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U.S. Office of Personnel ManagementVariations to Pay and Leave Regulations |
NOTICE AND POSTING SYSTEM
| Notice No: 98-32 | Washington, DC 20415 |
| Date: July 2, 1998 |
Notice of OPM Variations
Heads of Departments, Agencies, and Independent
Establishments:
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This Notice provides information relative to variation requests.
Section 5.1 of civil service rule V requires the Office of
Personnel Management to inform agencies about variations it
grants under that rule. A variation to the maximum payable rate
regulation at 5 CFR 531.203(c)-(d) has been approved to allow the
use of a former locality rate of pay in determining the highest
previous rate of two employees participating in an upward
mobility program
1. Section 5.1 of civil service rule V requires the Office of Personnel Management to inform agencies about variations it grants under this rule. This notice describes a variation that was granted to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to allow the use of a former locality rate of pay in determining the maximum payable rate of pay for employees who were receiving a retained rate after being downgraded upon entry into an upward mobility program for engineers and then suffered a reduction in pay upon promotion. 2. This case involves two engineering technicians who were selected for entry into career ladder positions at a lower grade. The employees were entitled to pay retention because this move was part of an employee development/upward mobility program. (See 5 CFR 536.104(a)(6).) Their locality-adjusted retained rate at the lower grade equaled their former locality rate. Subsequently, these employees were promoted to a higher grade at which a special salary rate applied. In applying the promotion rule, the employees became entitled to the lowest rate of basic pay at the new grade that equaled or exceeded their retained rate (excluding locality pay). Since the applicable rates of basic pay at the new grade were special salary rates, and since locality pay is not payable on top of such special rates, the employees suffered a significant reduction in their total pay. Under OPM's maximum payable rate rule at 5 CFR 531.203(c)-(d), an agency may, at its discretion, use an employee's highest previous rate to set pay at the time of certain pay actions, including promotions. However, these regulations do not provide for the use of locality pay in determining the highest previous rate. Thus NASA was unable to use the maximum payable rate rules to increase the employees' pay above the rate set under the promotion rule. 3. OPM granted a variation of the maximum payable rate rules in 5 CFR 531.203(c)-(d) in the case of the two employees described. Under this variation, NASA may, at its discretion, use a former locality rate of pay in determining the affected employees' highest previous rate under section 531.203(d). In applying the rules in section 531.203(c)(1)(i)-(ii), the former locality rate will be compared to the highest applicable basic pay rate range that (1) was in effect at the location and at the time when the highest previous rate was earned and (2) applies to the position and grade for which pay is currently being fixed. The resulting maximum payable rate may not exceed the maximum rate (step 10) for the employee's grade. In the NASA case, the variation resulted in the subject employees' pay being set at the step 10 rate for their grade. The pay reduction was significantly reduce, though not eliminated. 4. This variation was granted because OPM believes a variation was within the spirit of both the maximum payable rate rule (which was intended to give agencies discretion to protect the pay of employees who are moved to lower-graded jobs) and the pay retention rule (which was designed to support agency upward mobility programs). The variation will promote the efficiency of the Government by supporting the use of upward mobility programs, which can be an effective tool for managing available human resources. The variation also will provide for an equitable result and thus will protect the integrity of the competitive service. 5. Section 5.1 of civil service rule V requires that variations be granted in like circumstances. Therefore, if any agency believes it has a case that parallels the one described in this bulletin, it may request a variation. A variation is appropriate, however, only when no other authority exists to remedy the hardship. Requests for variation must be sent through the headquarters of the agency involved and transmitted to the Office of Personnel Management. [SIGNED] Janice R. Lachance Distribution: Former Basic FPM |
Page created 14 July 1998