General Schedule
Encyclopedia
The General Schedule is the predominant pay scale within the United States civil service
. The GS includes the majority of white collar personnel
(professional, technical, administrative, and clerical) positions. , 71 percent of federal civilian employees were paid under the GS, with the remaining 29 percent were paid under other systems such as the Federal Wage System
(WG, for federal blue-collar civilian employees), the Senior Executive Service
and the Executive Schedule
for high-ranking federal employees, and other unique pay schedules used by some agencies such as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
and the Foreign Service. , some federal employees were also paid under Pay Bands
.
sections 5331 to 5338 . The intent of the GS is to keep federal salaries equitable among various occupations and between men and women ("equal pay for equal work
").
Prior to January 1994, GS personnel were generally paid the same amount (for a given grade and step) regardless of where they worked. This system ignored the growing reality of regional differences in salaries and wages across the United States, and this led to a perception that in many locations federal civil service salaries were increasingly uncompetitive with those in the private sector, thus affecting recruiting and retention efforts by federal agencies. In January 1994, the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990
(FEPCA) introduced a "locality pay adjustment" component to the GS salary structure. Both Republican and Democratic administrations have complained about the methodology used to compute locality adjustments and the projected cost of closing the pay gap (as determined by FEPCA) between federal salaries and those in the private sector. In December 2007, the President's Pay Agent reported that an average locality pay adjustment of 36.89 per cent would be required to reach the target set by FEPCA (to close the computed pay gap between federal and non-federal pay to a disparity of five per cent). By comparison, in calendar year 2007, the average locality pay adjustment actually authorized was 16.88 per cent. As a result, FEPCA has never been fully implemented.
administers the GS pay schedule on behalf of other federal agencies.
Changes to the GS must normally be authorized by either the president
(via Executive Order) or by Congress (via legislation). Normally, the President directs annual across-the-board pay adjustments at the beginning of a calendar year after Congress has passed the annual appropriations legislation for the federal government.
Under FEPCA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
conducts annual surveys of wages and salaries paid to non-federal workers in designated locality pay areas. Surveys are used to determine the disparity, if any, between federal and non-federal pay in a given locality pay area. The Federal Salary Council
(created by FEPCA) prepares recommendations concerning the composition of the designated locality pay areas and the annual comparability adjustment for each area, as well as an adjustment for all other workers outside these areas, referred to as "Rest of U.S.". The council's recommendations are transmitted to the President's Pay Agent (also created by FEPCA), which then establishes, modifies, or disestablishes individual locality pay areas and makes the final recommendation on pay adjustments to the president, who may either accept the agent's recommendations or (in effect) reject them through the submission of an alternative pay plan.
FEPCA also provides for an automatic annual across-the-board adjustment of GS pay rates. A common misconception is that the annual federal pay adjustments are determined according to cost of living fluctuations and other regional considerations. In fact, the across-the-board adjustments to the GS (but not locality pay) are determined according to the rise in the cost of employment as measured by the Department of Labor
's Employment Cost Index
, which does not necessarily correlate to the better-known Consumer Price Index
, which tracks consumer prices.
and replaced by the Senior Executive Service
and the more recent Senior Level (non-supervisory) pay scale.
Most positions in the competitive service
are paid according to the GS. In addition, many positions in the excepted service
use the GS as a basis for setting pay rates. Some positions in the excepted service use the grade designator "GG"—for example, "GG-12" or "GG-13". The GG pay rates are generally identical to published GS pay rates.
The GS-1 through GS-7 range generally marks entry-level positions, while mid-level positions are in the GS-8 to GS-12 range and top-level positions (commonly front-line or mid-level supervisors, high-level technical specialists, or physicians) are in the GS-13 to GS-15 range. A new GS employee is normally employed in the first step of their assigned GS grade, although the employer has discretion to, as a recruiting incentive, authorize initial appointment at a higher step (other agencies may place the employee at a higher grade).
(FEPCA). Prior to FEPCA, all GS employees received the same salary regardless of location, which failed to reflect both the disparity between public sector and private sector pay as well as differences in cost of living in major metropolitan areas.
