Prevailing Rate Systems; Change in the Survey Cycle for the Orleans, LA, Nonappropriated Fund Wage Area

AGENCY:

Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION:

Final rule.

SUMMARY:

The Office of Personnel Management is issuing a final rule to change the timing of local wage surveys in the Orleans, Louisiana, nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area. This change will help even out the local wage survey workload for the Department of Defense and improve the amount and quality of data it collects during annual local wage surveys in the Orleans wage area.

DATES:

Effective Date: This regulation is effective on August 14, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jennifer Hopkins, (202) 606-2848, FAX: (202) 606-0824, or email jdhopkin@opm.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On March 23, 2000, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published an interim rule (65 FR 15521) to change the timing of local wage surveys in the Orleans, Louisiana, nonappropriated fund (NAF) Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area. Full-scale wage surveys currently begin in February of each odd-numbered fiscal year. Full-scale wage surveys will now begin in June of each even-numbered fiscal year. Under section 532.207 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, the scheduling of wage surveys takes into consideration the best timing in relation to wage adjustments in the principal local private enterprise establishments, reasonable distribution of workload of the lead agency, timing of surveys for nearby or selected wage areas, and scheduling relationships with other pay surveys.

The Department of Defense asked OPM to change the starting time for local wage surveys in the Orleans wage area to June of even fiscal years to help spread out its survey workload. In addition, this change will avoid annual Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans during the month of February. DOD will conduct a full-scale wage survey in the Orleans wage area in June 2000. DOD will update the data collected in the full-scale wage survey during a “wage change” survey in June 2001.

The Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee, the national labor-management committee responsible for advising OPM on matters concerning the pay of FWS employees, reviewed and concurred by consensus with this change. The interim rule had a 30-day public comment period, during which OPM did not receive any comments.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

I certify that this regulation will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities because it will affect only Federal agencies and employees.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 532

• Administrative practice and procedure
• Freedom of information
• Government employees
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
• Wages

Accordingly, under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 5343, the interim rule (65 FR 15521) amending 5 CFR part 532 published on March 23, 2000, is adopted as final with no changes.