General Schedule (GS) Pay Scale 2021

The General Schedule (GS) pays federal employees a base wage established by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The General Schedule pays a wage range that covers most of the range of income and assets. The major exception is the quantity factor, which is used to set rates for highly paid employees and those whose salaries are set by locality. The general schedule also includes two broad groups:

The General Schedule (GS) pays the basics: a base rate plus one or two-step adjustments for bonuses and retired pay. The General Schedule includes about three hundred positions with detailed descriptions of the grade and level of payment to be earned. In the past, the grades of employees have been determined by a points system based on experience and performance. Currently, the only step by step means of assigning pay is through the scale known as the General Schedule II. The key idea behind the use of the scale in the General Schedule is to fairly compensate all employees, regardless of their level of expertise and performance.

Two broad areas of employee compensation governed by the General Schedule are Senior Management (level of senior management and above) and White-Collar/ Brilliance (white-collar and clerical employees). The White-Collar wages are set by the Office of the President (the President’s Cabinet and staff). The major part of the White-Collar wage is set by the White-Collar Schedule II. On the other hand, the General Schedule pays White-Collar employees for the period of one year up to a maximum of eight years.

The two major factors governing the General Schedule are the number of employees in government (number of employees in the General Schedule), and the number of salaries for these employees. Thus, when an employee is hired by the federal government, they will receive a paycheck for one year. This will be followed by an extension, usually in terms of a whole year, at which point a new schedule will be published. Thus, to keep pace with inflation, increases in the wages of these employees are automatically included in the General Schedule.

Payroll taxes and benefits cover both the Federal government GS pay scale and the General Schedule II. The General Schedule II is used for salaries of civil service positions in the executive branch such as cabinet-level positions and department heads. On the other hand, the government gs pay scale is used for positions in the civil service that are covered by private companies (such as postal workers, correctional officers, etc. ).

If you are currently employed in a government job (as any civil servant who has reached the age specified by the government job specification will qualify), you can use the GSA schedule to find out what grade you are qualified for and compare it to the salary you are eligible for. However, to become eligible for federal government jobs, you must be employed in the federal government. To find out what grade you are eligible for, you will need to see what grade step you are in GSA grade step one, step two, and step three.

GS (General Schedule) Pay Scale 2020 Tables

GS (General Schedule) Pay Scale 2021 Tables