Office of Personnel Management
New User      About the Agency   |   What's New   |   Quick Index   |   Operating Status
The Federal Government's Human Resources Agency Office of Personnel Management Link to Office of Personnel Management Home
Career Opportunities
Strategic Management of Human Capital Employment and Benefits

Working for America
 

CPM 2000-10  June 23, 2000

MEMORANDUM FOR DIRECTORS OF PERSONNEL

FROM:

HENRY ROMERO
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
FOR WORKFORCE COMPENSATION 
AND PERFORMANCE

SUBJECT:

Proposed Settlement of Litigation in Nonforeign Area Cost-of-Living Allowance Program

The United States District Court of the Virgin Islands has preliminarily approved a stipulation for settlement of litigation concerning the nonforeign area cost-of-living allowance (COLA) program. The court has approved a notice about the proposed settlement. (2000-10 notice (PDF)) The notice also invites current and former COLA recipients to attend public meetings to be held in each COLA area. We request your assistance in ensuring that class members receive proper notification of the proposed settlement and public meetings. Therefore, we ask you to do the following:

1. Please forward the attached notice to your activities in the COLA areas as quickly as possible so that your managers will be aware of its contents. Your managers may be contacted by the plaintiffs representatives, who will ask to post these notices in major Federal buildings. Your managers should make every effort to accommodate these requests.

2. Please encourage supervisors in the COLA areas to grant excused absence to any employee who wishes to attend a meeting scheduled during working hours. These meetings will take place next week in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition, other meetings are tentatively scheduled in Hawaii and Guam during the week of July 10 and in Alaska during the week of July 24. The plaintiffs attorneys will publicize meeting times and places in local newspapers and elsewhere.

3. Please inform employees that they should submit any questions, concerns, or comments about the settlement directly to the Settlement Administrator. The Settlement Administrator will make additional information about the settlement available via the Internet. That website address is in the attached notice.

After plaintiffs attorneys notify their class members, the court will hold a hearing on final approval. This hearing is currently scheduled for August 17, 2000.

If you have any questions on this request, please contact Don Paquin, our COLA Team Leader, at (202) 606-2838; fax (202) 606-4264; or email at COLA@opm.gov.

Attachment

Last Modified: 3:06:56 PM on Thursday, September 04, 2003