Policy Number: 1.40 - Performance Planning and Evaluation
Efft. Date: 4/01/01 Rev. Date: 8/01/01

Provides for the establishment and communication of employees’ performance plans and procedures for evaluating employees’ performance.

The plan developed by each agency that reflects the agency’s philosophy and policies in support of the mission to ensure consistent and fair employment and compensation practices. The agency’s evaluation process including any agency-designed forms, should be outlined in the Agency Salary Administration Plan.

Results or work that fails to meet performance measures. To receive this rating, an employee must have received at least one documented Notice of Improvement Needed/Substandard Performance form within the performance cycle.

Effective July 10, 2007

A Written Notice (Standards of Conduct Policy 1.60) that is issued to an employee for any reason in the current performance cycle may be used in place of the Notice of Improvement Needed/Substandard Performance to support an overall rating of “Below Contributor”.

The form used to complete the annual performance evaluation that includes a brief work description, performance plan, core responsibilities, performance measures, and employee develop­ment goals. (See Attachment B for the form and instructions.)

NOTE: Agencies may develop their own forms as long as they support the provisions of this policy and contain the required information as indicated in Attachment C.

Action taken to an employee who received an overall performance evaluation of “Below Contributor” and whose performance during the re-evaluation period has not improved.  Employees who are demoted for performance reasons must have their salaries decreased by a minimum of 5%.  With this performance-related salary action, an employee may be:

1. retained in his position with a reduction in duties commensurate with the salary reduction or;
2. placed in a lower level position within the same pay band or;
3. placed in a position in a lower pay band.

A designation an agency may use to sub-divide into smaller organizational units to facilitate oversight of the performance management process and the fair (equitable) distribution of performance increases and funding within an agency. This will normally occur at a level where the responsible manager exercises full authority over both personnel and budget management.

The use of sub-agencies or sub-units must be defined and justified in the agency’s Salary Administrative Plan.

Supervisors develop employees’ performance plans ac­cording to instructions on the Employee Work Profile (EWP) form (or agency form). The plans are signed by the supervisor and then forwarded to the reviewer for approval. Reviewers should ensure that performance plans are appropriate before signing the forms.

Following the reviewer’s approval, performance plans are presented to employees for their signatures.

The supervisor should discuss performance plans with employees in a timely manner:

• Generally, discussions should be held within 30 days of the beginning of the performance cycle.
• With an employee who is beginning a new or different position, discussion should be held within 30 days of the employee’s begin date.

Changes to the performance plan during the performance cycle  generally would be used for additional special assignments or modifications to special assignments. If, however, it is necessary to change one or more of the Core Responsibilities, the reviewer must approve the change(s). The performance plan is not intended to fully describe the tools or methods used to accomplish work; these may change without requiring a plan revision. If core responsibilities include project-based assignments, supervisors may develop a core responsibility statement indicating the general nature of the projects, and a measure noting that the project is completed in accordance with the objectives, standards, and timelines established and communicated at the time of assignment.

All changes to the performance plan should be noted on the official form and initialed and dated by the supervisor, reviewer, and employee. If it is necessary to add additional pages, each page should be initialed and dated by the supervisor, reviewer, and employee and the page(s) attached to the original form.

Changes that should be noted on the official form include assignments performed for more than 30 workdays while on light duty status or in an acting status.

Non-probationary employees should receive interim evaluations near the middle of the performance cycle. Agencies may use the Interim Evaluation Form (Attachment D), develop their own forms, or use copies of employees' EWP forms (Attachment B) for the interim evaluations. Any form that is used should be clearly marked as “Interim.” The reviewer’s signature is optional on interim evaluations.

Interim evaluations also may be conducted at any time during the performance cycle for both probationary and non-probationary employees to advise an employee of his or her progress toward meeting performance measures or to document performance problems.

Interim evaluations should be maintained in supervisors’ documentation files to be used when the annual evaluation is completed.

Probationary employees should receive formal performance reviews at the 6-month point and approximately three weeks prior to the completion of their probationary periods. Supervisors also should provide structured feedback to probationary employees periodically during their Probationary Periods. This can be done by completing the Probationary Progress Review form or other documentation, at the agency’s discretion, at 3 months and again at 9 months or as the agency determines appropriate. (See Policy 1.45, Probationary Period.)

