CPM 2000-14
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United States Office of Personnel Management |
November 3, 2000
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MEMORANDUM FOR HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTORS | |
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FROM: |
HENRY ROMERO |
SUBJECT: |
Special Salary Rates for IT Workers |
Director Lachance has issued a memorandum for heads of Executive departments and agencies (CPM 2000-13) announcing her approval of special salary rates for certain information technology (IT) workers. The new IT special rates will cover all GS-334 (computer specialist), GS-854 (computer engineer), and GS-1550 (computer scientist) positions at grades GS-5/7/9/11/12 Governmentwide, effective in January 2001. The special rates are designed to help agencies address significant problems in recruiting IT workers in today's highly competitive IT labor market.
The combined effect of the new information technology (IT) special salary rates and the anticipated across-the-board GS pay increase will produce overall net pay increases ranging from about 7 to 33 percent for most of the 33,000 current Federal employees in the covered positions, depending on grade level. The overall net pay increase at any given grade level will be about the same in all geographic areas, but the actual special rates will be higher in locations with higher locality pay rates.
Summary of IT Special Rate Study Findings
To assist Federal agencies in addressing recruitment and retention problems affecting the Government's IT workforce, OPM initiated a study that drew upon a variety of sources. Based on our analysis of information from agencies on their IT staffing situation, demographic information from OPM's Central Personnel Data File, and information from non-Federal salary surveys, we have determined that the most severe IT staffing problems are found at the lower, entry-level grades. General Schedule salaries lag far behind non-Federal salaries at these levels. In addition, agencies report that entry-level staffing problems likely will increase significantly in the future as agencies try to replace an increasing number of retiring IT workers. Higher rates of pay are essential at grades GS-5 through 12 for agencies to compete effectively in the current labor market for high quality employees with the latest, high demand IT skills. Although we are not authorizing higher pay at grade GS-13 or above, we will continue to monitor the IT staffing situation to determine whether these special rates should be expanded.
Effective Date
The new IT special salary rates will become effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2001, and will apply automatically to all current employees and new hires in the covered occupational series and grade levels in each Federal agency on and after that date.
IT Special Rate Schedules
OPM will establish six IT special salary rate schedules, each covering a group or "cluster" of geographic areas. Attachment 1 shows the geographic areas covered by each table. Within the 48 contiguous States and Washington, DC, these "clusters" are defined according to the boundaries of the 32 GS locality pay areas. One of the six IT special rate schedules will apply to all geographic areas not covered by the GS locality pay system. Attachment 2 shows the projected salary ranges by grade level for each cluster. However, because the IT special rates will become effective in January 2001, the salary schedules themselves will not be available until we know the precise amounts of the January 2001 across-the-board and locality pay increases for GS employees. We will issue a notice to agencies as soon as the IT special rate schedules are available and will post the schedules on our web site at www.opm.gov/oca.
In keeping with our analysis of the IT staffing situation and relevant pay survey data, the new IT special rates will result in larger net pay increases for employees and positions at the lower grade levels. Net pay increases also will be smaller for employees in the covered series who already have special salary rates that exceed the locality pay rate for their area, including most GS-854 computer engineers and some GS-1550 computer scientists.
Because special salary rates must be used for all pay actions, including promotions from GS-12 to GS-13, we will establish special rates at GS-13 for the tables covering the 48 contiguous States and Washington, DC, to prevent pay administration anomalies. However, since GS-13 employees will be entitled to higher locality pay rates in these geographic areas, they will not receive a pay increase as a result of the new special rates.
Addressing Other IT Staffing Problems
We recognize that some agencies may have IT staffing problems that the new IT special salary rates will not address. Agencies may request higher special rates for specific IT specialties, grade levels, and/or geographic areas if the staffing situation involved warrants special consideration. In addition, agencies may request a separate special rate authorization for a related occupational series or grade level not covered by this authorization. Your staff may obtain information on how to request a special salary rate from OPM's web site at www.opm.gov/oca. All special rate requests must be submitted to OPM through agency headquarters.
We also encourage agencies to use other human resource management flexibilities and strategies, such as recruitment and relocation bonuses, retention allowances, and incentive awards, to address IT staffing problems. An OPM resource guide, entitled "Human Resource Flexibilities in the Federal Government," contains information on these and other flexibilities and may be obtained from OPM's web site at www.opm.gov/demos.
For More Information
We have posted questions and answers on the administration of the new IT special rates on OPM's web site at www.opm.gov/oca/compmemo/2000/2000-14Q.htm. If you have additional questions, please contact the Pay and Leave Administration Division by phone on (202) 606-2858 or by email at payleave@opm.gov.
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Web page created November 2000