Employees Fell Short In Performance-Based Pay Goals

Some mixed news for employees of the Federal Aviation Administration, as the agency informed them this they will receive a raise this year... but, it could have been more.

The Washington Post reports most of the FAA's 45,000 employees will receive a 3.08 percent raise, and an additional one-percent raise, on average, based on geographic location. Nearly 85 percent of agency workers are also eligible to receive additional raises, based on individual job performance.

Speaking of job performance, that's also the reason why employees won't receive as much in their raises as they could have. FAA acting administrator Robert Sturgell (right)said employees failed to meet all the agency's performance goals for 2007, including in the areas of customer service and financial management. Had those goals been met, Sturgell said, the 3.08 percent base-rate would have been higher.

"All in all, it's been a challenging but productive year for the agency," Sturgell said in a message to FAA employees, who he then applauded for doing "whatever was necessary to keep the [air traffic] system safe -- and after all other factors are taken into account, that's the one that matters the most."

FAA pay rates differ from other government agencies, in that it features a core compensation system for about 50 percent of its work force, including managers, supervisors, and employees at FAA headquarters and regional offices. Core compensation -- implemented in 1995, ostensibly to make the agency more competitive in hiring and promotion -- offers differing pay bands, and wide ranges in salary -- from a low of $16,900 per year, to $159,700. Those figures don't include location-based incentives and pay increases.

Sturgell added the FAA will raise the top of pay bands within the core compensation program by 2.5 percent, giving workers the opportunity to earn more in the future. Previous pay ceilings were the subject of much consternation for workers, who said it made the FAA uncompetitive in the job market.

Core compensation workers, as well as most union workers, are also eligible for "superior contribution increases" -- government-speak for performance-based pay raises. Sturgell said those workers who performed best will receive raises of 1.8 percent; the Post notes if the agency sticks to past practices, no more than 20 percent of eligible workers will qualify at that rate, while most will earn an 0.6 percent performance-based raise.

That means about 1/3 of FAA workers will only receive the base raise and locality pay... and a few, whose job performances were rated unacceptable by the agency, won't receive raises at all.

FMI: www.faa.gov