The 15-day deadline can be extended if you were not told about it or if circumstances beyond your control prevented a timely filing. A reversal on reconsideration replaces the original denial and is treated as if made on the original date, so the WGI is applied retroactively.¹

Appeal to the MSPB

If the agency upholds the denial, you can appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board.¹¹ The MSPB can order interim relief in the form of a temporary step increase while the appeal is pending. If the Board overturns the denial, the increase becomes permanent and retroactive.¹²

Back Pay for Missed WGIs

A performance denial is one thing. An agency simply forgetting to process a WGI you had earned is different. Failure to confer a benefit qualifies as an unjustified personnel action under the Back Pay Act, and you are entitled to what you would have received had the WGI been processed on time, plus interest compounded daily.¹³ Back-pay recovery cannot reach further than six years before a timely appeal or administrative determination.

Quality Step Increases Are Different

A Quality Step Increase (QSI) is a separate reward for exceptional performance, not a WGI. It moves you up one step outside the regular waiting-period schedule and requires a Level 5 rating of record (“Outstanding” or equivalent), or the highest summary level in agencies without a Level 5, with a showing that performance significantly exceeds “Fully Successful.”¹⁴ You cannot receive more than one QSI in a 52-week period.

A QSI generally does not reset your regular WGI clock. One exception: if the QSI moves you into step 4 or step 7, you start the longer waiting period from the QSI effective date, though time already accumulated at the previous tier still counts toward the new period.¹⁵

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5335 – Periodic Step-Increases
2
eCFR. 5 CFR 531.402 – Employee Coverage
3
eCFR. 5 CFR 531.403 – Definitions
4
eCFR. 5 CFR 531.405 – Waiting Periods for Within-Grade Increase
5
eCFR. 5 CFR 531.404 – Earning Within-Grade Increase
6
eCFR. 5 CFR 531.409 – Acceptable Level of Competence Determinations
7
eCFR. 5 CFR 531.406 – Creditable Service
8
eCFR. 5 CFR 531.407 – Equivalent Increase Determinations
9
eCFR. 5 CFR 531.411 – Actions After a Negative Determination
10
eCFR. 5 CFR 531.410 – Reconsideration of a Negative Determination
11
U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. Jurisdiction
12
eCFR. 5 CFR 531.414 – Interim Within-Grade Increase
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5596 – Back Pay Due to Unjustified Personnel Action
14
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 531 Subpart E – Quality Step Increases
15
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Quality Step Increase