While within-grade increases are linked to the passage of time, quality-step increases are not. Image: Tattoboo/Shutterstock.com
By: Reg JonesLet’s get back to basics on an important feature of federal pay. Most federal employees are under a grade-and-step salary system such as the General Schedule or Federal Wage System (more commonly called the wage grade system), which provide for advancement up the steps within a grade. There are two kinds.
Within-grade Increases
WGIs, which are also known as step increases, are added to your salary when two things are true. First, you have served a specified amount of time at a given pay grade. Second, you’ve performed at an acceptable level. These increases are added at set time periods beginning at Step 1 until you reach Step 10, the highest step in your grade.
FYI, here are the WGI waiting periods for GS employees:
• 52 calendar weeks for steps 2, 3, and 4
• 104 calendar weeks for steps 5, 6, and 7
• 156 calendar weeks for steps 8, 9, and 10
And here are the WGI periods for wage grade employees:
6 months for step 2
18 months for step 3
2 years for 4
2 two years for step 5
A cautionary word. WGIs are not automatic. They are only be granted if you have received a successful performance rating.
Quality Step Increases
While within-grade increases are linked to the passage of time and acceptable performance, quality-step increases are not. They are only given if you meet the highest rating set by your agency for a sustained period of time.
For many agencies that’s Level 5 in the most commonly used five-level rating system. For those agencies that don’t use that scale, it’s a rating that demonstrates sustained performance significantly above fully successful.
With one exception, QSIs don’t affect the timing of your next regular WGI. Here’s the exception. If the QSI would put you in either step 4 or step 7 of your grade, you’d have to wait for the full waiting period between steps. That would be 104 weeks at step4 or 156 weeks at step 7.
It’s worth noting that time you have already waited counts toward your next regular step increase. What that means is that you’ll receive the full benefit of receiving a WGI at an earlier date and won’t have lost any time that’s creditable toward your next WGI.
Note: This does not apply to employees under systems that do not involve grade and step salary systems. That is the case for many more senior positions, including the Senior Executive Service, where pay is set within a range and raises are based on performance. That also is the case in some settings where a GS system might ordinarily be used, but instead a “broadbanding” system is in place.
The main difference between the two is that while WGIs are time-based and relatively predictable, QSIs are performance-based and selective, designed to incentivize and recognize superior achievement within the workforce. Both increases play crucial roles in motivating federal employees and providing financial growth opportunities aligned with performance and service.
Former head of retirement and insurance policy at the Office of Personnel Management, and longtime FEDweek contributor, Reg Jones is known throughout the federal workforce community as an authority on pay and benefits.
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