The allowance is equivalent to the GS locality pay rate in the Washington, D.C. area, designed to eliminate what otherwise would be a disparity between those stationed in that area and those stationed abroad. Image: Heidi Besen/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffSome 11,000 Foreign Service employees stationed overseas face an average 22 percent pay cut at the end of September unless an allowance called overseas comparability pay, or OCP, is reauthorized before then, according to the American Foreign Service Association.
That would translate into a loss of an average of about $21,000 on a yearly basis, affecting employees in grades FS-01 through -09 of the State Department; the U.S. Agency for International Development; the Foreign Commercial Service; the Foreign Agricultural Service; the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; and the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the organization said.
“This situation has caused considerable anxiety among our members, who are now facing financial uncertainty. While we are disappointed that this issue remains unresolved, we continue to work diligently with Congress and the State Department to include an extension of OCP authorization in a continuing resolution to prevent any lapse in pay,” AFSA president Tom Yazdgerdi said in an email.
The allowance is equivalent to the GS locality pay rate in the Washington, D.C. area, designed to eliminate what otherwise would be a disparity between those stationed in that area and those stationed abroad.
The AFSA said it has been working with the State Department and members of Congress to have the allowance renewed since July, when the department first raised the possibility of a lapse in the authority.
“We have been in direct contact with key congressional authorizers and appropriators to emphasize the urgent need to extend the OCP authorization. We are also urging the State Department to make preventing a lapse in OCP’s authorization its top legislative priority. Our sense is that there is no significant opposition in Congress to fixing this problem and preventing a lapse,” it said in an email to members.
It added: “Should an authorization lapse occur, AFSA is committed to fighting for the full restoration of lost pay—with interest—to ensure that our affected members are compensated fairly for their service.”
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