The Foreign Service Journal, November 2014

82 NOVEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AFSA Files Cohort Grievance on State OCP Adjustments On Aug. 22, the State Department announced that it had overpaid Overseas Comparability Pay in Fiscal Year 2014 and would adjust OCP for one pay period to avoid exceeding the statu- tory cap. The FY 2014 Appropria- tions Act changed the basis for the State Department’s payment of Overseas Com- parability Pay from 16.52 percent of base pay to “no more than two-thirds of Washington, D.C., Locality Pay,” which works out to be 16.14 percent of base pay. Employees were not informed until Aug. 22 that, to avoid exceeding the statutory cap in FY 2014, OCP would be reduced to 9.1 percent of base pay for Pay Period 18—starting on Sept. 7. Going forward from Pay Period 19, OCP would be paid at 16.14 percent. AFSA agrees that the department has an obliga- tion to correct the OCP so as not to exceed the newly authorized cap (see State 001596). However, AFSA maintains that the adjust- ments for individual employ- ees should be in line with the amounts needed to recover the excess payments. The department’s pro- posed mechanism exceeds actual overpayment by amounts ranging from $15 to $248, depending on how long the employee has been overseas. It is particularly egregious for those employ- ees who recently joined the department, or who recently arrived at their overseas post; they are being treated as if they had received OCP for the entire year. AFSA proposed, prior to the Aug. 22 announcement, that the most equitable implementation would be for the department to calculate actual repayment amounts for all of the approximately 11,000 employees affected, as it did for the 2,000 employees who received OCP for part of the year but are now receiving appropri- ate locality pay in the United States. Accordingly, AFSA will file a cohort grievance with the department on behalf of For- eign Service employees who may have their pay reduced in Pay Period 18 in amounts larger than they were over- paid since Jan. 1. Going forward, AFSA continues to seek legislation from Congress for perma- nent authorization and full funding of Overseas Compa- rability Pay. This is a top leg- islative priority in the AFSA 2013-2015 strategic plan ( www.bit.ly/AFSAplan) and a major focus of congressional advocacy (see www.bit.ly/ AFSApriorityissues). AFSA is working closely with the department on the shared objective of full OCP authorization and funding. Earlier this year, before pas- sage of the FY 14 Appropria- tions Act, AFSA President Robert J. Silverman reit- erated AFSA’s request in letters to appropriators (see www.bit.ly/AFSAletter1) and, in September, to authorizers (see www.bit.ly/ AFSAletterOCP). AFSA looks to Secre- tary of State John Kerry for leadership to achieve a permanent OCP authoriza- tion, as part of his legacy to the department. It is Sec. Kerry who, while in the Sen- ate, introduced the Foreign Service Overseas Pay Equity Act of 2008, which became the basis for the authorizing language appearing in the 2009 Supplemental Appro- priations Act. n –Compiled by Debra Blome, Associate Editor AFSA RECE I VES H I GHEST COMMENDAT I ON I N 20 1 3 AUD I T For the fifth year in a row, AFSA received the high- est possible commendation after its annual audit: a clean (unmodified) opinion. The accounting firm of Clifton Larson Allen LLP found no deficiencies in AFSA’s financial operations. During 2013, AFSA continued to steadily upgrade its financial management and related governance procedures. The renewed attention to such matters was sparked several years ago and has been carried through into 2014. AFSA’s finan- cial strength has enabled it to deepen services and professionalize as an organization. AFSA Executive Director Ian Houston lauds the financial oversight roles that former AFSA Trea- surer Andrew Winter and current AFSA Treasurer Charles Ford played in achieving this rating. “The Finance, Audit and Management Com- mittee that the treasurer chairs has played a vital fiduciary role,” Houston says. “The entire leader- ship team executed a superb transition in 2013.” NEWS BRIEF AFSA continues to seek legislation from Congress for permanent authorization and full funding of Overseas Comparability Pay.