Under FEPCA, specified metropolitan areas are designated to receive pay adjustments in excess of the general adjustment provided to the "Rest of U.S.". Salary adjustments in Alaska, Hawaii, other U.S. Territories, and for overseas employees are separate from this adjustment. , 31 metropolitan areas have been designated to receive these excess adjustment. The designated areas (shown by major city) and their 2010 pay adjustments (plus the "Rest of U.S." adjustment) are as follows:
As an example of the overall calculation, a GS employee, Grade GS-12, Step 10 in Dallas would receive a base salary of $78,355 plus a locality pay adjustment of 20.67 percent (an additional $16,196) for a total salary of $94,551. By comparison, a similar employee in San Antonio (which is not one of the 31 designated areas for an increased adjustment) would receive only the standard "Rest of U.S." 14.16 percent increase ($11,095) over the same base salary, for a total salary of $89,450.
However, FEPCA places a cap on the total salary of highly-paid employees (mainly those at the higher GS-15 Grade steps) – the total base pay plus locality adjustment cannot exceed the salary for Level IV of the Executive Schedule.
The locality pay adjustment is counted as part of the "high-3" salary in calculating Federal Employees Retirement System
(FERS) and Civil Service Retirement System
(CSRS) annuities, as well as the baseline for individuals having a percentage of salary deducted for deposit into the Thrift Savings Plan
.
In contrast, the tax-free allowances paid during overseas assignments (especially the housing allowances) are generally considered to be an incentive to serve overseas, as they can be quite generous. While this situation may be advantageous to some personnel during their assignment overseas, these tax-free allowances are not considered to be part of one's salary, therefore they are not counted when computing a civil service annuity at retirement. CONUS locality adjustments, however, are counted when computing annuities.
Not all positions, however, provide for such a "career ladder," thus requiring employees who seek advancement to consider other career paths, either within their agency or outside it.
An example is the "career ladder" for auditors within the Defense Contract Audit Agency
(DCAA). The "entry level" grade within DCAA is the GS-7 level (though the GS-9 level can also be used) and the "career ladder" is GS-7 to GS-9 to GS-11 and finally to GS-12, with the employee expected to advance between grades after one year and to reach the GS-12 level after three years. Beyond the GS-12 level, advancements to the higher levels (GS-13, GS-14, and GS-15, most of which are managerial positions) are based on competitive selections.
or captain (O-6). Senior Executive Service (SES) and Senior Level grades correspond for protocol purposes to flag and general officers
(admirals and generals).
Grade equivalencies were created by the U.S. Department of Defense
for the purpose of treating civilians serving alongside the Armed Forces who have been captured as prisoners of war
according to the Geneva Convention
. With the exception of SES categories, grade equivalencies can be found in DoDI 1000.1 (U.S. DoD, 1974).
−>
Geneva Convention Category
GS
MILITARY
V: General Officer
Senior Executive Service
O-7 through O-10
IV: Field Grade Officer
GS-15
GS-13/GS-14
GS-12
O-6
O-5 and W-5
O-4 and W-4
III: Company Grade Officer
GS-10/GS-11
GS-8/GS-9
GS-7
O-3 and W-3
O-2 and W-2
O-1 and W-1
II: Non-commissioned Officer/Staff Non-commissioned Officer
GS-6
GS-5
E-7 through E-9
E-5 through E-6
I: Enlisted
GS-4
GS-1 through GS-3
E-4
E-1 through E-3
Grade equivalencies have also been issued by the U.S. Department of State for other purposes, such as assignment of permanent and transient housing to eligible civilian employees.