Supervisors are encouraged to recognize incidents of employee performance that truly are extraordinary. A supervisor should document incidents of extraordinary performance on the Acknowledgement of Extraordinary Contribution form (or agency-developed form). The form must be signed by the supervisor and reviewer, given to the employee, and a copy retained in the supervisor’s confidential file until the annual performance evaluation is completed. If the employee receives an overall annual evaluation of Extraordinary Contributor, the form must be attached to the annual evaluation form to support the rating.  Otherwise, the form is retained in the supervisor’s file as described in the Retention of Performance Forms section of this policy.

In order for an employee to receive an overall “Extraordinary Contributor” rating on the annual performance evaluation, the employee must receive at least one Acknowledgement of  Extraordinary Contribution form(s) and perform consistently well above the core responsibilities and measures throughout the performance cycle. Extraordinary contribution(s) should be documented on the Acknowledgement form and discussed as close to the time of occurrence as possible.

NOTE: The receipt of one or more Acknowledgement of Extraordinary Contribution form does not automatically entitle an employee to an overall annual rating of “Extraordinary Contributor.”

Supervisors should immediately identify poor, substandard, or unacceptable performance. Supervisors normally should address first-time minor or marginal performance issues through performance counseling and coaching.

An employee may receive a Notice of Improvement Needed/ Substandard Performance form at any time during the performance cycle if the employee exhibits substandard performance on any core responsibility, special assignment, agency or unit objective, or core value or core competency.

If an employee's performance level falls below Contributor level, a Notice of Improvement Needed/Substandard Performance form (or agency-developed form) may be issued at any time. Reviewers must approve and sign such Notices.

Receipt of a Notice of Improvement Needed/Substandard Performance form also may result in issuance of a Written Notice under Policy 1.60, Standards of Conduct.

The Notice of Improvement Needed/Substandard Performance form must include an improvement plan, which should have an improvement period of no less than 30 days or more than 180 days. The improvement plan shall be developed by the supervisor and the employee. If agreement cannot be reached, the supervisor may establish the improvement plan. The plan should be included on the form or attached to it. Employees should be given a copy of the Notice and plan. When the annual evaluation is completed, the Notice and plan must be attached to the Evaluation Form if the overall evaluation reflects a rating of Below Contributor.  Otherwise, the form is retained in the supervisor’s file as described in the Retention of Performance Forms section of this policy.  Substandard performance on the improvement plan also may result in disciplinary action under the Standards of Conduct. (See Policy 1.60, Standards of Conduct.)

An employee cannot be rated “Below Contributor” on the annual evaluation unless he/she has received:

• At least one Notice of Improvement Needed/Substandard Performance form; OR
• A Written Notice for any reason as defined in Policy 1.60, Standards of Conduct.

To the extent possible, performance evaluations should reflect performance levels for the entire performance cycle.

NOTE: The following types of leave taken must not be used to negatively impact the employee’s overall performance rating: overtime, compensatory, on-call, workers’ compensation, military, Family and Medical Leave, Short-term Disability, and Long-term Disability-Working status under the VSDP program. However, the time an employee actually works during the performance cycle may impact the percentage of performance increase he or she is eligible to receive (see page 11, Employees Who Have Been Absent During The Cycle).

If a supervisor changes an employee’s performance plan during the performance cycle, the employee should be evaluated based on the performance plan in effect during each portion of the cycle. Evaluations of performance during each portion of the cycle should be consolidated to an “overall” rating and documented on the form that is in effect at the end of the cycle.

An employee’s immediate supervisor must complete the evaluation section of the evaluation form, according to the form’s instructions.

If a new supervisor has been assigned during the performance cycle, then the new supervisor should review the performance plan, make necessary modifications, and make his or her own assessment along with the former supervisor’s assessment prior to determining the employee’s overall evaluation at the end of the performance cycle.

The new supervisor is responsible for completing the official performance evaluation. In some cases, however, the reviewer or other designated person may need to assist the new supervisor or complete the evaluation.

