cation of retention allowances to noncovered categories of employees.

SEC. 7. Staffing Differentials. The Office of Personnel Management is hereby designated and empowered to exercise the authority of the President under section 209 of FEPCA [5 U.S.C. 5305 note] to establish staffing differentials.

SEC. 8. Executive Assignment System. (a) Civil Service Rule 9 (5 CFR Part 9), as established by Executive Order No. 11315, as amended [5 U.S.C. 3301 note], is revoked.

(b) The Office of Personnel Management shall take such actions as the Office may determine to be necessary to provide for the orderly termination of the Executive Assignment System.

SEC. 9. Effective Dates. (a) Except as otherwise provided by Public Law 101-509, the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, as amended by section 101 of FEPCA [this subchapter], and the provisions of sections 1 through 4 of this order shall take effect on February 3, 1991.

(b) Except as otherwise provided by Public Law 101-509, the remaining provisions of FEPCA and of this order shall take effect on May 4, 1991, except that the Office of Personnel Management may establish an earlier effective date, but not earlier than February 3, 1991, for any such provisions with respect to which the Office determines an earlier effective date is appropriate. [For effective dates of certain provisions of FEPCA as established by the Office of Personnel Management, see notices and rules issued by the Office of Personnel Management and published in the Federal Register at 56 F.R. 6212, 11059, 12833, 20339, and 20343.]

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in title 31 section 732; title 42 section 2297b-4.

§ 5302. Definitions

For the purpose of this subchapter

(1) the term "statutory pay system” means a pay system under

(A) subchapter III, relating to the General Schedule;

(B) section 403 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, relating to the Foreign Service of the United States; or

(C) chapter 74 of title 38, relating to the Veterans Health Administration (other than a position subject to section 7451 of title 38);

(2) the term "ECI" means the Employment Cost Index (wages and salaries, private industry workers) published quarterly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics;

(3) the "base quarter" for any year is the 3month period ending on September 30 of such year;

(4) the term "pay agent" means the agent designated by the President under section 5304(d)(1);

(5) the term "locality" or "pay locality" means any locality, as established or modified under section 5304;

(6) the term "pay disparity", as used with respect to a locality, means the extent to which rates of pay payable under the General Schedule are generally lower than the rates paid for the same levels of work by non-Federal workers in the same locality; except as otherwise required in this subchapter, a pay disparity shall be expressed as a single percentage which, if uniformly applied to em

ployees within the locality who are receiving rates of pay under the General Schedule, would cause the rates payable to such employees to become substantially equal (when considered in the aggregate) to the rates paid to non-Federal workers for the same levels of work in the same locality;

(7) the term "comparability payment" means a payment payable under section 5304; (8) the term "rates of pay under the General Schedule", "rates of pay for the General Schedule", or "scheduled rates of basic pay"

means

(A) the rates of basic pay set forth in the General Schedule; and

(B) in the case of an employee receiving a retained rate of basic pay under section 5363, the rate of basic pay payable under such section; and

(9) the term "General Schedule position" means any position to which subchapter III applies.

(Added Pub. L. 101-509, title V, § 529 [title I, § 101(a)(1)], Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1427, 1429; amended Pub. L. 102-378, § 2(25), Oct. 2, 1992, 106 Stat. 1348; Pub. L. 103-89, § 3(b)(1)(E), Sept. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 981.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

Section 403 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, referred to in par. (1)(B), is classified to section 3963 of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse.

PRIOR PROVISIONS

A prior section 5302, Pub. L. 89-554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 458, which provided for annual reports on pay comparability, was repealed by Pub. L. 91-656, § 2(b)(1), Jan. 8, 1971, 84 Stat. 1946.

AMENDMENTS

1993-Par. (8). Pub. L. 103–89, § 3(b)(1)(E)(i), redesignated subpar. (C) as (B) and struck out former subpar. (B) which read as follows: "in the case of an employee covered by the performance management and recognition system, the rates of basic pay under chapter 54; and".

Par. (9). Pub. L. 103-89, § 3(b)(1)(E)(ii), substituted "applies" for "applies (including any position under the performance management and recognition system)".

1992-Par. (1)(C). Pub. L. 102–378, § 2(25)(A), amended subpar. (C) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (C) read as follows: "chapter 73 of title 38, relating to the Veterans Health Services and Research Administration;".

Par. (8)(C). Pub. L. 102-378, §2(25)(B), added subpar. (C).

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1993 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 103-89 effective Nov. 1, 1993, see section 3(c) of Pub. L. 103-89, set out as a note under section 3372 of this title.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1992 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 102-378 effective Feb. 3, 1991, see section 9(b)(5) of Pub. L. 102-378, set out as a note under section 6303 of this title.