. The best known efforts in this area are the pay systems created for the Departments of Homeland Security
and Defense (the National Security Personnel System
) in 2002 and 2003, respectively. These efforts were challenged by federal labor unions and other employee groups. Many supervisory and non-bargaining-unit employees, however, were converted from their GS positions into equitable NSPS positions. As part of his fiscal 2007 and 2008 budget proposals, President George W. Bush
proposed the eventual elimination of the GS to be replaced by a pay-for-performance concept throughout the Executive Branch of the government. The Office of Management and Budget prepared draft legislation, known as the "Working for America Act", but Congress has not implemented the proposal. President Barack Obama
signed the legislation repealing the NSPS system on October 29, 2009. Under the terms of the 2010 Defense Authorization Act, Public Law 111-84, all employees under NSPS must be converted back to their previous pay system not later than January 1, 2012. The law also mandates that no employees lose pay as a result of this conversion. In order to ensure this, a set of conversion rules has been developed. In most cases, if an employee's current NSPS salary falls between two step levels of the GS grade to which their position is classified, their salary will be increased to the higher step. Employees whose salary was increased beyond the GS step 10 amount while under NSPS will be placed on retained pay, meaning they will receive 50% of the annual cost of living increase until the GS table catches up to the level of salary they are earning.
New pay-banding
systems that have replaced GS:
United States civil service
In the United States, the civil service was established in 1872. The Federal Civil Service is defined as "all appointive positions in the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of the Government of the United States, except positions in the uniformed services." . In the early 19th century,...
. The GS includes the majority of white collar personnel
White-collar worker
The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
(professional, technical, administrative, and clerical) positions. , 71 percent of federal civilian employees were paid under the GS, with the remaining 29 percent were paid under other systems such as the Federal Wage System
Federal Wage System
The Federal Wage System in the United States was developed to make the pay of federal blue-collar workers comparable to prevailing private sector rates in each local wage area...
(WG, for federal blue-collar civilian employees), the Senior Executive Service
Senior Executive Service
The Senior Executive Service is a paygrade in the civil service of the United States federal government, somewhat analogous to the ranks of general or admiral in the U.S. armed forces...
and the Executive Schedule
Executive Schedule
Executive Schedule refers to the highest-ranked appointed positions in the executive branch of the U.S. government. The President of the United States, an elected official, appoints incumbents to these positions, most of them with the advice and consent of the Senate. They include members of the...
for high-ranking federal employees, and other unique pay schedules used by some agencies such as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is a federal agency which holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States...
and the Foreign Service. , some federal employees were also paid under Pay Bands
Pay Bands
A Pay band is sometimes used in salaried organizations to define the level of compensation given for certain jobs.Pay Bands is a part of an organized salary compensation plan, program or system...
.
History
The GS was enacted into law by the Classification Act of 1949, which replaced a similar act of the same name enacted in 1923. The GS is now codified as part of Chapter 53 of Title 5 of the United States CodeTitle 5 of the United States Code
Title 5 of the United States Code outlines the role of government organization and employees in the United States Code. It also is the Title that specifies Federal holidays .* Part I: The Agencies Generally...
sections 5331 to 5338 . The intent of the GS is to keep federal salaries equitable among various occupations and between men and women ("equal pay for equal work
Equal pay for equal work
Equal pay for equal work is the concept that individuals doing the same work should receive the same remuneration. In America, for example, the law states that "employers may not pay unequal wages to men and women who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility,...
").
Prior to January 1994, GS personnel were generally paid the same amount (for a given grade and step) regardless of where they worked. This system ignored the growing reality of regional differences in salaries and wages across the United States, and this led to a perception that in many locations federal civil service salaries were increasingly uncompetitive with those in the private sector, thus affecting recruiting and retention efforts by federal agencies. In January 1994, the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990
Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990
The Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 or FEPCA was an attempt to address the need for pay reform in the executive branch of the United States Government that became apparent in the 1980s as Federal civil service salaries fell behind those in the private sector. FEPCA provided...
(FEPCA) introduced a "locality pay adjustment" component to the GS salary structure. Both Republican and Democratic administrations have complained about the methodology used to compute locality adjustments and the projected cost of closing the pay gap (as determined by FEPCA) between federal salaries and those in the private sector. In December 2007, the President's Pay Agent reported that an average locality pay adjustment of 36.89 per cent would be required to reach the target set by FEPCA (to close the computed pay gap between federal and non-federal pay to a disparity of five per cent). By comparison, in calendar year 2007, the average locality pay adjustment actually authorized was 16.88 per cent. As a result, FEPCA has never been fully implemented.
