The Foreign Service Journal, December 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2015 53 AFSA NEWS The U.S. Foreign Service deploys worldwide to protect and serve America’s people, interests and values. Fulfilling this mission—to represent our country around the globe—means living in some dangerous places, including places with no significant U.S. military presence. Members of the Foreign Service have a long his- tory of accepting the risks inherent in doing their jobs, based in part on a bedrock belief in the importance of an American diplomatic and development presence, even in the most challenging envi- ronments. The Foreign Service Act of 1980 recognized this risk by authorizing the provision of a danger pay allowance “on the basis of civil insur- rection, civil war, terrorism or wartime conditions which threaten physical harm or imminent danger to the health or wellbeing of the employee.” When the Department of State announced earlier this year that it intended to make Changes to Danger and Hardship Differentials changes to post danger and hardship differentials (see 15 State 27856), AFSA reached out to management seek- ing to understand fully the department’s proposal and its implications. By law, AFSA was unable to negotiate the amounts adjusted or posts affected because the new regulations apply to employees govern- mentwide. However, AFSA does have the right to consult with management prior to the implementation of any such changes. While the depart- ment made the decision to implement the changes despite AFSA’s proposal to delay implementation until Jan. 1, 2016, management did accept many of AFSA’s pro- posals to mitigate some of the changes’ adverse effects (see 15 STATE 48886). Fair Share Bidding: Employees already assigned to a post that drops below the 15-percent threshold as a result of the new designa- tions will receive credit for their service at the post so that they will not be consid- ered fair-share bidders in the next bidding cycle. 6/8 Eligibility: If the tour of duty for a post increases due to changes under the new rules, employees will be allowed to serve the tour in effect when they were assigned to that post and still meet the 6/8 eligibility requirements for restarting the period of continuous domestic assignment. 2014 Bidders: The department will extend fair share and 6/8 provisions to all employees assigned in 2014 who have not yet arrived at post. They will, however, be subject to the updated danger and hardship rates. The department was unable to accept AFSA’s proposal to grandfather allowances for Foreign Service employees, because allowances are a component of the Department of State Standardized Regulations covering all civilian employ- ees overseas. Similarly, the department could not agree to grandfa- ther employees participating in the Student Loan Repay- ment Program, because benefits are disbursed pursuant to a 12-month term, and eligibility of positions is subject to change on a yearly basis. The changes to danger pay and hardship differ- entials went into effect on Sept. 6. See 15 STATE 104596 for complete details on how these changes affect your post. AFSA thanks all members who shared their concerns regarding the reforms. We agree that this change has taken place at a time when it is more challenging than ever to carry out our mission. You may email us at afsa@state. gov or call (202) 647-8160 if you have any questions on this issue. n —Maria C. Livingston, Associate Editor APPLY FOR AFSA YOUTH SCHOLARSH I PS The children of AFSA members (active-duty or retired) can now apply for college aid at www.afsa.org/scholar. Graduating high school seniors can apply for academic and art merit awards and a community service award, each worth $2,500. Current college undergraduates can apply for need-based financial aid scholarships ranging from $3,000 to $5,000. The application deadline for the merit award program is Feb. 6, 2016. The deadline for the need-based financial aid scholarships is March 6, 2016. Not all who submit an application will receive an award. For more information, contact AFSA Scholarship Director Lori Dec at (202) 944-5504 or dec@afsa.org. n NEWS BRIEF