TOPICS
TOPICS
Senior Foreign Service members decry executive pay changes
Changes in the compensation structure for Senior Executive Service employees may lead to permanent pay disparities for some Senior Foreign Service members.
The current SES pay cap is $134,000, plus locality-based pay. Under the fiscal 2004 Defense Authorization Act, the pay cap for SES members would increase to $154,700, relieving compression at the top pay rate that had resulted in about 70 percent of all SES members receiving the same pay. The new pay system eliminates the six current SES pay levels and replaces them with one pay range with a floor of about $102,000.
But the reforms also eliminate locality pay, and put more of each SES member's annual pay raise at risk. Instead of automatic locality pay increases, annual pay raises will be based solely on performance evaluations under the new system.
By law, pay for members of the Senior Foreign Service, the top echelon of the government's diplomatic corps, is linked to that of the SES.
In a Dec. 17 letter to Government Executive, John W. Limbert, president of the American Foreign Service Association, said the reforms will adversely affect Senior Foreign Service officers overseas. AFSA represents Foreign Service members in the State, Agriculture and Commerce departments as well as at the Agency for International Development.
The new law freezes senior executives' pay at current levels on Jan. 11, 2004. Limbert said when that occurs, it will cause permanent pay disparities between Senior Foreign Service members currently based in Washington and those overseas. Members of the Foreign Service overseas do not receive locality pay, and instead receive "base pay," which is currently 13 percent less than what they would receive if they were stationed in Washington.
"Professionals overseas at the time of the transition will find their salaries frozen at levels up to $16,000 less than their Washington-based colleagues," Limbert wrote. "Overseas, the unfortunate message to the Foreign Service of the United States from the recent SES pay changes is inescapable: the administration and the Congress value neither our service nor our sacrifice."
In the past, the disparity between Washington-based foreign service officers and those abroad has existed, but officers overseas had the opportunity to make up the difference by returning to Washington. With the elimination of locality pay, that opportunity will be lost.
Officials at the Office of Personnel Management did not respond to several requests to provide comment for this story.
COMMENTS
- Foreign Service salaries and incentives (hardship pay, danger pay) are taxable as income at the federal and state levels (all FS employees must file state tax returns). GovExec.com reader Posted January 7, 2004 9:01 AM
- What is even more interesting than the problems raised by the Senior Foreign Service Officers is the issue that SESers will have a new pay system with no locality increases but which is tiered into pay-for-performance. When I was a very young union steward, a very senior SESer, during a break from a performance appraisal grievance meeting, once honestly told me that he hated the SES performance system where everyone gets an Exceeds since there was no fair way he could evaluate his junior SES managers. In the 25 years or so of the SES corp., I challenge anyone to find me an MSPB case where an SES manager was removed from service on performance grounds. Yes, SES managers are decertified but has any ever been removed for poor performance. I would take an educated guess and say no. I would also take an educated guess that 95+% of these SESers are graded at the exceeds level and that anything else is a failing grade. Change the SES and make them super managers instead of super technical experts- break the culture of giving everyone an exceeds- and maybe pay for performance could work. Having been deeply invloved in performance management on both the Union and Management side- I have my doubts it can work for the SES- and if it can't work for a small group of 7,000 folks how is it going to work for 750,000 DoD employees and 200,000 DHS employees. LER Specialist GovExec.com reader Posted December 23, 2003 7:13 AM
- Don't government employees get a tax break for being stationed overseas? In this case is part of Foreign service officers' pay not subject to federal income tax? Gordon Burke Posted December 19, 2003 9:01 AM