Administration
The Office of Personnel ManagementOffice of Personnel Management
The United States Office of Personnel Management is an independent agency of the United States government that manages the civil service of the federal government. The current Director is John Berry.-History:...
administers the GS pay schedule on behalf of other federal agencies.
Changes to the GS must normally be authorized by either the president
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
(via Executive Order) or by Congress (via legislation). Normally, the President directs annual across-the-board pay adjustments at the beginning of a calendar year after Congress has passed the annual appropriations legislation for the federal government.
Under FEPCA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS is a governmental statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and...
conducts annual surveys of wages and salaries paid to non-federal workers in designated locality pay areas. Surveys are used to determine the disparity, if any, between federal and non-federal pay in a given locality pay area. The Federal Salary Council
Federal salary council
The Federal Salary Council is an advisory body of the executive branch of the United States Government. The FSC was established under the provisions of the Section 5304 of Title 5 of the United States Code, to provide recommendations on the locality pay program created by the Federal Employees...
(created by FEPCA) prepares recommendations concerning the composition of the designated locality pay areas and the annual comparability adjustment for each area, as well as an adjustment for all other workers outside these areas, referred to as "Rest of U.S.". The council's recommendations are transmitted to the President's Pay Agent (also created by FEPCA), which then establishes, modifies, or disestablishes individual locality pay areas and makes the final recommendation on pay adjustments to the president, who may either accept the agent's recommendations or (in effect) reject them through the submission of an alternative pay plan.
FEPCA also provides for an automatic annual across-the-board adjustment of GS pay rates. A common misconception is that the annual federal pay adjustments are determined according to cost of living fluctuations and other regional considerations. In fact, the across-the-board adjustments to the GS (but not locality pay) are determined according to the rise in the cost of employment as measured by the Department of Labor
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
's Employment Cost Index
Employment Cost Index
The Employment Cost Index is a quarterly economic series detailing the changes in the costs of labor for businesses in the United States economy. The ECI is prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics , in the U.S...
, which does not necessarily correlate to the better-known Consumer Price Index
Consumer price index
A consumer price index measures changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households. The CPI, in the United States is defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as "a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of...
, which tracks consumer prices.
Grade and Step Structure
The GS is separated into 15 grades (GS-1, GS-2, etc. up to GS-15); each grade is separated into 10 steps. At one time, there were also three GS "supergrades" (GS-16, GS-17 and GS-18); these were eliminated under the provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, , reformed the civil service of the United States federal government.The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 abolished the U.S...
and replaced by the Senior Executive Service
Senior Executive Service
The Senior Executive Service is a paygrade in the civil service of the United States federal government, somewhat analogous to the ranks of general or admiral in the U.S. armed forces...
and the more recent Senior Level (non-supervisory) pay scale.
Most positions in the competitive service
Competitive service
The competitive service is a part of the United States federal government civil service. Applicants for jobs in the competitive civil service must compete with other applicants in open competition under the merit system administered by the Office of Personnel Management.According to U.S...
are paid according to the GS. In addition, many positions in the excepted service
Excepted service
Most civilian positions in the federal government of the United States are part of the competitive service, where applicants must compete with other applicants in open competition under the merit system administered by the Office of Personnel Management. However, some agencies are excluded from...
use the GS as a basis for setting pay rates. Some positions in the excepted service use the grade designator "GG"—for example, "GG-12" or "GG-13". The GG pay rates are generally identical to published GS pay rates.
The GS-1 through GS-7 range generally marks entry-level positions, while mid-level positions are in the GS-8 to GS-12 range and top-level positions (commonly front-line or mid-level supervisors, high-level technical specialists, or physicians) are in the GS-13 to GS-15 range. A new GS employee is normally employed in the first step of their assigned GS grade, although the employer has discretion to, as a recruiting incentive, authorize initial appointment at a higher step (other agencies may place the employee at a higher grade).
