General Schedule

THE GENERAL SCHEDULE

The General Schedule (GS) is a classification and pay system that covers the majority of white collar personnel in the Federal civil service. The GS is broken down into 15 grades, with 10 steps in each grade. Employees generally progress through the system by receiving within-grade increases from one step of the grade of the employee’s position to the next higher step of that grade. Waiting periods determine when an increase is awarded. An employee can also progress through the system with promotions to a higher grade or by receiving Quality Step Increases.

PAY UNDER THE GENERAL SCHEDULE

The General Schedule Base and Locality Pay Tables indicate the pay at each grade and step. Special Salary Rate Tables are only applicable to specific General Schedule positions, for one or more grades, and may depend on the location of the position.

The Civilian Personnel Management Service maintains Special Salary Rate Tables for Medical Occupations, which are organized by the occupations covered and location of the position.

GENERAL SCHEDULE REGULATIONS

Read the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 5 Part 531 to learn more about the regulations related to setting and adjusting rates of basic pay for General Schedule employees. The Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI 1400.25) Volume 531 is also a good resource for determining pay under the General Schedule. The General Schedule structure lends itself to a fixed set of pay-setting rules that are used for all pay-setting situations.