The Office of Personnel Management has released guidance on carrying out several mostly housekeeping-type changes in policies for special rate employees—white collar employees who get higher salaries than regular general schedule rates because they are in occupations or locations where recruiting is difficult–as ordered by a law passed last year and effective May 1. One provision states that an employee’s entitlement to a special rate is eliminated if the employee is entitled to a higher rate of basic pay, such as a locality pay. As a result, 103 special rate tables were terminated effective May 1, because higher locality rates apply at all steps of each grade covered. In addition, certain grades or steps of a grade are deleted from special rate schedules where locality pay is now higher at all the steps of the grade or at certain steps of the grade. In a number of special rate schedules that cover multiple geographic areas or locality pay areas, certain geographic areas or locality pay areas were removed from coverage because the locality rates in those areas are higher than the special rates at all grades and steps. As a result, a total of 217 special rate tables were revised. The termination of those special rates will not result in a loss in pay for any covered employees, since all affected employees will continue to receive the higher locality rate to which they are otherwise entitled, OPM said.