EFFECTIVE DATE

Section effective on such date as the President shall determine, but not earlier than 90 days, and not later than 180 days, after Nov. 5, 1990, see section 529 [title III, § 305) of Pub. L. 101-509, set out as an Effective

Date of 1990 Amendment note under section 5301 of this title.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in section 5304 of this title; title 2 section 906; title 18 section 207.

§ 5303. Annual adjustments to pay schedules

(a) Effective as of the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1 of each calendar year, the rates of basic pay for each statutory pay system shall be increased by the percentage (rounded to the nearest one-tenth of 1 percent) equal to onehalf of 1 percentage point less than the percentage by which the ECI for the base quarter of the year before the preceding calendar year exceeds the ECI for the base quarter of the second year before the preceding calendar year (if at all).

(b)(1) If, because of national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare, the President should consider the pay adjustment which would otherwise be required by subsection (a) in any year to be inappropriate, the President shall

(A) prepare and transmit to Congress before September 1 of the preceding calendar year a plan for such alternative pay adjustments as he considers appropriate, together with the reasons therefor; and

(B) adjust the rates of pay of each statutory pay system, in accordance with such plan, effective on the same day as the increase under subsection (a) would otherwise take effect.

(2) In evaluating an economic condition affecting the general welfare under this subsection, the President shall consider pertinent economic measures including, but not limited to, the Indexes of Leading Economic Indicators, the Gross National Product, the unemployment rate, the budget deficit, the Consumer Price Index, the Producer Price Index, the Employment Cost Index, and the Implicit Price Deflator for Personal Consumption Expenditures.

(3) The President shall include in the report to Congress under paragraph (1)(A) his assessment of the impact that the alternative pay adjustments under this subsection will have on the Government's ability to recruit and retain well-qualified employees.

(c) The rates of basic pay that take effect under this section

(1) shall modify, supersede, or render inapplicable, as the case may be, to the extent inconsistent therewith, any prior rates of basic pay under the statutory pay system involved (as last adjusted under this section or prior provisions of law); and

(2) shall be printed in the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations.

(d) An increase in rates of basic pay that takes effect under this section is not an equivalent increase in pay within the meaning of section 5335.

(e) This section does not impair any authority pursuant to which rates of basic pay may be fixed by administrative action.

(f) Pay may not be paid, by reason of any provision of this section (disregarding any compa

rability payment payable), at a rate in excess of the rate of basic pay payable for level V of the Executive Schedule.

(g) Any rate of pay under this section shall be initially adjusted, effective on the effective date of the rate of pay, under conversion rules prescribed by the President or by such agency or agencies as the President may designate. (As amended Pub. L. 101-509, title V, § 529 [title I, § 101(a)(1)], Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1427, 1430.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

Level V of the Executive Schedule, referred to in subsec. (f), is set out in section 5316 of this title.

AMENDMENTS

1990-Pub. L. 101-509 amended section generally, substituting provisions relating to annual adjustments to pay schedules for provisions relating to President's authority to set higher minimum rates of basic pay.

EFFECTIVE Date of 1990 AMENDMENT

Amendment by Pub. L. 101-509 effective on such date as the President shall determine, but not earlier than 90 days, and not later than 180 days, after Nov. 5, 1990, see section 529 [title III, § 305] of Pub. L. 101-509, set out as a note under section 5301 of this title.

DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS

For designation of agencies to perform functions of President under subsec. (g) of this section, see Ex. Ord. No. 12748, § 1, Feb. 1, 1991, 56 F.R. 4521, eff. Feb. 3, 1991, set out as a note under section 5301 of this title.

PAY RAISES FOR PROGRAMS FUNDED BY ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACTS TO BE ABSORBED WITHIN SUCH ACTS

Pub. L. 102-377, title V, § 506, Oct. 2, 1992, 106 Stat. 1343, provided that: "Such sums as may be necessary for Federal employee pay raises for programs funded by this Act or subsequent Energy and Water Development Appropriations Acts hereafter shall be absorbed within the levels appropriated in such Acts."

SENSE OF CONGRESS

Section 529 [title I, § 101(e)] of Pub. L. 101-509 provided that: "It is the sense of the Congress that the total funds dedicated to adjustments under sections 5303 and 5304 [of this title] for any year be no less than the total funds that would have been dedicated to adjustments under such section 5303 for such year had the full change in the ECI been applied to pay rates for such year."

