Office of the General Counsel

Date: February 5, 1999
Matter of: [xxx]
File Number: S9802514

OPM Contact: Murray M. Meeker

The claimant, a civilian employee with the [agency], who received a special pay rate while employed on [xxx], claims entitlement to pay retention in the setting of his pay upon his return from [xxx]. See 5 U.S.C. 5305. For the reasons discussed herein, the claim is denied.

Pay retention is authorized under 5 U.S.C. 5363. Congress has specifically provided that pay retention ceases to apply to an employee who is demoted for personal cause or at the employee's request. 5 U.S.C. 5363(c)(3). In addition, the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM's) regulations implementing pay retention provide that an employee may not retain a rate of basic pay held during a temporary reassignment. See 5 C.F.R. 536.105(b).

Accordingly, the claimant is excluded from retaining the special salary rate that he received while employed on [xxx] and his claim is denied. This settlement is final. No further administrative review is available within OPM. Nothing in this settlement limits the employee's right to bring an action in an appropriate United States Court.