The proposal would waive the cap so locality adjustments could be paid. Image: Eviart/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffDel. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., has reintroduced a bill (HR-5171) to provide relief from the pay cap that currently applies to employees in the upper reaches of the GS system that prevents them from receiving full annual pay increases. That cap, set at Level IV of the Executive Schedule, this year is $183,500.
Increases in that cap reflect only the across-the-board component of a GS raise and not the locality pay component; that has caused increasing numbers of employees to suffer from what is called pay compression, since the result is that they receive only the across the board component. Norton’s proposal would effectively waive the cap and make them eligible for the full raise applying in their area.
This year the limit applies to those in the upper steps of GS-15 in 33 of the localities, as well as to the upper steps of GS-14 in the San Francisco locality, the highest-paid.
A 5.2 percent raise in January (see related story) would bring more employees under the cap, although the exact impact would depend on how much of the total is designated toward locality pay.
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How Do Age and Years of Service Impact My Federal Retirement
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