Salary Calculation
Salaries under the GS have two components: a base salary and a "locality pay adjustment".Base salary
The base salary is based on a table compiled by Office of Personnel Management (the 2010 table is shown below), and is used as the baseline for the locality pay adjustment. The increases between steps for Grades GS-1 and GS-2 varies between the steps; for Grades GS-3 through GS-15 the increases between the steps are the same within the grade, but increase as the grade increases. The table is revised effective January of each year to reflect the basic cost of living adjustment (known as the General Schedule Increase).| GS Grade | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Step 9 | Step 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $17,803 | $18,398 | $18,990 | $19,579 | $20,171 | $20,519 | $21,104 | $21,694 | $21,717 | $22,269 |
| 2 | $20,017 | $20,493 | $21,155 | $21,717 | $21,961 | $22,607 | $23,253 | $23,899 | $24,545 | $25,191 |
| 3 | $21,840 | $22,568 | $23,296 | $24,024 | $24,752 | $25,480 | $26,208 | $26,936 | $27,664 | $28,392 |
| 4 | $24,518 | $25,335 | $26,152 | $26,969 | $27,786 | $28,603 | $29,420 | $30,237 | $31,054 | $31,871 |
| 5 | $27,531 | $28,345 | $29,259 | $30,173 | $31,087 | $32,001 | $32,915 | $33,829 | $34,743 | $35,657 |
| 6 | $30,577 | $31,596 | $32,615 | $33,634 | $34,653 | $35,672 | $36,691 | $37,710 | $38,729 | $39,748 |
| 7 | $33,979 | $35,112 | $36,245 | $37,378 | $38,511 | $39,644 | $40,777 | $41,910 | $43,043 | $44,176 |
| 8 | $37,631 | $38,885 | $40,139 | $41,393 | $42,647 | $43,901 | $45,155 | $46,409 | $47,663 | $48,917 |
| 9 | $41,563 | $42,948 | $44,333 | $45,718 | $47,103 | $48,488 | $49,873 | $51,258 | $52,643 | $54,028 |
| 10 | $45,771 | $47,297 | $48,823 | $50,349 | $51,875 | $53,401 | $54,927 | $56,453 | $57,979 | $59,505 |
| 11 | $50,287 | $51,963 | $53,639 | $55,315 | $56,991 | $58,667 | $60,343 | $62,019 | $63,695 | $65,371 |
| 12 | $60,274 | $62,283 | $64,292 | $66,301 | $68,310 | $70,319 | $72,328 | $74,337 | $76,346 | $78,355 |
| 13 | $71,674 | $74,063 | $76,452 | $78,841 | $81,230 | $83,619 | $86,008 | $88,397 | $90,786 | $93,175 |
| 14 | $84,697 | $87,520 | $90,343 | $93,166 | $95,989 | $98,812 | $101,635 | $104,458 | $107,281 | $110,104 |
| 15 | $99,628 | $102,949 | $106,270 | $109,591 | $112,912 | $116,233 | $119,554 | $122,875 | $126,196 | $129,517 |
Locality Adjustment
The second component of the GS salary, the locality pay adjustment, was introduced in 1994 as part of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990
The Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 or FEPCA was an attempt to address the need for pay reform in the executive branch of the United States Government that became apparent in the 1980s as Federal civil service salaries fell behind those in the private sector. FEPCA provided...
(FEPCA). Prior to FEPCA, all GS employees received the same salary regardless of location, which failed to reflect both the disparity between public sector and private sector pay as well as differences in cost of living in major metropolitan areas.
