Pay Caps Also Going Up a Bit

The increase in the 2004 GS across the board raise also will cause a slight increase in pay for those paid under the executive schedule pay system for political appointees-which in turn will raise pay caps for the senior executive service and certain other high-level career pay systems. Raises for the executive schedule are set automatically according to an employment cost index measure (unless Congress denies the raise, which it did regularly in the ’90s but hasn’t done since 1998) but are capped by the GS across the board amount. The indicated 2004 executive schedule increase is 2.2 percent, but the GS pay raise that took effect in January temporarily capped the increase at 1.5 percent. Assuming that the across the board component of the 4.1 percent GS increase will be at least 2.2 percent, these would be the 2004 rates for the executive schedule: level V, $128,200; level IV, $137,000; level III, $145,600; level II, $158,100; level I, $175,700. Under the new pay system for senior executive service employees, for example, the pay cap is level III but will rise to level II for agencies whose SES appraisal systems are certified as making meaningful distinctions based on relative performance. Similarly, the overall compensation cap for SESers, including both pay and bonuses, is level I but will rise to the Vice-President’s salary ($203,000) at those agencies.