GAO Union and Management Reach Performance Pay Agreement

Washington, DC - (April 20, 2009) - Tentative agreement on the 2009 annual performance-based pay adjustment has been reached between the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the GAO Employees Organization, IFPTE (International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers) Local 1921, the union at GAO. The agreement provides for a performance-based compensation budget factor of 2.65%. This budget factor is used in conjunction with an employee's rating relative to their performance group to calculate pay. Not all employees will receive 2.65 percent - some will receive more and some less depending on individual performance. "The 2.65% budget factor will apply to all pay banded staff except those in developmental programs at GAO and the agreement reached with the union is fair to all sides," said Gene Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General of the U.S. and head of the GAO. "With GAO's strong performance this past year in assisting the Congress and improving government operations, our employees have been working hard."

Union President Ron La Due Lake said, "This agreement helps us achieve our goal of assuring that all GAO employees with ratings of ‘meet expectations' or higher will receive appropriate recognition of their performance through pay." The agreement, which was struck within two weeks after negotiations began, would go into effect after certain required legal steps are taken, including ratification by the union. A ratification vote is expected to be concluded by the beginning of May. The agreement will be retroactive to January 4, 2009 and covers approximately 1,460 non-developmental analysts and specialists employed by GAO and represented by the union.

Today's agreement is in addition to the across-the-board annual adjustment which was agreed to in December. That agreement provided for an across-the-board annual increase equivalent to the General Schedule (GS) annual adjustment for each GAO field office and headquarters. The GS across-the-board hike was set at 2.9 percent plus the locality factor. The total across-the-board adjustment in the Washington area was 4.78 percent so all bargaining unit employees in the DC area with a rating of "meets expectations" or higher received that increase in January. The decision on the performance pay aspect was not made until the omnibus appropriations bill was passed in March setting GAO's budget.

For more information, contact Chuck Young, Managing Director of GAO's Office of Public Affairs, at (202) 512-4800, or Ronald La Due Lake, the GAO Union President, at (202) 512-2760.

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