Under FEPCA, specified metropolitan areas are designated to receive pay adjustments in excess of the general adjustment provided to the "Rest of U.S.". Salary adjustments in Alaska, Hawaii, other U.S. Territories, and for overseas employees are separate from this adjustment. , 31 metropolitan areas have been designated to receive these excess adjustment. The designated areas (shown by major city) and their 2010 pay adjustments (plus the "Rest of U.S." adjustment) are as follows:
| Area | Adjustment | Area | Adjustment | Area | Adjustment | Area | Adjustment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | 19.29% | Dayton | 16.24% | Miami | 20.79% | Raleigh | 17.64% |
| Boston | 24.28% | Denver | 22.52% | Milwaukee | 18.10% | Richmond | 16.47% |
| Buffalo | 16.98% | Detroit | 24.09% | Minneapolis | 20.96% | Sacramento | 22.20% |
| Chicago | 25.10% | Hartford | 25.82% | New York City | 28.72% | San Diego | 24.19% |
| Cincinnati | 18.55% | Houston | 28.71% | Philadelphia | 21.79% | San Francisco | 35.15% |
| Cleveland | 18.68% | Huntsville | 16.02% | Phoenix | 16.79% | Seattle | 21.81% |
| Columbus | 17.16% | Indianapolis | 14.68% | Pittsburgh | 16.37% | Washington D.C. | 24.22% |
| Dallas | 20.67% | Los Angeles | 27.16% | Portland | 20.35% | Rest of U.S. | 14.16% |
As an example of the overall calculation, a GS employee, Grade GS-12, Step 10 in Dallas would receive a base salary of $78,355 plus a locality pay adjustment of 20.67 percent (an additional $16,196) for a total salary of $94,551. By comparison, a similar employee in San Antonio (which is not one of the 31 designated areas for an increased adjustment) would receive only the standard "Rest of U.S." 14.16 percent increase ($11,095) over the same base salary, for a total salary of $89,450.
However, FEPCA places a cap on the total salary of highly-paid employees (mainly those at the higher GS-15 Grade steps) – the total base pay plus locality adjustment cannot exceed the salary for Level IV of the Executive Schedule.
The locality pay adjustment is counted as part of the "high-3" salary in calculating Federal Employees Retirement System
Federal Employees Retirement System
The Federal Employees Retirement System is the current retirement system for employees within the U.S. federal civilian employees...
(FERS) and Civil Service Retirement System
Civil Service Retirement System
The Civil Service Retirement System organized in 1920 and has provided retirement, disability and survivor benefits for most civilian employees in the US federal government. Upon the creation of a new Federal Employees Retirement System in 1987, those newly hired after that date cannot...
(CSRS) annuities, as well as the baseline for individuals having a percentage of salary deducted for deposit into the Thrift Savings Plan
Thrift Savings Plan
The Thrift Savings Plan is a defined contribution plan for United States civil service employees and retirees as well as for members of the uniformed services....
.
OCONUS GS Personnel
Personnel based outside the contiguous United States (e.g., Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. territories, foreign overseas areas) receive a lower locality adjustment (4.76 percent for 2010). They may also receive certain non-taxable allowances such as cost-of-living allowances, post allowances and housing allowances in accordance with other laws, such as the Foreign Service Act. Federal civilian workers based in CONUS do not normally receive housing allowances or government-furnished housing. Also, some civilian personnel stationed overseas do not receive housing allowances; this may include military dependents working in federal civilian positions overseas, military members that left the service while overseas and were hired into an overseas position, and U.S. citizens hired into overseas positions while traveling abroad.In contrast, the tax-free allowances paid during overseas assignments (especially the housing allowances) are generally considered to be an incentive to serve overseas, as they can be quite generous. While this situation may be advantageous to some personnel during their assignment overseas, these tax-free allowances are not considered to be part of one's salary, therefore they are not counted when computing a civil service annuity at retirement. CONUS locality adjustments, however, are counted when computing annuities.
Between Steps within the same Grade
Permanent employees below step 10 in their grade normally earn step increases after serving a prescribed period of service in at least a satisfactory manner. The normal progression is 52 weeks (one year) between steps 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4, then 104 weeks (two years) between steps 4-5, 5-6, and 6-7, and finally 156 weeks (three years) between steps 7-8, 8-9, and 9-10. However, an employee can be rewarded for outstanding work performance via a "quality step increase", which advances the employee one step within grade regardless of time at the previous step.Between GS Grades
Depending on the agency and the work description, a GS position may provide for advancement within a "career ladder," meaning that an employee performing satisfactorily will advance between GS grades, normally on an annual basis, until s/he has reached the top GS grade for that job (which represents full performance). Advancement beyond the top grade (to either a specialized technical position or to a managerial position) would be subject to competitive selection.Not all positions, however, provide for such a "career ladder," thus requiring employees who seek advancement to consider other career paths, either within their agency or outside it.
