Special Rates Settlement
Did you work for the Federal Government between 1982 and 1990 at a special
rate (other than the standard GS schedules)? If so, you may be entitled to
back pay.
To learn more, about the Special Rates Settlement, click
here
(http://www.specialratessettlement.com). This is the Special Rates website
which was set up by the Class counsel. It includes a FAQ and most of the
important documents.
Exactly who is in the class is defined in the Settlement Agreement, section II. Definition of Class.
If you have registered with the class counsel, you should have received a
settlement offer by now.
If you wish to do your own calculations to evaluate
your offer, you will need:
to read and study the
Remedial Methodology (attachment I to the Settlement Agreement).
The Remedial Methodology describes how the settlement is calculated (the
method of the remedy).
Read and study the
Example (scroll down) available in the FAQ from the
special-rates website. The example clearly states when there were and were not pay raises
and who got them. Perhaps most useful, at the end of the example, is a summary stating
that "only General Engineers paid special rates at grades 5 through 11 between
January and September of 1984 are entitled to back pay."
all dates when you entered or left the class during the class period, the
GS grades (not steps) at which you worked, and the dates of all grade
promotions (steps are not relevant to this calculation). These should be
available on your SF-50's.
Pay schedules, and other spreadsheets. Local
2113 has obtained applicable GS and SR schedules via FOIA request from OPM.
Also included in this Excel file are calculation spreadsheets for GS-0855-11
and GS-0855-12 engineers. These spreadsheets are probably not exactly right,
but they are the best I've been able to come up with so far. Please report
any errors you find to roger.werner@navy.mil (be specific -- don't just say
it didn't match your offer. Please bear in mind the 3-month rule for determining
the alligned step 1 rates.)
Interest Rates
(IAW the Settlement Agreement (sec. III.A.2) we are to be paid interest at the "overpayment"
rate. No, we weren't overpaid. We were underpaid, but this is like
overpaying your taxes. These are the same interest rates which are applied
to refunds in the event of overpayment of federal income tax.)
Other links which you may find useful and/or interesting as you pursue this matter include:
5 USC 5303 Annual adjustments to pay schedules
5 USC 5596 ( refereneced in the Settlement Agreement, concerning interest) and IRC 6621 (referenced by 5 USC 5596).
If you downloaded the spreadsheet containing GS and SR schedules (above),
then you already have sample worksheets for making
the computations. These worksheets are incomplete and are still evolving.
They are provided as is with no waranty of accuracy or usefulness for any
purpose. They suggest and compute various intermediate data which is part of
the calculation. All users of these worksheets are encouraged to check the
numbers and formulas of each and every cell used for compliance with the
Remedial Methodology before relying on any results of these worksheets.
Special Rates info line: 800-750-3406
This page was last updated on September 17, 2003