Extra Pay, Just for Being There
Thanks to so-called "being there" raises, tens of thousands of civil servants will get an extra 3 percent in their paychecks later this year on top of the automatic 3.68 percent adjustment that goes into effect this month.</br></br>The paycheck sweeteners are technically known as "step increases," or "within grade" raises within the federal family. Each General Schedule pay grade has 10 longevity steps. The difference between starting pay and top pay in any grade is about 30 percent. Workers who are never promoted can reach the top of their grade in less than 20 years.</br></br>Few people outside government know about the virtually automatic longevity raises that go to thousands of workers with enough time-in- grade each year, in addition to any regular January pay raise.</br></br>But Clinton administration pay reformers are keenly aware of the little-known longevity raises that add hundreds of thousands of dollars to agency payroll costs each year. Like earlier administrations, the White House is expected to attempt to make the raises less automatic and linked more to productivity and performance.</br></br>By law, employees get the extra 3 percent longevity raise (unless blocked by their boss) every year in the first three steps of their civil service grade. Afterward, if they are still in the same grade, they get a longevity raise every two years. Finally, if they are still in the same grade, they get a longevity raise every three years in the seventh, eighth and ninth steps of their grade. Workers at the top -- the 10th step -- of their grade don't qualify for longevity increases. But like other employees, they still get the annual January increase.