An example is the "career ladder" for auditors within the Defense Contract Audit Agency
Defense Contract Audit Agency
The Defense Contract Audit Agency , under the authority, direction, and control of the United States Under Secretary of Defense , is responsible for performing all contract audits for the United States Department of Defense , and providing accounting and financial advisory services regarding...
(DCAA). The "entry level" grade within DCAA is the GS-7 level (though the GS-9 level can also be used) and the "career ladder" is GS-7 to GS-9 to GS-11 and finally to GS-12, with the employee expected to advance between grades after one year and to reach the GS-12 level after three years. Beyond the GS-12 level, advancements to the higher levels (GS-13, GS-14, and GS-15, most of which are managerial positions) are based on competitive selections.
Military rank equivalency
Although GS civilians do not have military rank by virtue of their GS position, regulations include civilian and military grade equivalencies for pay and protocol comparison purposes. Military rank or civilian grade often have no bearing on supervisory precedence—generally, precedence and authority are guided by situational expertise. For example, a GS-9 is considered comparable to a captain (O-3), while a GS-15 (top of the General Schedule) is the equivalent grade of a colonelColonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
or captain (O-6). Senior Executive Service (SES) and Senior Level grades correspond for protocol purposes to flag and general officers
Flag Officer
A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark where the officer exercises command. The term usually refers to the senior officers in an English-speaking nation's navy, specifically those who hold any of the admiral ranks; in...
(admirals and generals).
Grade equivalencies were created by the U.S. Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
for the purpose of treating civilians serving alongside the Armed Forces who have been captured as prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
according to the Geneva Convention
Third Geneva Convention
The Third Geneva Convention, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was first adopted in 1929, but was significantly updated in 1949...
. With the exception of SES categories, grade equivalencies can be found in DoDI 1000.1 (U.S. DoD, 1974).
GS-13/GS-14
GS-12
O-5 and W-5
O-4 and W-4
GS-8/GS-9
GS-7
O-2 and W-2
O-1 and W-1
GS-5
E-5 through E-6
GS-1 through GS-3
E-1 through E-3
Grade equivalencies have also been issued by the U.S. Department of State for other purposes, such as assignment of permanent and transient housing to eligible civilian employees.
| Housing | FS | GS | Military | Wage System |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 Executive |
SFS |
SES |
O-7 through O-10 |
|
| Group 2 Middle |
FS-01 FS-02 |
GS-15 GS-14 GS-13 |
O-6 O-5/W-5 O-4/W-4 |
WS-14-19, WL-15, and Productive Support Equivalents |
| Group 3 Standard |
FS-03 FS-04 FS-05 FS-06 FS-07 FS-08 FS-09 |
GS-12 GS-11 GS-10 GS-09 GS-08 GS-07 GS-06 GS-05 |
O-3/W-3 O-2/W-2 O-1/W-1 E-7/8/9 E-5/6 E-1/2/3/4 |
WS 8-13, WL 6-14, WG 12-15, and Productive Support Equivalents |
Pay for performance
In recent years, there have been several attempts to eliminate the GS and replace it with various pay systems emphasizing "pay for performance" (i.e., a system in which pay increases are awarded based more on merit and work performance and less on seniority and length of service). The pay structure which enables this is typically known as pay bandingPay Bands
A Pay band is sometimes used in salaried organizations to define the level of compensation given for certain jobs.Pay Bands is a part of an organized salary compensation plan, program or system...
. The best known efforts in this area are the pay systems created for the Departments of Homeland Security
United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
and Defense (the National Security Personnel System
National Security Personnel System
The National Security Personnel System is a pay for performance pay system created in 2004-5 under authorization by Congress for the United States Department of Defense and implemented in mid-2006. NSPS replaces the General Schedule grade and step system with a pay band system intended to...
