Perils of Paybanding
Though paybanding might streamline job categories and salary rungs, critics and supporters alike agree it also could result in:
- Capping out
- High-performing employees at the top of their band receive no raise, while employees with a lesser history of performance are still eligible.
- Pigeon-holing
- The bands don't offer a clear ladder for career progression.
- Budget excess
- Agencies with paybanding generally spend more on salaries than the General Schedule.
- Unreliable raises
- Pay raise pools could become a target for budget cuts in slim years, undermining pay-for-performance's credibility with employees.
- De-ranking
- In the Defense Department, paybands erase job correlation to military counterparts.
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