Title 22 — Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-73

§3974 Border equalization pay adjustment

Title 22 › Chapter CHAPTER 52— - FOREIGN SERVICE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IV— - COMPENSATION › § 3974

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Employees who regularly travel from the continental United States to work at a duty station in Canada or Mexico must get a border equalization pay adjustment. The amount equals the locality comparability pay under section 5304 of title 5 that the employee would get if assigned to the nearest U.S. locality pay area to that duty station. “Employee” means a person defined by section 2105 of title 5 who works for the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development, or the International Joint Commission (set up by the January 11, 1909 treaty), but not members of the Service listed in section 3903. The equalization pay counts as part of basic pay for the same purposes as comparability pay under section 5304. Agency heads may make rules to carry this out.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §3974

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)An employee who regularly commutes from the employee’s place of residence in the continental United States to an official duty station in Canada or Mexico shall receive a border equalization pay adjustment equal to the amount of comparability payments under section 5304 of title 5 that the employee would receive if the employee were assigned to an official duty station within the United States locality pay area closest to the employee’s official duty station.

(b)For purposes of this section, the term “employee” means a person who—

(1)is an “employee” as defined under section 2105 of title 5; and

(2)is employed by the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development, or the International Joint Commission of the United States and Canada (established under Article VII of the treaty signed January 11, 1909) (36 Stat. 2448), except that the term shall not include members of the Service (as specified in section 3903 of this title).

(c)An equalization pay adjustment paid under this section shall be considered to be part of basic pay for the same purposes for which comparability payments are considered to be part of basic pay under section 5304 of title 5.

(d)The heads of the agencies referred to in subsection (b)(2) may prescribe regulations to carry out this section.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 3974

Title 22 — Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73