Quality Step Increase

A quality step increase (QSI) is an increase to an employee's rate of basic pay from one step of the grade to the next step that is granted in recognition of excellence in performance during the last appraisal cycle.

A QSI has the same effect on the employee's salary as a within-grade-increase(WGI) in that it moves the employee from one step of his/her grade to the next higher step ahead of the normal required waiting period. QSIs increase employee's salary costs for the subsequent fiscal year, therefore judgment should be exercised to ensure that only the "top" performers are recommended for this award. Yearly QSIs continually granted to the same individual should be avoided.

QSI Eligibility Criteria:

Employee must achieve all critical results in performance plan
Employee must demonstrate sustained performance of high quality significantly above that expected at the "Fully Successful' level. This must be documented in writing by the employee's supervisor.
Only one QSI can be granted within any 52-week period

RELATED TOPICS: Performance Ratings