Fedweek

A preliminary settlement agreement has been reached in a suit involving cost-of-living adjustments for employees in nonforeign areas who have a long-standing suit against the government contending that the formula for paying those COLAs has shortchanged them. The proposed settlement, in the federal district court in the Virgin Islands, would include retroactive payments for many of the employees who have been under that program since 1990, plus a change in the way the adjustments are calculated in the future. There will be a series of public meetings starting in July in each affected area to explain to class members what the settlement will mean to them. Managers in those areas will be asked to post notices of those meetings and to grant excused absences for employees wishing to attend them during working hours.