I invite your technical staff to attend two forums we are presenting to discuss the changes in the pay administration rules for General Schedule employees. The first forum will be held on June 1, 2005, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and will provide a broad overview of the new pay-setting rules. The second forum will be held on June 2, 2005, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and will provide more detailed information on calculating pay under the new rules, as well as examples showing how these rules apply in a variety of circumstances. Both forums will be held in the Campbell Auditorium at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), 1900 E Street, NW., Washington, DC.

OPM is issuing interim regulations that significantly revise the rules governing pay setting for employees covered by the General Schedule. The interim regulations implement section 301 of the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-411, October 30, 2004), which amends provisions in 5 U.S.C. chapter 53 relating to the administration of special rates, locality rates, and retained rates.

I encourage you to invite your human resources policy specialists to join us at these forums and take full advantage of this opportunity. However, since we anticipate considerable interest in the forums, we ask each agency to limit the number of participants. We will plan additional forums as necessary. For further information, you may contact Heather Kehr at (202) 606-2858.