METHOD FOR MAKING Annual AdjustMENTS TO PAY SCHEDULES IN FISCAL YEARS 1992, 1993, AND 1994 Section 633 of Pub. L. 101-509 provided that: "(a) IN GENERAL.-Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including any provision of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 [see Short Title of 1990 Amendment note set out under section 5301 of this title] and any provision of law amended by such Act), for purposes of any adjustment scheduled to take effect under section 5303 of title 5, United States Code (as amended by section 101 [section 529 [title I, § 101] of Pub. L. 101-509]) during the period beginning on October 1, 1991, and ending on September 30, 1994, the provisions of section 5303 of such title (as so amended) shall be applied in accordance with the following:

"(1) For purposes of the adjustment taking effect in each of fiscal years 1992 and 1993, respectively,

graphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph) without regard to subsection (b) of section 619 of the Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations Act, 1990 (Public Law 101-136) [set out below].

"(2) The increase in the rates of pay for each office and position described under paragraph (1) shall be effective on the first day of the first pay period beginning on or after January 1, 1990."

Pub. L. 101-136, title VI, § 619, Nov. 3, 1989, 103 Stat. 820, provided that:

"(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the case of fiscal year 1990, the overall average percentage of the adjustment under section 5305 of title 5, United States Code, in the rates of pay under the General Schedule, and in the rates of pay under the other statutory pay systems (as defined by section 5301(c) of such title), shall be an increase of 3.6 percent.

"(2) Each increase in a pay rate or schedule which takes effect pursuant to paragraph (1) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be of the same percentage, and shall take effect as of the first day of the first applicable pay period commencing on or after January 1, 1990.

"(b)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any other law, no adjustment in rates of pay under section 5305 of title 5, United States Code, which becomes effective on or after October 1, 1989, and before October 1, 1990, shall have the effect of increasing the rate of salary or basic pay for any office or position in the legislative, executive, or judicial branch or in the government of the District of Columbia

“(A) if the rate of salary or basic pay payable for that office or position as of September 30, 1989, was equal to or greater than the rate of basic pay described in paragraph (3); or

"(B) to a rate exceeding the rate of basic pay described in paragraph (3) if, as of September 30, 1989, the rate of salary or basic pay payable for that office or position was less than the rate described in such paragraph.

"(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the rate of salary or basic pay payable as of September 30, 1989, for any office or position which was not in existence on such date shall be deemed to be the rate of salary or basic pay payable to individuals in comparable offices or positions on such date, as determined under regulations prescribed

"(A) by the President, in the case of any office or position within the executive branch or in the government of the District of Columbia;

"(B) jointly by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate, in the case of any office or position within the legislative branch; or

"(C) by the Chief Justice of the United States, in the case of any office or position within the judicial branch.

"(3) The rate of basic pay described in this paragraph is the rate equal to the rate of basic pay payable for level III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, as of September 30, 1989, increased by 3.6 percent."

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 5304, 5304a, 5306, 5318, 5332, 5376, 5382, 5392, 8431 of this title; title 2 sections 31, 60a-1, 60a-1b, 60a-2, 60a-2a, 84a-1, 906; title 3 section 104; title 22 section 3963; title 28 section 461; title 31 section 325; title 42 section 2542.

§ 5304. Locality-based comparability payments

(a) Pay disparities shall be identified and reduced as follows:

(1) Comparability payments shall be payable within each locality determined to have a pay disparity greater than 5 percent.

(2)(A) The localities having pay disparities, and the size of those disparities, shall, for purposes of any comparability payment scheduled to take effect in any calendar year, be determined in accordance with the appropriate report, as prepared and submitted to the President under subsection (d)(1) for purposes of such calendar year.

(B) Any computation necessary to determine the size of the comparability payment to become payable for any locality in a year (as well as any determination as to the size of any pay disparity remaining after that comparability payment is made) shall likewise be made using data contained in the appropriate report (described in subparagraph (A)) so prepared and submitted for purposes of such calendar year.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the amount of the comparability payments payable under this subsection in a calendar year within any locality in which a comparability payment is payable shall be computed using such percentage as the President determines for such locality under subsection (d)(2), except that—

(A) the percentage for the first calendar year in which any amounts are payable under this section may not be less than % of the amount needed to reduce the pay disparity of the locality involved to 5 percent;

(B) the percentage for the second calendar year in which any amounts are payable under this section may not be less than 10 of the amount needed to reduce the pay disparity of the locality involved to 5 percent;

(C) the percentage for the third calendar year in which any amounts are payable under this section may not be less than % of the amount needed to reduce the pay disparity of the locality involved to 5 percent;

(D) the percentage for the fourth calendar year in which any amounts are payable under this section may not be less than 2 of the amount needed to reduce the pay disparity of the locality involved to 5 percent;

(E) the percentage for the fifth calendar year in which any amounts are payable under this section may not be less than % of the amount needed to reduce the pay disparity of the locality involved to 5 percent;

(F) the percentage for the sixth calendar year in which any amounts are payable under this section may not be less than 10 of the amount needed to reduce the pay disparity of the locality involved to 5 percent;

(G) the percentage for the seventh calendar year in which any amounts are payable under this section may not be less than % of the amount needed to reduce the pay disparity of the locality involved to 5 percent;

(H) the percentage for the eighth calendar year in which any amounts are payable under this section may not be less than 10 of the amount needed to reduce the pay disparity of the locality involved to 5 percent; and

(I) the percentage for the ninth calendar year in which any amounts are payable under this section, and any year thereafter, may not be less than the full amount neces

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sary to reduce the pay disparity of the locality involved to 5 percent.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be considered to preclude the President, in his discretion, from adjusting comparability payments to a level higher than the minimum level otherwise required in a calendar year, including to the level necessary to eliminate a locality's pay disparity completely.

(b) After the ninth calendar year (referred to in subsection (a)(3)(I)), the level of comparability payments payable within such locality may be reduced for any subsequent calendar year, but only if, or to the extent that, the reduction would not immediately create another pay disparity in excess of 5 percent within the locality (taking into consideration any comparability payments remaining payable).

(c)(1) The amount of the comparability payment payable within any particular locality during a calendar year

(A) shall be stated as a single percentage, which shall be uniformly applicable to General Schedule positions within the locality; and (B) shall, for any employee entitled to receive a comparability payment, be computed by applying that percentage to such employee's scheduled rate of basic pay (or, if lower due to a limitation on the rate payable, the rate actually payable), subject to subsection (g).

(2) A comparability payment

(A) shall be considered to be part of basic pay for purposes of retirement under chapter 83 or 84, as applicable, life insurance under chapter 87, and premium pay under subchapter V of chapter 55, and for such other purposes as may be expressly provided for by law or as the Office of Personnel Management may by regulation prescribe; and

(B) shall be paid in the same manner and at the same time as the basic pay payable to such employee pursuant to any provision of law outside of this section.

(3) Nothing in this subchapter shall be considered to permit or require that any portion of a comparability payment be taken into account for purposes of any adjustment under section 5303.

(4)(A) Only employees receiving scheduled rates of basic pay (subject to any pay limitation which may apply) shall be eligible for comparability payments under this section.

(B) Comparability payments shall not be payable for service performed in any position which may not, under subsection (f)(1)(A), be included within a pay locality.

(d) In order to carry out this section, the President shall

(1) direct such agent as he considers appropriate to prepare and submit to him annually, after considering such views and recommendations as may be submitted under subsection (e) (but not later than 13 months before the start of the calendar year for purposes of which it is prepared), a report that—

(A) compares the rates of pay under the General Schedule (disregarding any de

scribed in section 5302(8)(C))1 with the rates of pay generally paid to non-Federal workers for the same levels of work within each pay locality, as determined on the basis of appropriate surveys that shall be conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics;

(B) based on data from such surveys, identifies each locality in which a pay disparity exists and specifies the size of each such pay disparity (before and after taking into consideration any comparability payments payable);

(C) makes recommendations for appropriate comparability payments, in conformance with applicable requirements of this section; and

(D) includes the views and recommendations submitted under subsection (e);

(2) after considering the report of his agent (including the views and recommendations referred to in subsection (e)(2)(C), provide for or adjust comparability payments in conformance with applicable requirements of this section, effective as of the beginning of the first applicable pay period commencing on or after January 1 of the applicable year; and

(3) transmit to Congress a report of the actions taken under paragraph (2) (together with a copy of the report submitted to him by his agent, including the views and recommendations referred to in subsection (e)(2)(C)) which shall—

(A) identify each pay locality;

(B) specify which localities have pay disparities in excess of 5 percent, and the size of the disparity existing in each of those localities, according to the pay agent's most recent report under paragraph (1) (before and after taking into consideration any comparability payments payable); and

(C) indicate the size of the respective comparability payments (expressed as percentages) which will be in effect under paragraph (2) for the various pay localities specified under subparagraph (B) for the applicable calendar year.

(e)(1) The President shall establish a Federal Salary Council of 9 members, of whom—

(A) 3 shall be chosen from among persons generally recognized for their impartiality, knowledge, and experience in the field of labor relations and pay policy; and

(B) 6 shall be representatives of employee organizations which represent substantial numbers of employees holding General Schedule positions, and who shall be selected giving due consideration to such factors as the relative numbers of employees represented by the various organizations, except that not more than 3 members of the Council at any one time shall be from a single employee organization, council, federation, alliance, association, or affiliation of employee organizations.

'See References in Text note below.