The proposed rules would “define the geographic boundaries of FWS wage areas more similar to the GS locality pay area criteria” and would “affect around 17,000 FWS employees. Image: GamePixel/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffOPM has proposed revisions to the way boundary lines are drawn under the wage grade pay that would affect about a tenth of federal blue-collar federal employees, in most of those cases resulting in a salary increase.
A notice of rules to be proposed in the Federal Register on Friday (October 11) would address a long-running concern raised by employees under that system—formally, the Federal Wage System, or FWS—about employees in certain areas receiving annual raises smaller than those going to GS employees there.
Both systems have locality-based elements but there are more wage grade localities and in many cases their boundary lines do not match those of GS localities. That has been an issue because for many years wage grade raises have been capped at the amount being paid to GS employees in the same locations—in many cases, the lowest GS rate, the “rest of the U.S.” rate for locations outside city areas with their own rates.
“Not only are there differences in pay between FWS and GS employees working at the same location but also among FWS employees within the same wage area,” the notice says, saying that has “impacted negatively the retention and recruitment of qualified employees.”
Said the AFGE union, which has been pushing for such changes for years, “In far too many locations, employees working side by side in the exact same building are, for purposes of pay, treated as though they are in different places. This regulation, once finalized, will correct these inconsistencies and ensure all employees are treated equally regardless of which pay system they fall under.”
The proposed rules would “define the geographic boundaries of FWS wage areas more similar to the GS locality pay area criteria” and would “affect around 17,000 FWS employees, or around ten percent of the appropriated fund FWS workforce, by moving them to different wage areas and existing wage schedules.”
“Around 15,000 FWS employees would be placed on higher wage schedules and around 2,000 employees would be placed on lower wage schedules as a result of these changes in policy. Employees who would be placed on a lower wage schedule would, in most cases, be able to retain their current rate of pay,” it says.
However, it notes that pay retention would not apply to employees newly hired in those areas after the change, nor to employees under temporary or term appointments.
The notice contains a list of locations where employees would be affected if the changes are finalized, along with projections of effective dates.
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