) in 2002 and 2003, respectively. These efforts were challenged by federal labor unions and other employee groups. Many supervisory and non-bargaining-unit employees, however, were converted from their GS positions into equitable NSPS positions. As part of his fiscal 2007 and 2008 budget proposals, President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
proposed the eventual elimination of the GS to be replaced by a pay-for-performance concept throughout the Executive Branch of the government. The Office of Management and Budget prepared draft legislation, known as the "Working for America Act", but Congress has not implemented the proposal. President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
signed the legislation repealing the NSPS system on October 29, 2009. Under the terms of the 2010 Defense Authorization Act, Public Law 111-84, all employees under NSPS must be converted back to their previous pay system not later than January 1, 2012. The law also mandates that no employees lose pay as a result of this conversion. In order to ensure this, a set of conversion rules has been developed. In most cases, if an employee's current NSPS salary falls between two step levels of the GS grade to which their position is classified, their salary will be increased to the higher step. Employees whose salary was increased beyond the GS step 10 amount while under NSPS will be placed on retained pay, meaning they will receive 50% of the annual cost of living increase until the GS table catches up to the level of salary they are earning.
List of other pay scale terms
- GS: general schedule, competitive serviceCompetitive serviceThe competitive service is a part of the United States federal government civil service. Applicants for jobs in the competitive civil service must compete with other applicants in open competition under the merit system administered by the Office of Personnel Management.According to U.S...
- GG: general schedule, excepted serviceExcepted serviceMost civilian positions in the federal government of the United States are part of the competitive service, where applicants must compete with other applicants in open competition under the merit system administered by the Office of Personnel Management. However, some agencies are excluded from...
- WG: wage grade
- ES: executive scheduleExecutive ScheduleExecutive Schedule refers to the highest-ranked appointed positions in the executive branch of the U.S. government. The President of the United States, an elected official, appoints incumbents to these positions, most of them with the advice and consent of the Senate. They include members of the...
- FS: Foreign ServiceUnited States Foreign ServiceThe United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
(State, Commerce, Agriculture)
New pay-banding
Pay Bands
A Pay band is sometimes used in salaried organizations to define the level of compensation given for certain jobs.Pay Bands is a part of an organized salary compensation plan, program or system...
systems that have replaced GS:
- ZA: National Institute of Standards and TechnologyNational Institute of Standards and TechnologyThe National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
's Alternative Personnel Management System (APMS) http://www.nist.gov/hrmd/apms.htm - Y Class: National Security Personnel SystemNational Security Personnel SystemThe National Security Personnel System is a pay for performance pay system created in 2004-5 under authorization by Congress for the United States Department of Defense and implemented in mid-2006. NSPS replaces the General Schedule grade and step system with a pay band system intended to...
—used for Department of Defense (DoD) civil service jobs http://www.cpms.osd.mil/nsps/- Four Career Groups: (1) Standard: YA, YB, YC, YP, (2) Scientific and Engineering: YD, YE, YF, (3) Medical: YG, YH, YI, YJ, (4) Investigative and Protective Services: YK, YL, YM, YN (see National Security Personnel SystemNational Security Personnel SystemThe National Security Personnel System is a pay for performance pay system created in 2004-5 under authorization by Congress for the United States Department of Defense and implemented in mid-2006. NSPS replaces the General Schedule grade and step system with a pay band system intended to...
for more info)
- Four Career Groups: (1) Standard: YA, YB, YC, YP, (2) Scientific and Engineering: YD, YE, YF, (3) Medical: YG, YH, YI, YJ, (4) Investigative and Protective Services: YK, YL, YM, YN (see National Security Personnel System
- IA: Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS)—used by the Navy and others External link
- VN: federal medical careers
- SV: Department of Homeland Security excepted service (i.e. Transportation Security AdministrationTransportation Security AdministrationThe Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States....
) - AD: often used by DoD to reflect Academic Rank
- FV: Federal Aviation Administration http://jobs.faa.gov/FAACoreCompensation.htm
- DR: Demonstration Air Force Scientist and Engineer
External links
- General Schedule Qualifications contains information on how general schedule grade levels intersect with qualifying education levels.
- 2010 Schedule from Federal jobsite contains information on how general schedule grade levels are increased based on locality pay percentage.