This IRM provides policy related to probationary periods for:

This IRM supplements policies and requirements contained in the authorities cited below. It is not self-contained and must be read in conjunction with cited authorities and applicable CBAs.

Laws - United States Code (USC) at https://uscode.house.gov:

Regulations - Code of Federal Regulations at https://www.ecfr.gov:

Treasury Policy TN-16-001, Effective Hiring at: https://my.treasury.gov/SitePages/NGISearchResults.aspx?k=TN%2D16%2D001.

Document 11678, National Agreement Between IRS and National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) at https://publish.no.irs.gov/cat12.cgi?request=CAT1&catnum=32781.

IRS Servicewide Delegation Order (DO) 6-29, Authority to Address Employee Performance or Conduct Issues at https://irm.web.irs.gov/Part1/Chapter2/Section2/IRM1.2.2.aspx#1.2.2.7.18.

The OPM Guide to Processing Personnel Actions (GPPA) at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/data-analysis-documentation/personnel-documentation/#url=Processing-Personnel-Actions.

The IRS Human Capital Officer is the executive responsible for this IRM and overall Servicewide performance policy.

The HCO P&A Division develops policies related to human resource (HR), ensures internal compliance with these policies and advises customers on HR policy.

The servicing HCO TA Division, Employment Office (EO) must ensure:

Supervisors or Managers of Non-Supervisory Employees Serving a Probationary Period Upon Initial Appointment to a Competitive Service position must:

Supervisors or Managers of Employees Serving Probationary Period Upon an Initial Supervisory Appointment must:

HCO LERN provides technical and procedural advice to supervisors and managers about termination and demotion actions including appeal rights, and ensures such actions conform to current laws and regulations.

The table lists commonly used acronyms in this IRM.

Career Status. Permanent status with the federal government that results from three years of creditable and satisfactory service in a career-conditional position.

Career-Conditional Status. The three years of creditable and satisfactory service on a permanent appointment that leads to career status. Upon completion of the three-year service requirement, the employee automatically receives career status.

Competitive Service. Civil service positions in the executive branch of the federal government that are subject to a competitive process (that is competitive examining) which are open to all applicants.

Competitive Status. Status acquired by completion of a probationary period under a career or career-conditional appointment.

Executive Misconduct Unit (EMU). The office in LERN that provides support to managers for high-level employees in the following positions: Executives Senior Executive Service (SES), Administratively Determined and Streamlined Critical Pay, Senior Level (also known as Senior Advisors), Senior Managers (IR-01), Frontline Managers (IR-03) and GS-15 non-bargaining unit (NBU) employees. The EMU Human Resource Specialists provide guidance from consultation, to processing the case and through any appeal, if applicable.

Labor Relations Specialist (LRS). The specialist in the LERN’s Field Operations Office who provides support to supervisors and managers of employees who are not covered by the EMU. The LRS provides guidance from consultation, to processing the case and through any appeal, if applicable.

Non-Status Employee. A current employee who is serving on an excepted, term or temporary appointment that does not confer competitive status or reinstatement eligibility.

Non-Supervisor/Non-Manager. An employee with no supervisory/managerial responsibilities.

Probationary Period. A one-year period (three-year period for Criminal Investigation, 1811 series) that applies to new appointments to competitive service positions and initial appointments to supervisory or managerial positions which management uses to assess:

Supervisor/Manager. Supervises/manages employees and meets requirements outlined in OPM’s General Schedule Supervisory Guide for titling positions supervisory/managerial.

A one-year probationary period [three-year period for Criminal Investigation, 1811 series in accordance with 5 USC Section 9510(d)] is required when:

Probation ends when the employee completes his or her scheduled tour of duty on the day before the anniversary date of the employee’s appointment. For example, when the last workday is a Friday and the anniversary date is the following Monday, the probationer must be separated before the end of the tour of duty on Friday since Friday would be the last day the employee actually has to demonstrate fitness for further employment.

The probationary period required is one year (three years for Criminal Investigation, 1811 series).

Prior federal civilian service (including non-appropriated fund service) counts toward completion of the probationary period when the prior service:

Periods of absence while in a pay status count toward completion of probationary period. The following addresses creditability in a non-pay status:

Service credited for other than full time:

The employee must meet the criteria described in paragraph (2) above. Below are common scenarios when prior service may or may not be creditable toward the completion of the probationary period for an external selection to the competitive service.

If management determines that an employee failed to demonstrate satisfactory performance or conduct (for example, chronic absenteeism, failure to attend or successfully complete training) for continued employment during the probationary period, the IRS will terminate the employee during the probationary period.

