A broad-band pay system at the IRS is one step closer to becoming a reality after the Office of Personnel Management recently published interim regulations for the new pay system.
Broad-banding, also known as pay-banding, is an approach to compensation in which job classifications are widened into a few broad categories with increased salary ranges. As part of its ongoing reform effort, the IRS has been authorized to establish a broad-band system for its General Schedule workforce.
The regulations, published in the July 16 Federal Register, stipulate the measures the IRS must take to put the new pay system in place. The agency's broad-banding plan must include details of positions covered, classification criteria, the method of pay progression within bands and policies for setting and adjusting pay-including pay for supervisors and managers, OPM said.
The proposed regulations "provide an acceptable framework and structure for negotiability," National Treasury Employees Union president Robert M. Tobias said. NTEU represents more than 98,000 IRS employees.
Tobias applauded the rules for not limiting NTEU's role in crafting the broad-banding program. He also praised the proposed rules for making no reference to a revenue-neutrality in crafting a broad-band system.
The Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 authorizes the IRS to establish a broad-band system. Whatever system is developed for the IRS will likely be a model for other agencies to follow in the future.
Comments on the proposed rules must be submitted by August 16. They can be sent via e-mail to gwzygiel@opm.gov.
NEXT STORY: House refuses to restore F-22 funding