The Length of Service program recognizes an employee's tenure in the Federal Service. A certificate and pin are awarded on the anniversary date of an employee's ten years in service as well as at five-year intervals thereafter. In other words, an employee will receive the appropriate certificate and plaque after 10 years in service and then at 15 years, 20 years, 25 years, etc., up to 45 years in service. At 50 years in service, the certificate is signed by the Secretary of Commerce.

An employee's years in service is determined by his or her leave service computation date (SCD). For employees who are retired from one of the uniformed services, the Department of Commerce revised its Length of Service policy in April 2005. (Revised Policy Bulletin). This policy allows such retirees to combine civilian service with retired uniformed service to achieve an overall Length of Service. An employee who has retired from the uniformed service must present his or her office's Length of Service program coordinator with a DD-214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, NOAA Form 5616, Report of Transfer or Discharge, or equivalent documentation.  The Length of Service program coordinator then uses the combination of the leave SCD and the uniformed service documentation to determine the employee's overall Length of Service, and the appropriate pin and certificate are awarded.

Length of Service Line and Staff Office Contacts

Length of Service certificates must be ordered by completing the SF-1 Form, Printing and Binding Requisition, and submitting it to the Multimedia Division within the Commerce Office of Administrative Services. The SF-1 should be faxed to the attention of Kevin at 202-482-0179. A listing of available certificates can be found at: http://ocio.os.doc.gov/ITPolicyandPrograms/Electronic_Forms/PROD01_002812 along with a link to the SF-1 Form. The Length of Service certificates are numbered as follows:

Length of Service pins may be obtained from GSA.

Page last edited: August 22, 2008