Ask the Lawyer received the following question (paraphrased for easier reading and clarity) from a reader on a legal matter that might be of interest to the entire audience.
Q:
Section 1113(c)(1) of The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2010 requires that no employee shall suffer any loss of or decrease in pay due to conversion from NSPS. Does this apply if, while on NSPS, the employee received a management direct reassignment and was compensated for their performance with base salary increases? My leadership informed me that I was not entitled to pay increases I received during my temporary assignment and that my pay was being set based on increases I would have received if not for the NSPS conversion.
A:
It seems your leadership is correct. Section 1113 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 abolished the National Security Personnel System and required all NSPS employees and their positions be converted to the statutory pay system that last applied to the employee’s position before the NSPS applied, or that would have been applied if the NSPS had never been established. That same section states that “no employee shall suffer any loss of or decrease in pay” as a result of the conversion back from NSPS. From your question, it is unclear whether your reassignment was always intended to be temporary when you took it. Assuming the reassignment was intended to be temporary, then the conversion from NSPS back to GS would not be the reason for your reduction in pay, but rather the termination of your reassignment, which would have taken place even if NSPS had never been established, making yours a lawful reduction in pay.
Bill Bransford is managing partner of Shaw Bransford & Roth PC.
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