Gs pay what is a step

The GS Pay Step system divides each pay grade into 10 steps. When an employee gets a promotion or reaches a new level of seniority, he or she moves to a higher step. In general, it takes 18 years to move from the lowest to the highest step within a single grade. Locality relates to the region where the employee works. This factor adjusts the base rate of pay for the cost of living in a geographic area. While each position is assigned to a specific grade, and each employee is assigned to a step within that grade, the pay rate will vary by location.

This way, the system accommodates the needs of workers in more expensive areas, such as California or major metropolitan areas. While the system may seem complicated, these three factors help address the most fundamental questions involved in compensating a workforce:. Of the three determining factors, locality adjustments can be the most complicated to predict. The tool gathers data on compensation from government and non-government sectors in locations all over the country.

This information is then compared to the base pay of federal employees in similar positions to calculate the locality pay adjustment factor. The GS system is a pay system for civilian employees in the federal government; evaluation and compensation varies by grade level. The qualification requirements for each position at a specific GS level are based on education, background, accomplishments, and experience. The specific requirements will always be listed in the job posting.

Salaries of federal employees are public information, and your salary may become publicly available on sites such as FederalPay. Federal employees on the general schedule range from GS-1 to GS GS grade levels specify a fixed compensation range for a particular position, in particular geographic localities, within the federal government.

If your performance is rated as satisfactory or "pass", you will be granted within-grade step increases in pay at the following intervals:. If you are promoted to the next higher grade… If you are promoted to the next higher grade, you will receive an increase of at least as much as two steps at your current grade. For example, if you are a GS-6 step 5 on the general schedule and you are promoted to the GS-7, your new salary on the GS-7 scale must meet or exceed the pay of a GS-6 step 7 on the general schedule.

Salaries under the GS system have two parts: base pay and a locality pay adjustment. The GS base pay is adjusted to accommodate of the cost of living in various geographical locations. In other words, a GS-7 biologist in San Francisco makes more money than a GS-7 biologist in Atlanta, because the cost of living in San Francisco is higher than the cost of living in Atlanta.

Additionally, pay rates outside of the continental United States are generally 10 to 25 percent higher. If you live and work in Alaska or Hawaii or in the U. While most government agencies use the GS pay scale, more than 40 agencies or agency subcomponents use different pay schedules. Some agencies use special rates within the GS system.

The federal government establishes higher rates of base pay special rates for some jobs in order to recruit and retain top talent for hard-to-fill positions, especially in the scientific, technical, and medical fields. Other agencies and positions use alternative pay schedules. Some agencies, such as the U.