Employees Fell Short In Performance-Based Pay Goals
Some mixed news for
employees of the Federal Aviation Administration, as the agency
informed them this they will receive a raise this year... but, it
could have been more.
The Washington Post reports most of the FAA's 45,000 employees
will receive a 3.08 percent raise, and an additional one-percent
raise, on average, based on geographic location. Nearly 85 percent
of agency workers are also eligible to receive additional raises,
based on individual job performance.
Speaking of job performance, that's also the reason why
employees won't receive as much in their raises as they could have.
FAA acting administrator Robert Sturgell (right)said employees
failed to meet all the agency's performance goals for 2007,
including in the areas of customer service and financial
management. Had those goals been met, Sturgell said, the 3.08
percent base-rate would have been higher.
"All in all, it's been a challenging but productive year for the
agency," Sturgell said in a message to FAA employees, who he then
applauded for doing "whatever was necessary to keep the [air
traffic] system safe -- and after all other factors are taken into
account, that's the one that matters the most."
FAA pay rates differ from other government agencies, in that it
features a core compensation system for about 50 percent of its
work force, including managers, supervisors, and employees at FAA
headquarters and regional offices. Core compensation -- implemented
in 1995, ostensibly to make the agency more competitive in hiring
and promotion -- offers differing pay bands, and wide ranges in
salary -- from a low of $16,900 per year, to $159,700. Those
figures don't include location-based incentives and pay
increases.
Sturgell added the FAA will raise the top of pay bands within
the core compensation program by 2.5 percent, giving workers the
opportunity to earn more in the future. Previous pay ceilings were
the subject of much consternation for workers, who said it made the
FAA uncompetitive in the job market.
Core compensation workers, as well as most union workers, are
also eligible for "superior contribution increases" --
government-speak for performance-based pay raises. Sturgell said
those workers who performed best will receive raises of 1.8
percent; the Post notes if the agency sticks to past practices, no
more than 20 percent of eligible workers will qualify at that rate,
while most will earn an 0.6 percent performance-based raise.
That means about 1/3 of FAA workers will only receive the base
raise and locality pay... and a few, whose job performances were
rated unacceptable by the agency, won't receive raises at all.