On each payroll, enforcement officers see the amount of compensation „over-winning,“ which reflects the amount of compensation they would have earned without the salary cap. FLEOA expressed concern that this would negatively impact compensation, officer morale, recruitment and retention in the short term. In the long run, most enforcement pensions are based on the average of the officer`s highest salaries over three years. Since pension calculations are based solely on the remuneration that the officer actually received, pension benefits are implicitly limited by the salary cap. The bill was also supported by MPs Val Demings (D-FL) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). In the joint press release, MP Demings called the legislation „mere fairness.“ Representative Fitzpatrick noted that he was proud to work on bipartisan legislation to support enforcement. A multi-party bill introduced this week would allow the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to examine the total value of overtime pay incurred in calculating the Public Service Pension System (CSIS) and the Federal Employees Pension System (SRRS) for federal police officers and first responders. Currently, bi-weekly and annual salary caps prevent law enforcement agencies from being fully compensated for overtime if overtime pushes compensation above a certain amount. The Fair Retirement of Enforcement Officers Act (H.R.8087) would not increase the salary cap, but would allow OPM to credit overtime on pension benefits. If most authorities get a 2.7% increase but the salary cap doesn`t budge, more GS-15s are likely to fall below that federal salary cap.
„While this bill would not solve all wage compression issues within the federal government, Norton believes it is an important step and is looking for ways to reduce wage compression in all federal wage systems,“ the statement said. A law enforcement officer (LEO) is an employee whose primary responsibilities are to investigate, arrest, or detain persons suspected or convicted of violating U.S. criminal laws; or protect U.S. officials from threats to personal safety. These tasks are strict enough to require young and physically strong individuals. An LEO is also a person who is directly placed in an administrative or supervisory position after performing the functions described above for at least three years (Title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.) §§ 8331(20), 8401(17)). A Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that exempts LEO (is not covered) may receive a premium payment. However, there is a bi-weekly wage restriction that limits the amount of bonus that can be paid during a bi-weekly payment period.
Bonus payments may not be made to General Schedule employees, including enforcement officers, to the extent that doing so would result in base salary, overtime pay, dollar value of vacation pay, night pay, annual bonus payment, Sunday bonus and vacation pay exceeding the greater of the bi-weekly rate for: Last week`s column on the federal wage increase was not as satisfactory for GS-15s. who wanted to know what their prospects were below the famous salary cap in 2022. Section 1114 of Public Act 107-107 amended the biweekly and annual compensation thresholds for premium payments under Section 5 U.S.C. 5547, removed the separate restriction on the payment of premiums for enforcement officers and gave agencies the authority to remove the salary cap on bi-weekly bonuses for employees performing work critical to the agency`s mission. Since Congress or the president raises federal employees` salaries every year, but maintains this arbitrary salary cap, this means that an increasing number of long-term federals reach a salary cap that is either set in one place or slowly increased when Congress considers adjusting it. To remind those who fortunately do not know, some long-time GS-15s, depending on where they work and their place on the federal career ladder, have experienced this phenomenon for several years. For GS-15 and 14 affected by federal wage compression, here`s what to watch out for. „While federal employees in areas like San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C., have been affected for many years, employees in North Carolina, Georgia, Oregon and elsewhere in the country are also feeling the impact, and the problem is growing every year,“ the group wrote.