More Than One Supervisor

An employee who is working for two (2) or more supervisors at the same time should be evaluated by only one of the supervisors, with input from the other supervisor(s). Only the evaluating supervisor should sign the evaluation form.

Upward feedback regarding supervisors’ performance is part of the performance process. Agencies must move toward including a process for employees to provide feedback to reviewers regarding their supervisors’ performance.

Initially, such feedback is to be used as a developmental tool to help supervisors improve their supervisory skills. As agencies become more experienced interpreting and administering such tools, the results may be used for evaluative purposes.

Safeguards should be established to facilitate anonymity of the employees providing feedback. (Refer to the Human Resource Management Manual for additional information on upward feedback.)

The reviewer must review the performance plan and performance evaluation sections of the evaluation form before they are presented to the employee. If the reviewer does not agree with the evaluation, the reviewer should discuss the disagreements with the supervisor. The reviewer has the authority to change the employee’s evaluation. In addition, agencies may determine if higher levels of management may change the evaluation. This decision should be documented in the agency’s Salary Administration Plan.

If the reviewer is unable to review either section of an employee’s evaluation form, the next higher level of management should conduct the review.

Agencies may decide to sub-divide the agency into smaller organizational units than the entire agency to facilitate oversight of the performance management process.

Sub-agencies or sub-units may include:

• any organizational unit within an agency which has a separate Agency Code;
• any major organizational unit that can be characterized as a distinct management accountability center, such as separate facilities within an agency, or colleges or divisions within a university; or
• large groups of employees sharing the same career group(s) within an agency, such as corrections officers.

The use of sub-agencies or sub-units is optional, but if agencies decide to use such designations, the use of sub-agencies or sub-units must be defined and justified in agencies’ Salary Administration Plans.

The average increase for employees will be the same across all agencies and within any sub-agencies or sub-units that are used for distribution of performance increases.

Contributors must receive at least 80% of the statewide average increase, but cannot receive an amount that exceeds the statewide average increase.  The actual increase may vary from one agency, sub-agency or sub-unit to another based on the formula used within these limits and the number of employees rated Contributor.

Extraordinary Contributors must receive no more than 250% of the statewide average increase. The actual increase may vary from one agency, sub-agency or sub-unit to another based on the formula used within these limits and the number of employees rated Contributor.

All Contributors in an agency (or sub-agency or sub-unit) must receive the same percentage increase.

All Extraordinary Contributors in an agency (or sub-agency or sub-unit) must receive the same percentage increase.

To assist agencies with the application of the formula, Attachment F provides an explanation and examples.

Performance evaluations should be carried out according to the following schedule.

Employees who have completed a full 12-month perform­ance cycle (October 25 through the next October 24) (or who almost have completed in accordance with the chart on page 11), must have performance evaluations completed by October 24, but not before August 10.

• Employees who are hired or re-hired between October 25 and July 24, must have their performance evaluations completed between August 10 and October 24.
• Agencies may choose to complete performance evaluations on employees hired or re-hired between July 25 and October 24. (See Policy 1.45, Probationary Period.)
• Employees who still are in their probationary periods during the time performance evaluations are completed will be evaluated on the Probationary Progress Review form or agency-developed form. (See Policy 1.45, Probationary Period.) However, agencies may choose to use the EWP (or agency form) to evaluate the performance of these employees.
• Forms used to support any performance increase will be retained in the employee’s official personnel file.
• Employees’ overall performance must be rated at the Contributor level or above to receive a performance increase.

Probationary employees will be eligible to receive performance increases on the performance increase effective date as indicated below:

(Refer to Policy 1.45, Probationary Period.)

Supervisors may consider the length of time that employees perform in their jobs during the performance cycle, along with how well they perform, in arriving at employees’ overall ratings.

Agencies may determine if absences for a significant portion of the year will influence the increase amount for which employees will be eligible. If agencies decide to impact employees’ increases due to absences, they should document this practice in their Salary Administration Plans. The chart below may be used.  Exception:  The following types of leave taken must not be used to negatively impact the employee’s overall performance rating: overtime, compensatory, on-call, Workers’ Compensation, military, Family and Medical Leave, Short-term Disability, and Long-term Disability-Working status under the VSDP program.

