General Schedule pay, step by step
The General Schedule runs 15 grades of 10 steps each. Getting from step 1 to step 10 takes 18 years of creditable service, and almost everything that goes wrong with federal pay is about which clock is running and what restarted it.
The parts that trip people up
Within-grade increases
A WGI is a periodic increase in basic pay that moves an employee from one step to the next within the same grade. It is not automatic in the sense people assume: it requires performance at an acceptable level of competence, and it requires the waiting period to be complete.
The waiting period is creditable service, not elapsed time, which is where most disputes start.
The waiting periods
Set by where the rate of basic pay sits, not by counting steps:
- 52 weeks while pay is below step 4
- 104 weeks from step 4 up to step 7
- 156 weeks at step 7 and above
Employees without a scheduled tour of duty count days in a pay status instead: 260, 520 and 780 respectively, over no less than the same calendar periods.
What restarts the clock
An equivalent increase is any pay increase at least as large as the within-grade increase for that grade. A promotion is the common one. It resets the waiting period and sets a new date of last equivalent increase (DLEI), which is the date every subsequent WGI is computed from.
A quality step increase (QSI) for outstanding performance moves someone a step ahead of the normal pace, and there must be at least 52 weeks between QSIs.
Promotion, grade and pay retention
On promotion, the two-step rule applies: pay must generally increase by at least two within-grade step increases of the grade being promoted from, as a dollar amount.
Grade retention keeps a higher grade for two years after placement in a lower one, with WGIs and 100 percent of general pay adjustments continuing. Pay retention then keeps a rate that sits above step 10 of the new grade. If the rate fits at or below step 10, there is nothing to retain.
How long to the next step
Waiting periods under 5 CFR 531.405, from whichever step you are on now.
Training on this
Priced on GSA Schedule contract 47QRAA24D004K, available as a private class for one agency on your own dates, and fundable with an SF-182.
Pay setting and classification
All dates Eastern, refreshed daily from the Graduate School USA catalog.
Questions we get
How long between step increases?
It depends where you are. 52 weeks of creditable service while your rate is below step 4, 104 weeks from step 4 to below step 7, and 156 weeks at step 7 and above. That is 936 weeks, about 18 years, from step 1 to step 10.
Is a within-grade increase automatic?
No. It requires the waiting period to be complete and performance at an acceptable level of competence. An agency can deny or delay one, and the employee has a right to reconsideration.
What is an equivalent increase?
A pay increase at least as large as the within-grade increase for the grade, most often a promotion. It restarts the waiting period and sets a new date of last equivalent increase, which becomes the reference point for every WGI after it.
What is a quality step increase?
A QSI advances an employee one step ahead of the normal pace to recognize outstanding performance. There must be at least 52 weeks between QSIs, and a QSI does not itself restart the WGI waiting period the way an equivalent increase does.
What happens to my pay if I move to a lower grade?
Grade retention may keep your former grade for two years, with within-grade increases and full general pay adjustments continuing on that grade. When it ends, pay retention may keep a rate that sits above step 10 of the lower grade. If your rate fits at or below step 10 of the new grade, neither applies because there is nothing to retain.
Where do the actual dollar figures come from?
OPM publishes the General Schedule pay tables annually, with locality rates by pay area. We deliberately do not reprint them here; they change every January and a stale table is worse than none.
Most pay disputes are not about the table, they are about which clock was running and what restarted it.
Training a pay or HR office?
Tell us how many people set pay and whether they need General Schedule, Federal Wage System, or both. We will put a private class together on your dates.