Comment from Tegan Plock

Elimination of Time-in-Grade is an excellent idea that will help federal agencies retain employees and hire the most qualified candidates, without reducing work product quality. The current time-in-grade requirements impede promotion of employees who already meet the OPM requirements for specialized experience in a myriad of ways, including the following examples: -An employee who has been Acting (officially in a detail or temporary promotion, or unofficially) in a higher-graded position or series of positions for a full year cannot compete for the next highest grade. For example, someone who has been temporarily promoted into a GS-12 for over two years total cannot compete for a GS-13 position, despite having spent multiple years in a GS-12, because that time was not in a permanent appointment; -An employee who currently works in a one-grade-interval job series cannot compete for promotion into a two-grade-interval job series (such as a GS-0404 Biological Science Technician at the GS-7 level applying for a GS-9 Biologist), even if they can prove that they meet OPM qualifications for specialized experience requirements, because their time-in-grade isn't in the "right" job series. This applies to employees trying to promote from a Park Guide to a Park Ranger, an Admin Assistant or Budget Tech to Budget Analyst, etc. -An employee who has limited federal experience at a lower grade level can essentially be locked into a lower grade on their career ladder due to lack of time-in-grade, even if both HR and the hiring manager agree that they have the qualifications/skillsets to be hired into a higher level, simply due to the TIG requirements. (ie - someone with six months of GS-7 experience would not qualify for the GS-9 of a GS-7/9 position, and would be forced to take the GS-7 for a minimum of six more months just to meet TIG, rather than immediately accepting and taking on the duties of the GS-9. Note that this changes if the position was announced DEU/open-to-the-public, where TIG does not apply - but where's the "merit" in a merit promotion announcement that holds you at a lower level than you truly qualify for?) These issues regularly stymie hiring managers and employees, and often result in problems retaining highly-skilled employees. Placing the focus on skillsets - which is still critically important and should NOT be discounted - will allow employees to more fairly compete for positions that match their skillsets, and help hiring managers select the candidates who are truly the most qualified for their vacancies.