GAO Presents
Initial 2009 Pay Proposal
First Stage GAO Pay Proposal for 2009
Pay
GAO presented a proposal for pay to the Union on Tuesday, December 9, 2008. Since GAO is under a
Continuing Resolution and has not yet received a budget for FY
2009, this is the first of a two-stage negotiation for pay. There are two major
components to the first stage of GAO’s 2009 Pay Proposal,
including (1) an Across-the-Board adjustment and (2) an
adjustment to the existing salary ranges. GAO management indicated
that they would like to implement this so that it is processed
by NFC in the first pay period of 2009.
This first stage addresses the annual across-the-board
adjustment, separate from the negotiation over the amount of
money that will be allocated for 2009 performance based
compensation. The
second stage negotiation will determine the budget factor that
is used to allocate performance based compensation (PBC), once
GAO receives a budget for 2009. When the second stage negotiation is
completed, all PBC adjustments will be paid retroactively to the
first pay period of the year, and will be in addition to
this across-the board adjustment.
This is a summary of GAO’s proposal:
- Across-the-board increase equivalent to GS: All employees in the
bargaining unit who meet expectations or higher will receive an
across-the-board adjustment equivalent to the GS
locality-adjusted, across-the-board increase corresponding to
their office location.
This across-the-board increase will apply to all
employees, including PDP, regardless of salary caps or
“speed bumps.”
- If the 2009 GS
locality-adjusted, across-the-board increase for a field office
is 3.0%, then all employees in that field office would receive a
permanent adjustment to their salary of 3.0%, regardless of
salary caps or the IIB “speed bump.”
- Adjustments to salary ranges: The bottom of each zone’s current
salary ranges will be adjusted by the lowest GS
locality-adjusted across-the-board increase of the office
locations in Zone 3 (which includes Dallas, DC, Denver,
Chicago, and Seattle). The competitive rate and
the top of each zone’s current salary range, as well as
the Band IIB “speed bump” will be adjusted by the
highest GS locality-adjusted across-the-board adjustment of the
office locations in Zone 3.
So, the amount of the lowest GS
locality-adjusted across-the-board increase of these five
locations will determine the increase to the bottom of the
salary ranges. The
amount of the highest GS increase of these five locations will
determine the increase to the competitive rates, speed bump, and
salary caps.
The Bargaining Committee met with the Interim Council to
discuss GAO’s first stage proposal for 2009 Pay. Although the Union expressed concerns about how long it
has taken for GAO to present a concrete proposal, we are
committed to working quickly to reach a tentative agreement so
our members can ratify it in time for it to be processed in the
first pay period of 2009.
Representatives of the Union will meet with GAO management to
continue negotiations on Monday afternoon, December 15. Look for an announcement
soon with details about a listening session about the 2009 pay
proposal. Please
send your reaction and comments to GAO’s proposal as soon
as possible to ICquestions@ifpte.org.
Don't Forget to Vote!! Union Officer
Election Reminder
The first official election for Union Officers is
currently take place by online voting. Ballots went out Monday, December 8, and the
voting will end 8 PM
EST on December 15th. Only current dues-paying Union members will
be able to vote in this election. If you believe you are a
dues-paying member but did NOT receive an email, please contact
Chris Langford, langfordc@gao.gov, or Ken Stockbridge, stockbridgek@gao.gov, as soon as possible.
If you wish to vote in future assembly elections or
ratifications, such as the 2009 Annual Pay Adjustments, please
go to our website at www.gaoanalysts.org to learn how to become
a member or contact Chris Langford, langfordc@gao.gov.
