Agency Employees Receive Higher Percentage Than Other Government Workers

Those at the very top of the Federal Aviation Administration's salary rungs will receive a raise, for the second consecutive year.

FAA Administrator Marion Blakey announced Wednesday that the upper limits on pay bands would increase 1.7 percent in 2007, reports the daily news service of Government Executive magazine. Employees in the top bands can earn up to $168,000 annually, including locality pay.

It was back in 2000 the agency moved from the General Schedule to a pay banding system. Last year was the first officials raised the pay band ceiling since 2002; employees at the top of their bands complained they could not receive raises under the new system, regardless of their job performance.

In fact, about 2,000 FAA workers at the top of their pay band have sued the agency because they had been ineligible for raises, some claiming age discrimination; many of those pay-capped were older workers at the top of their bands.

About 6,500 FAA employees are pay-capped, according to Tim O'Hara, an FAA employee representing the class filing the lawsuit.

Blakey said she decided to raise the caps in response to a market survey.

"While the survey showed the current base salaries of FAA employees are more than competitive, the paybands still lag behind the market and GS categories in some categories," she said.

Even with the lifted ceiling, the 6,500 pay-capped employees will not get the full 2.7 percent raise most nonunion FAA employees are receiving this year. Additionally, many FAA employees will receive an additional 0.5 percent average locality payment.

Federal employees in most other agencies received a 2.2 percent raise, including locality pay.

In an issue paper that he sent to a number of FAA managers in early December, O'Hara said the agency wasn't living up to the idea of pay for performance, noting he had received one raise in four years.

"Those who choose to stay with the agency because of their commitment to the important mission of the FAA will do so while sacrificing pay comparability to other federal employees at other agencies," O'Hara said. "Their tenure, however, will come with low morale, high suspicions, and continued further distrust of senior management."

Blakey also announced the formation of a new group of FAA officials to create an employee recognition program. This was in response to an employee survey.

"I have asked for their recommendations to include new forms of monetary and honorary recognition, plus employee recognition ceremonies as well as innovative ways to recognize our employees externally."

FMI: www.faa.gov/ahr/index.htm, www.opm.gov, www.afge.org/Index.cfm