Federal Manager's Daily Report

The Federal Salary Council has formally recommended creating new GS locality pay zones in Virginia Beach-Norfolk, Va., and Burlington-South Burlington, Vt., a change that if approved could be effective as soon as January 2017.

The recommendation, in a report to a higher-level body called the President’s Pay Agent, was previewed several months ago at the salary council’s annual meeting. It was a similar recommendation that paved the way for the creation of 13 additional localities in 2016, plus the extension of some of the boundaries of the pre-existing localities.

Employees receive special raises upon moving from the catchall “rest of the U.S.” locality outside the metropolitan zones, which is the lowest-paid. That boosts recruiting and retention for agencies operating in the affected areas.

In addition to adding the two localities, the salary council has formally recommended changing the criteria for attaching outlying areas to a metro zone in a way that would move an estimated 13,000 employees into a currently existing metro zone. The number of employees potentially affected by creation of the two recommended new localities was not estimated but likely would be in the tens of thousands, given the federal presence in the Norfolk area alone.

As it also had indicated at its meeting, the salary council reported that it is keeping tabs on some 40 additional city areas to determine if they merit having their own locality rates. However, there would be little chance of a decision to add any others taking effect sooner than 2018.