Groundwork Laid for Future Pay System Changes

A recent report by the President’s Pay Agent lays the groundwork for changes in 2005 in the general schedule locality pay system, as previously recommended by a lower-level advisory group called the Federal Salary Council. The changes, which will go through a rule-making process, were triggered by 2003 revisions in standard boundary lines plus requests from employees in some areas to be included in nearby zones where pay is higher. The primary change would be to revise the standards for including areas near standard metropolitan statistical areas for inclusion in that area for locality pay purposes; Larimer County, Colo., will join the Denver area, certain areas of western Massachusetts, will join the Hartford area, Morgan County, W.Va., will join the Washington, D.C. area, and Monroe County, Fla., will join the Miami area. The net result is that virtually all employees in areas that were tacked onto localities under the prior policy will remain in those localities, about 7,000 employees in 76 counties or partial counties are to be added to localities under the new standard boundary lines, and about 8,000 employees will benefit from the new policy on adding nearby areas to standard localities.