Promotional detail: Can my unit supervisor deny me?
I work in a field-based position within a Research Station, and my office is collocated within a National Forest. I recently applied for a 120 day detail, which would qualify as a temporary promotion, based out of a local Forest district within the national forest I live near. I would be very excited to get this detail, as it dovetails with my interests heavily, more so than my current position, and I know many people on the National Forest who encouraged me to apply. This is about as close to a ‘dream job’ as I could imagine in the Forest Service given my interests and background.
I have been in my position (my first with the federal government) for exactly 3 years, and have had very good annual reviews and praise/feedback about my performance during that time. I have, however, realized that my opportunities for promotion within my unit are very slim, just due to the structure of my situation. I would have to wait for years to take a position I would likely not want, and move multiple states away on top of that, in this hypothetical future in which I am promoted within my unit. I am not a high level or supervisory employee. Three new employees at my position, including 2 who were hired the same time as me, have quit and/or taken the DRP since my start, and this directly and heavily impacted/elevated my workload, with no timetable on any new hires being made. I have also previously been denied a Forest Service provided training attendance that I specifically outlined in my IDP which was approved by my supervisor. My job is able to be done by contractors, but on short notice it would likely be difficult to draw up a contract. My coworkers would likely have to pick up the slack.
I applied for this detail 2 weeks ago, and in a very short turnaround (this week) was told that it was being offered to me. I did not have time to notify my current supervisor, mainly because I did not plan to do so unless I thought I was in the running, but I was basically interviewed and offered the detail in the same day. I am very happy about this, but know it will put my current unit in a bind for a few months. However, the job I am detailing for has been vacant for quite awhile also and is a job with high need for being performed.
I’m really excited about the opportunity to learn new skills and develop professionally within the Forest Service. However, when I emailed my current supervisor with the news and offering to have a phone call, he denied a phone call (said he did not have time all day) and is instead having conversations with all of his bosses, and openly speculated in his response that they may opt to not allow me to do the detail, even though I have no black marks against me and have been helping hold things together while we were short staffed. They will apparently have more conversations about it before they make a decision. Many other coworkers have done details the past few years, but all of them were within the unit and thus considered allowable/necessary, however I was not tenured enough to be in the running for those details. I have a higher level of educational attainment and years of supervisory experience that most of my tenured coworkers in my position don’t have, and took this slightly lower paying job to be able to move into the federal government (terrible timing, but still here) and have a real desire for professional development opportunities. My potential supervisor/District Ranger has said he is open to a hybrid setup and is very supportive in general.
TLDR; Can my boss deny me a temporary promotional detail just because it would make their life more inconvenient? I don’t do anything that will impact safety or national security and have excellent performance reviews. He did not rule it out but I’m getting the feeling they are circling the wagons to figure out a way to deny me. I am a member of a union, but am not sure if it would help in this situation or not.
Has anyone seen this happen?