In accordance with Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), § 531.217 if an employee covered by the CAPS moves (without a break in service) to a GS position, the employee will be converted to a GS-equivalent rate immediately before leaving the non-GS system. As published in the CAPS Plan in the Federal Register on December 24, 1997, the following procedures will be used to convert the employee's pay band to an equivalent GS grade and the employee's rate of pay to equivalent GS rate of pay.

The converted GS grade and rate of pay must be determined before movement out of CAPS and any accompanying geographic movement, promotion, or other simultaneous action. For lateral reassignments and lateral transfers, the converted GS grade and rate of pay will become the employee's actual GS grade and rate of pay, unless immediately affected by a simultaneous geographic movement or another pay action. For non-lateral transfers, promotions, and other actions, the converted GS grade and rate of pay will be deemed to be the employee's grade and rate of pay at the time of movement out of CAPS and will be used in applying applicable pay setting rules (i.e., rules for promotion under 5 CFR Part 531).

The rules for determining the converted GS grade for pay administration purposes should not be used to determine whether an employee meets the Office of Personnel Management Qualification Standard (i.e., specialized experience) requirements of a position. Specialized experienced is used to determine qualifications and cannot be used to determine pay.