Modal Rating [Office of Personnel Management] Law and Legal Definition
According to 5 CFR 351.203 [Title 5 -- Administrative Personnel; Chapter I -- Office of Personnel Management; Subchapter B -- Civil Service Regulations Part 351 -- Reduction in Force; Subpart B -- General Provisions], modal rating is “the summary rating level assigned most frequently among the actual ratings of record that are:
(1) Assigned under the summary level pattern that applies to the employee's position of record on the date of the reduction in force;
(2) Given within the same competitive area, or at the agency's option within a larger subdivision of the agency or agencywide; and
(3) On record for the most recently completed appraisal period prior to the date of issuance of reduction in force notices or the cutoff date the agency specifies prior to the issuance of reduction in force notices after which no new ratings will be put on record.”
