The National Treasury Employees Union has announced that
it reached an agreement with the Bureau of Customs and
Border Protection to resume testing officers for language
proficiency and possibly increase pay.
Under the foreign language award program, CBP officers are
eligible for cash awards of three to five percent of
their base salary if they demonstrate foreign language
proficiency and use it for at least 10 percent of their
job duties.
According to NTEU, the bureau decided to stop testing
officers in 2003. Under the settlement, reached just
before the grievance went to arbitration, specific
groups of CBP officers can get tested and become eligible
for additional compensation, including retroactive
compensation as it relates to the FLAP program.
