(a) Unless grade retention is terminated under § 536.208, an employee is entitled to retain the grade held immediately before the action that provides entitlement to grade retention for 2 years beginning on the date the employee is placed in the lower-graded position.

(b) During the 2-year period of grade retention, if an agency further reduces an employee in grade under circumstances also entitling the employee to grade retention, the employee must continue to retain the previous retained grade for the remainder of the first 2-year period. At the end of the first 2-year period, the employee is entitled to retain the grade of the position from which the second reduction in grade was made for 2 years following the effective date of the second reduction in grade.

(c) Notwithstanding § 536.207(a)(1), grade retention continues to apply to an employee serving under an interim appointment made under 5 CFR 772.102 for the duration of the original 2-year grade retention period if the employee's grade was retained under this part in the appointment immediately preceding the interim appointment.