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Pay and Compensation
Contact Human Resources, Gaithersburg, MD There are four major pay systems at NIST: NIST Alternative Personnel Management System (APMS), Executive-Level Pay (SES and ST employees), Experts and Consultants, and the Federal Wage System (FWS). Click here to obtain information about each of these pay systems. Pay/Compensation Topics
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*Adobe Acrobat Reader required. Get Acrobat Reader. If you are unable to access these PDF files, please contact Human Resources. Back to the topPay for your PositionManagers and supervisors in charge of NIST's programs decide how the work will be organized and what the duties of each job will be. For every job, a formal position description (PD) is prepared and "classified," and all employees receive a copy of their PD. When a position is classified, an occupational series and pay band is assigned based on the duties and responsibilities of the position, and that determines the rate of pay for the position (along with the geographical area in which the employee works). Back to the topPay IncreasesThe rate of pay for Project employees (i.e., employees covered by the Alternative Personnel Management System) may be adjusted periodically to correspond with pay rate changes approved by the President for general schedule (GS) employees according to changes in pay rates in comparable positions in private industry, locality pay increases, and a variety of other factors. In addition employees' pay may be increased through the annual performance appraisal review process.Under NIST's Alternative Personnel Management System, employees are considered for performance-related pay increases and bonuses as a part of the annual performance appraisal process. Under the Prevailing Rate system, each grade of a regular wage schedule (WG) has five rates to which an employee may progress with satisfactory work performance. Employees under a regular wage schedule may advance to Rate 2 after 26 weeks at Rate 1; to Rate 3 after 78 weeks at Rate 2; and to Rates 4 and 5 after 104 weeks at the next lower rate.Different prevailing rate wage schedules are established for different types of work, e.g., apprentice (WT), leader (WL), supervisor (WS), or planner-estimator (WD). Rates of pay for these prevailing rate jobs are different in different localities and are set by periodic surveys of the rates being paid by typical employers in each locality. Pay increases for SES and ST-3104 employees result from periodic adjustments by the President, and performance-related factors. Back to the topPromotionsA promotion is a change of an employee (1) to a higher band in the same career path or (2) to a band in another career path in combination with an increase in salary. The minimum pay increase for promotion is 6 percent of salary or the amount required to reach the minimum of the new band if that amount is greater than 6 percent. There is no maximum percentage, except that the new salary may not exceed the ceiling of the new band. Back to the topSupervisory differentials are implemented in two ways: (1) by providing higher band ceilings for supervisors in all career paths (6 percent in most instances), and (2) by increasing the base salaries of new supervisors (3 percent) and division chiefs (additional 3 percent) in the Scientific and Engineering (ZP) Career Path. The differential is removed when an employee moves from a supervisory position to a non-supervisory position. The removal of a differential is not an adverse action. In rare cases exceptions may be approved to allow a former supervisor to retain his/her supervisory differential. Back to the top |