In addition, Workers’ Compensation (Code of Virginia, §2.1-114.5(5) [§2.2-1201 after 10/01/01]), military, Family and Medical Leave, Short-term Disability, and Long-term Disability-Working status leave may not affect the performance increase.

If an employee disagrees with an evaluation and cannot resolve the disagreement with the supervisor, the employee may appeal to the reviewer for another review of the evaluation.

Agencies may develop their own appeals process for reconsideration of employee evaluations. The appeals process should be documented within the Agency Salary Administration Plan.

Any appeal process must provide for the appeal to be made in writing to the reviewer within 10 workdays of the initial performance meeting.

The reviewer should discuss an employee’s appeal with the supervisor and employee. After discussion of the appeal, the reviewer should provide the employee with a written response within five (5) workdays of receiving it.

The response should indicate one of the following:

• the reviewer agrees with the evaluation;
• the supervisor will revise the evaluation;
• the supervisor will complete a new evaluation;
• the reviewer will revise the evaluation; or
• the reviewer will complete a new evaluation.

• Even if the employee is in the process of appealing his or her evaluation, the performance plan must be developed.
• The supervisor should develop an entire performance plan including, “Employee Development.”
• If the Core Responsibilities and measures of the original performance plan are appropriate, this information should be transferred to a separate evaluation form, which will be used for re-evaluation purposes. The form should clearly indicate that it is a re-evaluation.
• The supervisor must discuss with the employee specific recommendations for meeting the minimum performance measures contained in the re-evaluation plan during the re-evaluation period.
• The employee’s reviewer, and then the employee, should review and sign the performance re-evaluation plan.
• If the employee transfers to another position during the re-evaluation period, the re-evaluation process will be terminated.

An employee whose performance during the re-evaluation period is documented as not improving, may be demoted within the three (3)-month period to a position in a lower Pay Band or reassigned to another position in the same Pay Band that has lower level duties if the agency identifies another position that is more suitable for the employee’s performance level. A demotion or reassignment to another position will end the re-evaluation period.

When an employee is moved to another position with lower duties due to unsatisfactory performance during, or at the end of the re-evaluation period, the action is considered a Performance Demotion and the agency must reduce the employee’s salary at least 5%.  (See Policy 3.05, Compensation.)

Interim evaluations are not official personnel documents and should be retained in the supervisor’s confidential files until completion of the annual evaluation. Other documentation of work performance also should be retained by supervisors in files other than employees’ official personnel files, and may be purged after the performance cycle is completed or after the employee’s separation from state service unless used as documentation for Performance Evaluation.

Acknowledgement of Extraordinary Contribution Form

If an Acknowledgement of Extraordinary Contribution form is used to support the overall rating of Extraordinary Contribution, the form becomes part of the official personnel file. Otherwise, the form is maintained in the supervisor’s file until completion of the annual evaluation.

Notice of Improvement Needed/Substandard Performance Form

If a Notice of Improvement Needed/Substandard Performance Form is used to support the overall rating of Below Contributor, then the form becomes part of the official personnel file.  Otherwise, the form is maintained in the supervisor’s file until completion of the annual evaluation.

Self Evaluation

Documentation submitted for self-evaluation is maintained in the supervisor’s file for a period of 30 days beyond the annual evaluation review date.

The Department of Human Resource Management issues this policy pursuant to the authority provided in Chapter 10, Title 2.1 (Title 2.2 as of 10/01/01) of the Code of Virginia.

This policy supersedes Policy 1.40, Performance Planning and Evaluation, issued April 1, 2001.

The Director of the Department of Human Resource Management is responsible for official interpretation of this policy, in accordance with section 2.1‑114.5(13) (§2.2-1201 as of 10/01/01) of the Code of Virginia.  Questions regarding the application of this policy should be directed to the Department of Human Resource Management's Office of Compensation and Policy.

The Department of Human Resource Management reserves the right to revise or eliminate this policy.

• Policy 1.45, Probationary Period
• Policy 1.60 Standards of Conduct
• Policy 3.05 Compensation