OPM has published a final rule in the August 26 federal register governing the use of critical pay authority that allows higher rates of pay for positions that require a very high level of expertise in a scientific, technical, professional, or administrative field and are critical to the agency’s mission.
Effective September 25, the rule " originally proposed in April 2007 " allows the head of a federal agency to request higher rates of pay for these critical positions.
The rule provides a regulatory framework for the critical position pay authority and states that agencies will decide internally whether to request the authority, though OPM declined to speculate as to which positions might qualify.
Upon termination of critical position pay authority the employee’s pay will be set at the rate to which the employee would be entitled had he or she not received critical pay, according to the rule.
It said that OPM, in consultation with OMB may grant authority to the head of an agency to fix the rate of basic pay for one or more positions, though rates may not exceed the rate payable for level I of the executive schedule, $191,300 in fiscal 2008.
Agencies may continue to use the pay authority as long as needed, but OPM and OMB can terminate the authority if they determine it’s no longer needed.
Agencies may request the authority only upon determining that the position in question could not be filled with the right person through the use of other available HR flexibilities and pay authorities.
Requests must include minimum information such as position, appointment authority, pay plan, occupational series, geographic location and purpose, current salary and a written evaluation of the employee in question.