OPM outlines new pay system for appeals judges

Administrative appeals judges will get paid under a new system announced Tuesday by the Office of Personnel Management. Previously governed by the General Schedule pay system, the pay system for administrative appeals judges was revamped in the fiscal 2001 Treasury-Postal appropriations bill. Congress approved the pay measure in an attempt to make administrative appeals judges' salaries comparable to administrative law judges' salaries. The new pay system became effective in April 2001. OPM's interim rules for the new pay system, published in the Dec. 11 Federal Register, became effective immediately. Administrative appeals judges (AAJs) review the decisions made by administrative law judges (ALJs) and issue final decisions. According to OPM, 39 AAJs from the Health and Human Services and Labor departments and the Social Security Administration are affected by the new pay scale. After the new pay system went into effect in April and until now, agency heads could set a judge's basic pay rate as long as it fell between $82,100 and $113,600. OPM's interim rule introduces six new pay steps. AAJs can advance to the next step annually until they reach the top two levels, then advance on a biennial basis. Time spent in a pay system other than the ALJ pay system is not applicable in the new appeals judges' pay system, according to OPM.