Locality Pay Boundaries Issue Addressed

While the government later this year is expected to change the borders of many standard metropolitan statistical areas-the geographic zones used for numerous government statistical purposes-the boundaries will not change automatically for federal white-collar locality pay that is linked to those areas, under a final rule published in the April 22 Federal Register. The statistical zone boundaries are being updated to incorporate data from the 2000 census and likely will result in certain areas outlying some cities in being added to the areas, due to commuting patterns and other factors. However, the rule states that the general schedule locality pay boundaries will remain the same unless changed by the President’s Pay Agent, a body consisting of the heads of the Labor Department, Office of Personnel Management and Office of Management and Budget.