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[Question Concerning Pay for Employee Receiving Retroactive Promotion]

B-217501 Mar 12, 1986
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Highlights

GAO reviewed the effect of a quality step increase on an employee's pay when the employee received a retroactive promotion pursuant to a discrimination complaint. GAO noted that: (1) at the time the employee received the quality step increase, she had filed a discrimination complaint against the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity concerning the selection of another employee to fill a GS-6 position; and (2) the complaint was decided in the employee's favor, which resulted in her promotion to the GS-6 position and entitlement to backpay for that grade. GAO held that: (1) an employee who is entitled to backpay may not be awarded more than she would have received if the erroneous personnel action had not occurred; (2) the quality step increase the employee received in her GS-5 position may not be considered when establishing the employee's rate of pay in a higher grade position; and (3) since the employee's step increase was earned in her lower grade position, it had no effect on the higher position to which she was retroactively promoted. Accordingly, the amount the employee received as a result of the quality step increase should be set off against the amount of her backpay award.

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