By Melissa L. Watkins, Esq., www.berrylegal.com

If you are a federal employee and believe that you are regularly asked to perform duties that are outside the scope of your grade, job series and title, there is a path to address such an issue. The procedure is referred to as a “desk audit” or a classification appeal. A desk audit is simply a process where the duties and position of a federal employee are evaluated to determine whether the employee’s position should be upgraded in terms of grade, pay level, title or classification series. 

Prior to a Desk Audit – Ensuring Accuracy of Position Description 

Before requesting a desk audit, the federal employee should make sure that their position description accurately identifies the major duties assigned and performed. If the position description is significantly inaccurate, the employee should try to resolve the problem first by discussing it with a supervisor and perhaps a representative of the human resources office. If the Agency is unwilling to correct the position description, the federal employee can still pursue a desk audit and the inaccuracies will be reviewed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) later in the appeal process.