A pay plan is a two-digit alphabetical code used to identify Federal civilian pay systems. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) approves pay plan codes for agency use. OPM-approved pay plan codes are found in the OPM Operating Manual: The Guide to Personnel Data Standards. For the purpose of Federal civilian personnel data reporting requirements, this manual defines "pay plan" as "a particular table or array of pay rates prescribed by law or other authoritative source that establishes the basic pay rates for certain employees." The term "pay plan" is intended to include other terms such as pay system, pay schedule, pay scale, pay rates, basic pay schedule, statutory pay system, wage schedule, wage system, wage schedules and rates, regular wage schedule, and special wage schedule and rates.
Pay plan codes are used to identify important information about an employee's pay system and the authority governing the pay of an employee's position. For example, a pay plan may help identify whether an employee is in-
Pay plans also are used to provide statistical information about Federal employees. Pay plans are reported to and used in such systems as OPM's Central Personnel Data File (CPDF), Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI), FedScope, and agency payroll and human resources processing systems.
Of note-
The following pay plan codes are used for General Schedule positions:
AL (Administrative Law Judge)
ES (Senior Executive Service)
EX (Executive Schedule)
SL (Senior level positions)
ST (Scientific and professional positions)
SV (Transportation Security Administration)
VN (Department of Veterans Affairs nurses)
Requests for pay plan codes must be submitted in writing to the address shown below and include the number and types of covered employees, the desired pay plan codes (see existing codes at http://www.opm.gov/feddata/gp58.pdf), a description of how the codes would be applied, and the legal authority for the pay plan.
Jerome D. Mikowicz Deputy Associate Director for Pay and Leave Employee Services U.S. Office of Personnel Management Room 7H31 1900 E Street, NW. Washington, DC 20415 Fax to: (202) 606-4264 Telephone: (202) 606-2858 Email: pay-performance-policy@opm.gov
OPM Operating Manual: The Guide to Personnel Data Standards
This page can be found on the web at the following url: http://www.opm.gov/oca/pay/html/PayPlans.asp