§9807 Pay authority for critical positions

Summary

Gives the Administrator the power to set a special basic pay rate for certain high-level jobs when needed to recruit or keep an exceptionally well‑qualified person. The pay rule applies to four kinds of jobs: those covered by chapter 51 (including the Senior Executive Service), jobs under the Executive Schedule at sections 5312–5317, jobs established under section 3104, and senior‑level jobs under section 5376(a)(1). The pay can be used only for jobs listed as a critical need in the workforce plan and that require extremely high scientific, technical, professional, or administrative skill. It can be used only to keep current Administration employees or to hire people who were not employees of another Federal agency. Only the Administrator may set these pay rates and may not delegate that power. No more than 10 positions may have pay set this way at any time. The special pay cannot be lower than what the position would otherwise get (including comparability payments) and cannot be higher than the annual salary rate in section 104 of title 3. During any calendar year, extra cash payments (allowances, differentials, bonuses, awards, or similar payments) cannot be paid to such an employee if adding them to basic pay would make the total exceed the annual rate in section 104 of title 3.