Management must consult LERN regarding termination procedures for employees. Management can find the servicing LRS or EMU specialist. Please see definition under 6.315.2.1.5(5). The assigned LRS or EMU specialist can be found at https://irsgov.sharepoint.com/sites/HCO/SitePages/Contacts.aspx.

The termination letter is drafted by management’s servicing LRS or the EMU, as appropriate. It is reviewed, approved, signed, dated and issued by the supervisor or manager with the delegated authority under DO 6-29.

Management may consider offering Last Rights (an opportunity to resign) to a probationary employee before issuing a termination letter. Supervisors or managers must contact their servicing LRS or EMU, as appropriate, before holding a Last Rights discussion. For supervisors and managers of bargaining unit (BU) employees, refer to Articles 5 and 37 in the National Agreement to ensure compliance.

Per OPM’s GPPA, if an employee chooses to resign before receiving a termination letter, their SF-50B, Notification of Personnel Action, may not contain a statement referring to their performance/conduct issue.

If the IRS terminates a probationary employee due to less than fully successful performance or misconduct, the IRS will provide the employee a written notice stating the reason(s) for their separation and the effective date of the termination. Probationary employees are provided limited due process and have the right to appeal their termination to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) under certain, limited conditions such as:

If the IRS terminates a probationary employee for reasons based in whole or in part on conditions arising before their appointment, which typically involves issues disclosed during a background investigation, the IRS must:

If the employee worked continuously for more than one year in a competitive service position (three years for employees in Special Agent positions in the 1811 series), completed an initial probationary period and was selected externally for another competitive position, the employee has appeal rights. Although the employee is subject to a new probationary period, the employee can appeal their termination to the MSPB under 5 CFR Part 752, Subpart D providing immediately before the termination, the employee completed one year of current continuous service other than a temporary appointment of one year or less.

LERN or EMU, as applicable, must be consulted about due process and appeal rights procedures. Management can find their servicing LRS or EMU specialist at: https://irsgov.sharepoint.com/sites/HCO/SitePages/Contacts.aspx.

An employee who is terminated and alleges discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, age (as defined in 29 CFR Part 1625, Age Discrimination in Employment Act) or age can file a complaint through the IRS Discrimination Complaint Process at https://core.publish.no.irs.gov/docs/pdf/d11741--2017-07-00.pdf. To appeal under 29 CFR Part 1614, the allegation must be brought to the attention of an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) counselor within 45 calendar days of the effective date of the action.

An employee is required to complete a one-year probationary period upon initial assignment to a supervisory or managerial position. An employee is only required to complete one probationary period, regardless of the number of supervisory or managerial positions the employee serves in the competitive service.

If an employee is required to concurrently serve a probationary period for a new supervisory or managerial position and an initial competitive position, the completion of the probationary period for the competitive position satisfies the requirement for the supervisory or managerial position.

For employees who occupied supervisory or managerial positions on or before August 11,1979, a probationary period is not required for future positions when:

Below are common scenarios when prior service may or may not be creditable towards the completion of the probationary period for initial assignment to a supervisory or managerial position.

If an employee fails to demonstrate satisfactory performance and/or conduct during the employee’s supervisory or managerial probationary period, management may terminate the employee if the employee is also serving an initial probationary period with the IRS. If the employee previously held a non-management position with the IRS, management will return the employee to their former or a similar non-supervisory or managerial position unless the employee accepted a change to lower grade for the initial supervisory appointment. In accordance with 5 CFR Part 315.907(b), a non-supervisory or non-managerial employee who is demoted into a position in which probation is required and who, for reasons of supervisory or managerial performance, does not satisfactorily complete the probationary period is entitled to be assigned to a position at the same grade and pay as the position in which the employee was serving the probationary period.

Before taking any action, supervisors or managers must consult with their assigned LRS or EMU specialist.

The termination or reassignment letter is drafted by management’s servicing LRS or EMU specialist, as appropriate. It is reviewed, approved, signed, dated and issued by the supervisor or manager with the delegated authority under DO 6-29.

An employee who is returned to a non-supervisory or non-managerial position during the employee’s probationary period has no appeal rights unless the action is allegedly based on marital status or partisan political affiliation. An employee who alleges such discrimination may appeal to the MSPB within 30 workdays from the date of the action.

An employee who is returned to a non-supervisory or non-managerial position and alleges discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, age (as defined in 29 CFR Part 1625, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 40 years of age or older) or disability can file an EEO complaint using information provided at https://core.publish.no.irs.gov/docs/pdf/d11741--2017-07-00.pdf for details. To appeal under 29 Part 1614, the allegation must be brought to the attention of an EEO counselor within 45 calendar days of the effective date of the action.