---identifier: "/us/cfr/t5/s536.204"source: "ecfr"legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"title: "5 CFR § 536.204 - Period of grade retention."title_number: 5title_name: "Administrative Personnel"section_number: "536.204"section_name: "Period of grade retention."chapter_name: "OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT"subchapter_number: "B"subchapter_name: "CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS"part_number: "536"part_name: "GRADE AND PAY RETENTION"positive_law: falsecurrency: "2026-04-05"last_updated: "2026-04-05"format_version: "1.1.0"generator: "[email protected]"authority: "5 U.S.C. 5361-5366; sec. 4 of the Performance Management and Recognition System Termination Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-89), 107 Stat. 981; § 536.301(b) also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5334(b); § 536.308 also issued under sec. 301(d)(2) of the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-411), 118 Stat. 2305; § 536.310 also issued under sections 1913 and 1918 of the Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act of 2009 (subtitle B of title XIX of Pub. L.111-84), 123 Stat. 2619; § 536.405 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552, Freedom of Information Act, Public Law 92-502."regulatory_source: "45 FR 85656, Dec. 30, 1980, unless otherwise noted."cfr_part: "536"---
Identifier
/us/cfr/t5/s536.204
Currency
2026-04-05
Positive Law
No
Updated
2026-04-05
Chapter
Office of Personnel Management
Authority
5 U.S.C. 5361-5366; sec. 4 of the Performance Management and Recognition System Termination Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-89), 107 Stat. 981; § 536.301(b) also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5334(b); § 536.308 also... 5 U.S.C. 5361-5366; sec. 4 of the Performance Management and Recognition System Termination Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-89), 107 Stat. 981; § 536.301(b) also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5334(b); § 536.308 also issued under sec. 301(d)(2) of the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-411), 118 Stat. 2305; § 536.310 also issued under sections 1913 and 1918 of the Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act of 2009 (subtitle B of title XIX of Pub. L.111-84), 123 Stat. 2619; § 536.405 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552, Freedom of Information Act, Public Law 92-502.
# 536.204 Period of grade retention.(a) Unless grade retention is terminated under § 536.208, an employee is entitled to retain the grade held immediately before the action that provides entitlement to grade retention for 2 years beginning on the date the employee is placed in the lower-graded position.(b) During the 2-year period of grade retention, if an agency further reduces an employee in grade under circumstances also entitling the employee to grade retention, the employee must continue to retain the previous retained grade for the remainder of the first 2-year period. At the end of the first 2-year period, the employee is entitled to retain the grade of the position from which the second reduction in grade was made for 2 years following the effective date of the second reduction in grade.(c) Notwithstanding § 536.207(a)(1), grade retention continues to apply to an employee serving under an interim appointment made under 5 CFR 772.102 for the duration of the original 2-year grade retention period if the employee's grade was retained under this part in the appointment immediately preceding the interim appointment.