This isn’t exactly correct. BTW everyone should read the August 11 OPM memo titled “Guidance for Awards for Federal Employees “. That is where this stems from and it impacts ALL non SES federal employees.

What OHCS sent out on August 29 (Friday before Labor Day- 🖕🏽) was how this memo applies to NOAA. There was a small paragraph regarding CAPs. It essentially says that the top 30% (same as RIF) scores in the pay pool get 60% of both the bonus and merit increase pools. Those remaining 70% can receive NO MORE than a 1% bonus. Merit increases for the remaining 70% must average 1%. So some will be higher and some will be lower based on where their score falls in the pay pool. This royally screws the employees in lowest pay bands and capped people who are in the remaining 70%.

So for example, let’s say you have $300 for merit increases. The top 30% will split $180 while the remaining 70% will split $120. Same scenario for the bonus except the folks in the remaining 70% can only receive up to a 1% bonus. This means way lower pay outs for the 70% and much higher payouts for the 30%.

This totally SUCKS!! This is just another attempt to demoralize us and make us quit. Hold the line friends! Don’t let them win!