Two weeks ago, Pay and Benefits Watch took a look at efforts to lift the cap on federal managers' overtime pay.
One argument against a proposal (H.R. 582) introduced by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., that would raise the overtime pay cap from GS-10, Step 1 to GS-15, Step 1, is that managers in the private sector don't get paid for overtime. Why, then, should federal managers complain that the overtime pay they get is not enough? Shouldn't they be satisfied that they get any extra pay at all?
Theresa Novak, president of the Federal Managers Association's Social Security Administration conference, said comparing the compensation of federal managers with private sector managers is like comparing apples with oranges.
Private sector managers typically receive salary differentials that managers under the federal classification system don't get, said Novak, an SSA manager in Richmond, Calif. Similarly, if federal managers take time off during normal work hours, they are charged for leave, while private sector managers are typically not forced to take leave in recognition of all the hours they work. Stock options, high bonuses and even perks like special parking spaces also make overtime work worthwhile for private sector managers, Novak added.
"There are no perks to being a federal manager other than the great glory," Novak said.
But other factors make Edward Lynch, a staffer on the House Government Reform Subcommittee on the Civil Service, question the need for a boost to federal managers' overtime pay. The civil service panel is the first stop for Davis' bill.
For one thing, increasing the overtime cap would put a further squeeze on agencies' already tight payroll budgets. Lynch notes the administration has complained that layoffs could be necessary to pay for the House's proposed bill to fix a glitch in the federal retirement system. A raise in overtime pay would be more expensive than the retirement fix proposal.
Furthermore, agencies aren't having problems recruiting or retaining managers, Lynch said.
"The market forces don't justify the raise," Lynch said. "In reviewing this legislation, we looked at some of the agencies' recruitment efforts. At the Patent and Trademark Office, for example, their hiring brochures for new lawyers advertise 'paid overtime,' among the benefits. The implicit comparison is with private sector firms, where overtime for professionals is frequently uncompensated. Agencies have few difficulties recruiting and/or retaining managers, and people rarely reject promotional opportunities because of the loss of overtime pay."
ANOTHER CAP
While the debate over whether federal managers should get more overtime pay continues, other civil servants also labor under pay caps, which, naturally, they think should be lifted.
One senior law enforcement manager wrote Pay and Benefits Watch to note that he and other law enforcement officials at the GS-14/15 levels have their pay capped at Level V of the Executive Schedule, the same schedule that places a cap on members of the Senior Executive Service. Senior law enforcement officials generally exceed the cap, which is at $110,700 this year, because they receive a 25 percent premium above basic and locality pay.
"I realize we would not get much sympathy from the general public or Congress since we are already compensated 25 percent more than our other government counterparts," the manager wrote. "However, we are required to work 10-hour days for the added pay and do put our lives on the line."
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