[Decision Concerning IRS Employee's Entitlement to Retroactive Advancement]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and a union local jointly requested an advance decision concerning whether an IRS student trainee was entitled to a retroactive promotion to a higher grade after completion of certain educational and work experience. GAO held that the employee was not entitled to a higher grade level retroactively, since: (1) there were no administrative guidelines or policies which allowed automatic advancement in the student trainee program; and (2) the individual was not deprived of his statutory or regulatory right to achieve a higher grade level within a certain time period. Accordingly, the retroactive promotion was denied.