Bonuses and Awards a Big Part of Compensation

The report noted that beyond their salary-which this year can range up to $142,500-slightly more than half of federal senior executive service members got performance awards or other types of awards in 2002 that amounted to an average 8.3 percent in pay for recipients. About 75 percent of the SES members employed for the past three years earned at least one award during that period, CBO found, 29 percent received awards in two of the past three years, and roughly 23 percent earned an award in all three years. For some SES members, total compensation in 2002 reached as high as $200,000. “Although awards and bonuses do not substitute for a basic salary schedule that offers variations in pay to match significant differences in levels of work and qualifications, they do allow the government to offer a range of compensation far wider than that indicated by salaries alone,” the report said. Go to https://www.fedweek.com/HotFreeNews/showpage1.asp?title=8/27/03