OPM Announces Special Rate Review, Open Season Dates and More

The Office of Personnel Management announced Tuesday that it would conduct its annual review of special rates for certain jobs on the General Schedule pay scale. The agency authorizes higher rates of pay for specific jobs, grades and locations in order to aid the government’s ability to recruit and retain employees. Each year, OPM reviews these positions to see if rates should be adjusted based on recent staffing issues. OPM acting Director Kathleen McGettigan asked in a memo that agencies send any requests for changes to or the elimination of existing special rates by Oct. 13. She stressed that agencies do not need to request that existing special pay rates remain the same—bearing in mind that OPM anticipates a 1.9 percent across the board pay raise for civilian employees as laid out in President Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal.