22 U.S.C. § 3967 — Salaries for Foreign Service personnel

Page 1448 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE § 3967 unless the performance of the member during that period is found in a review by a selection board established under section 4002 of this title to fall below the standards of performance for his or her salary class. (b) Additional increase for meritorious service The Secretary may grant, on the basis of espe- cially meritorious service, to any member of the Service receiving an increase in salary under subsection (a), an additional salary increase to any higher step in the salary class in which the member is serving. (Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 406, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2089.) § 3967. Salaries for Foreign Service personnel abroad who perform routine duties (a) The Secretary may establish salary rates at rates lower than those established for the Foreign Service Schedule for the Foreign Serv- ice personnel described in subsection (b). The rates established under this subsection may be no less than the then applicable minimum wage rate specified in section 206(a)(1) of title 29. (b) The Secretary may pay Foreign Service personnel who are recruited abroad, who are not available or are not qualified for assignment to another Foreign Service post, and who perform duties of a more routine nature than are gen- erally performed by Foreign Service personnel assigned to class 9 in the Foreign Service Sched- ule, in accordance with the salary rates estab- lished under subsection (a). (Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 407, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2090.) § 3968. Local compensation plans (a) Establishment; rates of pay; leaves of ab- sence; supplemental payments; transfer from Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (1) The Secretary shall establish compensation (including position classification) plans for for- eign national employees of the Service and United States citizens employed under section 3951(c)(1) of this title. To the extent consistent with the public interest, each compensation plan shall be based upon prevailing wage rates and compensation practices (including partici- pation in local social security plans) for cor- responding types of positions in the locality of employment, except that such compensation plans shall provide for payment of wages to United States citizens at a rate which is no less than the then applicable minimum wage rate specified in section 206(a)(1) of title 29. Any com- pensation plan established under this section may include provision for (A) leaves of absence with pay for employees in accordance with pre- vailing law and employment practices in the lo- cality of employment without regard to any limitation contained in section 6310 of title 5, (B) programs for voluntary transfers of such leave and voluntary leave banks, which shall, to the extent practicable, be established in a man- ner consistent with the provisions of sub- chapters III and IV, respectively, of chapter 63 of title 5, and (C) payments by the Government and employees to (i) a trust or other fund in a finan- cial institution in order to finance future bene- fits for employees, including provision for reten- tion in the fund of accumulated interest and dividends for the benefit of covered employees; or (ii) a Foreign Service National Savings Fund established in the Treasury of the United States, which (I) shall be administered by the Secretary, at whose direction the Secretary of the Treasury shall invest amounts not required for the current needs of the Fund; and (II) shall be public monies, which are authorized to be ap- propriated and remain available without fiscal year limitation to pay benefits, to be invested in public debt obligations bearing interest at rates determined by the Secretary of the Treasury taking into consideration current average mar- ket yields on outstanding marketable obliga- tions of the United States of comparable matu- rity, and to pay administrative expenses. For United States citizens under a compensation plan, the Secretary shall define those allow- ances and benefits provided under United States law which shall be included as part of the total compensation package, notwithstanding any other provision of law, except that this section shall not be used to override United States min- imum wage requirements, or any provision of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.] or title 26. (2) The Secretary may make supplemental payments to any civil service annuitant who is a former foreign national employee of the Serv- ice (or who is receiving an annuity as a survivor of a former foreign national employee of the Service) in order to offset exchange rate losses, if the annuity being paid such annuitant is based on— (A) a salary that was fixed in a foreign cur- rency that has appreciated in value in terms of the United States dollar; and (B) service in a country in which (as deter- mined by the Secretary) the average retire- ment benefits being received by individuals who retired from competitive local organiza- tions are superior to the local currency value of civil service annuities plus any other retire- ment benefits payable to foreign national em- ployees who retired during similar time peri- ods and after comparable careers with the Government. (3)(A) Whenever a foreign national employee so elects during a one-year period established by the Secretary of State with respect to each post abroad, the Secretary of the Treasury (at the di- rection of the Secretary of State) shall transfer such employee’s interest in the Civil Service Re- tirement and Disability Fund to a trust or other local retirement plan certified by the United States Government under a local compensation plan established for foreign national employees pursuant to this section (excluding local social security plans). (B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the phrase ‘‘employee’s interest in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund’’ means the total contributions of the employee and the em- ploying agency with respect to such employee, pursuant to sections 8331(8) and 8334(a)(1) of title 5, respectively, plus interest at the rate provided in section 8334(e)(3) of such title.