Previous messageNext message Previous in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same author Previous page (December 2003) Back to main OGE-ETHICSINFO-L page Join or leave OGE-ETHICSINFO-L (or change settings) Reply Post a new message Search Proportional font Non-proportional font *Date:* Mon, 8 Dec 2003 13:13:30 -0500 *Reply-To:* ETHICS_MAILINGLIST ETHICS_MAILINGLIST *From:* ETHICS_MAILINGLIST ETHICS_MAILINGLIST *Subject:* ETHICS NEWS AND INFORMATION DECEMBER 8, 2003 *Content-Type:* text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 ETHICS NEWS AND INFORMATION DECEMBER 8, 2003 1. MESSAGE FROM ACTING DIRECTOR MARILYN L. GLYNN Effective today, I begin serving as OGE's Acting Director. I will continue to serve in this position until a new Director is selected by the President. I look forward to working with all of you in this new capacity and appreciate all the kind expressions of support I already have received from so many of you. With your assistance I am confident we can complete many of our important ongoing projects during this 25th anniversary year. Please do not hesitate to continue to share your concerns and suggestions with OGE during the coming months. 2. TREATMENT OF LOCALITY PAY FOR NON-SES POSITIONS UNDER AMENDMENTS TO 18 U.S.C. § 207(c) The question has arisen whether the recent amendment of 18 U.S.C. § 207(c), in section 1125 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, means that some non-SES positions, which are still eligible for locality pay, will now meet the basic pay threshold for coverage by the one-year post-employment restriction on former senior employees at 18 U.S.C. § 207(c). As discussed in our previous message of November 25, 2003, section 1125 abolishes locality pay for the SES. We have concluded, after consultation with the Office of Personnel Management, that locality pay for non-SES positions should continue to be excluded from an employee's rate of basic pay for purposes of determining coverage by 18 U.S.C. § 207(c). Section 1125 does not eliminate locality pay for positions in any non-SES type pay system, such as SL, ST, and AL. Furthermore, the new standard for determining senior employee status, in 18 U.S.C. § 207(c)(2)(A)(ii), as amended, no longer contains the express exclusion for locality pay that existed under the prior version of that section. (The exclusion only remains in the 2-year "grandfather"clause that refers to the prior version of the law). The law that established locality pay in the Federal Government provides that locality pay is deemed to be part of basic pay only for specifically enumerated purposes (unrelated to 18 U.S.C. § 207), and "for such other purposes as may be expressly provided by law or as the Office of Personnel Management may by regulation prescribe." 5 U.S.C. § 5304(c)(2)(A)(emphasis added). Nothing in the new amendments or any other law or OPM regulation expressly provides that locality pay is considered part of basic pay for purposes of section 207(c). To the extent that the new amendment omits the former express exclusion of locality pay, we note that section 1125 is focused primarily, as its title suggests, on "Senior Executive Service and Performance," and it is not surprising that Congress would omit the former reference to a type of pay that is not even applicable to the SES now. Finally, there is no suggestion in the language or legislative history of section 1125 that Congress intended what would be a dramatic change to the longstanding treatment of locality pay for purposes of section 207(c)(2)(A)(ii). In sum, for purposes of section 207(c)(2)(A)(ii), locality pay should not be counted as part of basic pay for any non-SES position which is still eligible for locality pay. 3. VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) seeks a Confidential Assistant , GS-0301-12, Office of the Director. For more information, please see Vacancy Identification Number AR183437 on OPM's USAJOBS website at: http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=20050143&AVSDM=2003%2D12%2D02+00%3A01%3A00&Logo=0&col=dltc&cy=&brd=3876&lid=&fn=&q=AR183437 4. ETHICS PROGRAM REVIEW NEWS OGE recently issued a report of its review of the ethics program at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). We found that NRC 's program continues to be administered effectively by Karen D. Cyr, the Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO), Trip Rothschild (Alternate DAEO) and John Szabo. We recently began an ethics program review at Department of the Air Force headquarters and will begin reviews at Kirtland AFB, NM, and the National Institutes of Health. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Back to: Top of message <#TOP> | Previous page | Main OGE-ETHICSINFO-L page ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Back to the LISTSERV home page at LISTSERV.ACCESS.GPO.GOV.