Title 5, Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-110
§5377 Pay Authority for Critical Positions
Title 5 › PART III — EMPLOYEES › Subpart D — Pay and Allowances › CHAPTER 53 — PAY RATES AND SYSTEMS › SUBCHAPTER VII — MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS › § 5377
Summary
Allows agencies to set higher basic pay for certain top jobs when needed to hire or keep people with extremely high skill in scientific, technical, professional, or administrative fields and when the job is critical to the agency’s mission. It covers jobs in several senior pay systems (like the Senior Executive Service, some Executive Schedule posts, certain special pay laws, some senior or specially designated jobs, and certain FBI intelligence roles). OPM (the Office of Personnel Management), after talking with OMB (the Office of Management and Budget), can approve an agency’s request to set pay for one or more such jobs. Any higher pay cannot be lower than the pay that would otherwise apply and generally cannot exceed the rate for Executive Schedule Level I unless the President approves. OPM must stop the higher pay if the job no longer meets the rules or on a date OPM sets, but the pay authority must be available for at least 1 year before it can end. No more than 800 positions can have this authority at once, and no more than 30 of those can be certain subchapter II positions. OPM must consult OMB before approving or ending authority and must send an annual written report to two Congressional committees listing the positions, employees, pay rates, dates, and what pay would have been without this authority. The President may also, at an agency’s request, designate categories of jobs to be treated as covered positions.
Full Legal Text
Title 5, §5377
Government Organization and Employees, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)For the purpose of this section—
(1)the term “agency” has the meaning given it by section 5102; and
(2)the term “position” means—
(A)a position to which chapter 51 applies, including a position in the Senior Executive Service or the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration Senior Executive Service;
(B)a position under the Executive Schedule under section 5312–5317;
(C)a position to which section 5372 applies (or would apply, but for this section);
(D)a position to which section 5372a applies (or would apply, but for this section);
(E)a position established under section 3104;
(F)a position in a category as to which a designation is in effect under subsection (i); and
(G)a position at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the primary duties and responsibilities of which relate to intelligence functions (as determined by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation).
(b)Authority under this section—
(1)may be granted or exercised only with respect to a position—
(A)which requires expertise of an extremely high level in a scientific, technical, professional, or administrative field; and
(B)which is critical to the agency’s successful accomplishment of an important mission; and
(2)may be granted or exercised only to the extent necessary to recruit or retain an individual exceptionally well qualified for the position.
(c)The Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, may, upon the request of the head of an agency, grant authority to fix the rate of basic pay for 1 or more positions in such agency in accordance with this section.
(d)(1)The rate of basic pay fixed under this section by an agency head may not be less than the rate of basic pay (including any comparability payments) which would then otherwise be payable for the position involved if this section had never been enacted.
(2)Basic pay may not be fixed under this section at a rate greater than the rate payable for level I of the Executive Schedule, except upon written approval of the President.
(e)The authority to fix the rate of basic pay under this section for a position shall terminate—
(1)whenever the Office of Personnel Management determines (in accordance with such procedures and subject to such terms or conditions as such Office by regulation prescribes) that 1 or more of the requirements of subsection (b) are no longer met; or
(2)as of such date as such Office may otherwise specify, except that termination under this paragraph may not take effect before the authority has been available for such position for at least 1 calendar year.
(f)The Office of Personnel Management may not authorize the exercise of authority under this section with respect to more than 800 positions at any time, of which not more than 30 may, at any such time, be positions the rate of basic pay for which would otherwise be determined under subchapter II.
(g)The Office of Personnel Management shall consult with the Office of Management and Budget before making any decision to grant or terminate any authority under this section.
(h)The Office of Personnel Management shall report to the Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate each year, in writing, on the operation of this section. Each report under this subsection shall include—
(1)the number of positions, in the aggregate and by agency, for which higher rates of pay were authorized or paid under this section during any part of the period covered by such report; and
(2)the name of each employee to whom a higher rate of pay was paid under this section during any portion of the period covered by such report, the rate on rates paid under this section during such period, the dates between which each such higher rate was paid, and the rate or rates that would have been paid but for this section.
(i)(1)For the purpose of this subsection, the term “position” means the work, consisting of the duties and responsibilities, assignable to an employee, except that such term does not include any position under subsection (a)(2)(A)–(E).
(2)At the request of an agency head, the President may designate 1 or more categories of positions within such agency to be treated, for purposes of this section, as positions within the meaning of subsection (a)(2).
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
Level I of the Executive Schedule, referred to in subsec. (d)(2), is set out in section 5312 of this title.
Amendments
2004—Subsec. (a)(2)(G). Pub. L. 108–447 added subpar. (G). Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 108–411, § 102(1), (2), substituted “Office of Management and Budget” for “Office of Personnel Management” and “Office of Personnel Management” for “Office of Management and Budget”. Subsec. (e)(1), (f). Pub. L. 108–411, § 102(2), substituted “Office of Personnel Management” for “Office of Management and Budget”. Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 108–411, § 102(1)–(3), substituted “Office of Personnel Management” for “Office of Management and Budget” and “Office of Management and Budget” for “Office of Personnel Management” and struck out “prescribing
Regulations
under this section or” before “making any decision”. Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 108–411, § 102(2), (4), in introductory provisions, substituted “Office of Personnel Management” for “Office of Management and Budget” and “Committee on Government Reform” for “Committee on Post Office and Civil Service”. 1992—Subsec. (a)(2)(E), (F). Pub. L. 102–378, § 2(34)(A), added subpars. (E) and (F). Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 102–378, § 2(34)(B), added subsec. (i).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Change of Name
Committee on Government Reform of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Tenth Congress, Jan. 5, 2007. Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Oversight and Reform of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, Jan. 9, 2019. Committee on Oversight and Reform of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Oversight and Accountability of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, Jan. 9, 2023. Committee on Oversight and Accountability of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Nineteenth Congress, Jan. 3, 2025. Committee on Governmental Affairs of Senate changed to Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of Senate, effective Jan. 4, 2005, by Senate Resolution No. 445, One Hundred Eighth Congress, Oct. 9, 2004.
Effective Date
Section effective on such date as the President shall determine, but not earlier than 90 days, and not later than 180 days, after Nov. 5, 1990, see section 529 [title III, § 305] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out as an
Effective Date
of 1990 Amendment note under section 5301 of this title.
Executive Documents
Delegation of Functions Functions of President under this section assigned to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management by section 1 of Ex. Ord. No. 13415, Dec. 1, 2006, 71 F.R. 70641, set out as a note under section 4505a of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
5 U.S.C. § 5377
Title 5, Government Organization and Employees
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110