General Schedule/jen-e-rel skej-ool/ A system of ranking federal employees that’s more arcane than the bureaucracy they run.
In October, the Obama administration began reviewing “Force of the Future,” an initiative that would change how Defense Department employees are paid. If it works, FoF could become a model for replacing the General Schedule, the US government’s pay-and-promotion system. For federal employees, GS is also a tribal code, and a language, all its own.
The Brits originally adapted “schedule” from a Latin word for a strip of paper, to refer to a list of categories—a “schedular” tax system derives revenue from multiple sources, just as the IRS appends schedules for deductions, farm income, and interest to its Form 1040. Likewise, in 1970 the Controlled Substances Act “scheduled” drugs according to how dangerous they were.
Fittingly, then, the General Schedule was created in 1949 as part of that year’s Classification Act, placing “GS” employees—today nearly two-thirds of those on the US payroll—into 15 ranked grades. Within each are ten pay levels, and atop the whole pile is the Senior Executive Service.
A rich family of sub-jargon huddles under the GS. “Locality pay” adjusts for what it really costs to live in, say, Dallas-Fort Worth as opposed to DC, while RUS, for “rest of US,” designates anywhere the schedule doesn’t bother to account for. “Within-grade increases,” or WGIs—pronounced “wiggies”—nudge pay upward.
The GS has its own etiquette, too: Because the schedules are all made public, inquiring about a neighbor’s GS rank is equivalent to asking outright how much he or she makes. And don’t call anyone a GS, or GSer, says Jeffrey Neal, former chief human-capital officer for homeland security, because it can sound dismissive coming from an outsider. But inside agency halls, the designation is often a badge of honor.
The chief flaw of the schedule—designed for a government that was essentially an enormous paper-moving factory—is that it no longer matches reality: Half the workforce is now GS-12 or above.
This article appears in our December 2015 issue of Washingtonian.
The Only Thing More Complicated Than the Federal Government Is How Federal Employees Get Paid
General Schedule /jen-e-rel skej-ool/ A system of ranking federal employees that’s more arcane than the bureaucracy they run.
In October, the Obama administration began reviewing “Force of the Future,” an initiative that would change how Defense Department employees are paid. If it works, FoF could become a model for replacing the General Schedule, the US government’s pay-and-promotion system. For federal employees, GS is also a tribal code, and a language, all its own.
The Brits originally adapted “schedule” from a Latin word for a strip of paper, to refer to a list of categories—a “schedular” tax system derives revenue from multiple sources, just as the IRS appends schedules for deductions, farm income, and interest to its Form 1040. Likewise, in 1970 the Controlled Substances Act “scheduled” drugs according to how dangerous they were.
Fittingly, then, the General Schedule was created in 1949 as part of that year’s Classification Act, placing “GS” employees—today nearly two-thirds of those on the US payroll—into 15 ranked grades. Within each are ten pay levels, and atop the whole pile is the Senior Executive Service.
A rich family of sub-jargon huddles under the GS. “Locality pay” adjusts for what it really costs to live in, say, Dallas-Fort Worth as opposed to DC, while RUS, for “rest of US,” designates anywhere the schedule doesn’t bother to account for. “Within-grade increases,” or WGIs—pronounced “wiggies”—nudge pay upward.
The GS has its own etiquette, too: Because the schedules are all made public, inquiring about a neighbor’s GS rank is equivalent to asking outright how much he or she makes. And don’t call anyone a GS, or GSer, says Jeffrey Neal, former chief human-capital officer for homeland security, because it can sound dismissive coming from an outsider. But inside agency halls, the designation is often a badge of honor.
The chief flaw of the schedule—designed for a government that was essentially an enormous paper-moving factory—is that it no longer matches reality: Half the workforce is now GS-12 or above.
This article appears in our December 2015 issue of Washingtonian.
Benny B. Peterson is a contributing editor for Washingtonian.
Most Popular in News & Politics
Every Bus Line in DC Is Changing This Weekend. Here’s What to Know.
8 Takeaways From Usha Vance’s Interview With Meghan McCain
Yet Another Anti-Trump Statue Has Shown Up on the National Mall
Another Mysterious Anti-Trump Statue Has Appeared on the National Mall
Bans on Underage Vaping, Swastika Graffiti, Synthetic Dyes: New Virginia Laws Go Into Effect in July
Washingtonian Magazine
July Issue: The "Best Of" Issue
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
How Would a New DC Stadium Compare to the Last One?
The Culture of Lacrosse Is More Complex Than People Think
Did Television Begin in Dupont Circle?
Kings Dominion’s Wild New Coaster Takes Flight in Virginia
More from News & Politics
Speaker Johnson’s Megabill Prayers Likely to Be Answered Before Holiday Weekend, Wrongly Deported Maryland Man Faced Abuse in El Salvador Prison, and We Found Some Yummy Nepalese Food
Pardoned J6er Will Join Ed Martin’s Justice Department Office, Trump Outlines Hypothetical Alligator Escape Plan, and We Have Fireworks Show Recommendations
The “World’s Largest Outdoor Museum” Is Coming to DC. Here’s a Preview.
A Cult Classic of Cannabis Brands Is Making Its DC Debut
The Commanders Wine and Dine DC Council Members; GOP Senator Suggests Tax Language Was “Airdropped” Into Spending Bill; and Trump Wants DOGE to Investigate Musk
100 Reasons to Love DC Right Now
How DC’s Attorney General Got So Good at Double Dutch
DC Council Ponders New Way to Expel Trayon White, the GOP’s Budget Bill Advances, and We Found You Some Tacos With Ethiopian Flair