5 U.S.C. § 5546a — Differential pay for certain employees of

Page 679 TITLE 5—GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES § 5546a 1975, by Pub. L. 93–198, title VII, § 711, Dec. 24, 1973, 87 Stat. 818, and replaced by Council of District of Colum- bia, as provided by section 401 of Pub. L. 93–198. CONDITION OF PERFORMANCE Pub. L. 105–277, div. A, § 101(h) [title VI, § 624], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–480, 2681–518, provided that: ‘‘Not- withstanding any other provision of law, no part of any funds provided by this Act or any other Act beginning in fiscal year 1999 and thereafter shall be available for paying Sunday premium pay to any employee unless such employee actually performed work during the time corresponding to such premium pay.’’ Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriations act: Pub. L. 105–61, title VI, § 636, Oct. 10, 1997, 111 Stat. 1316. § 5546a. Differential pay for certain employees of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense (a) The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (hereafter in this section re- ferred to as the ‘‘Administrator’’) and the Sec- retary of Defense (hereafter in this section re- ferred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may pay premium pay at the rate of 5 per centum of the applicable rate of basic pay to— (1) any employee of the Federal Aviation Ad- ministration or the Department of Defense who is— (A) occupying a position in the air traffic controller series classified not lower than GS–9 and located in an air traffic control center or terminal or in a flight service sta- tion; (B) assigned to a position classified not lower than GS–09 or WG–10 located in an air- way facilities sector; or (C) assigned to a flight inspection crew- member position classified not lower than GS–11 located in a flight inspection field of- fice, the duties of whose position are determined by the Administrator or the Secretary to be di- rectly involved in or responsible for the oper- ation and maintenance of the air traffic con- trol system; and (2) any employee of the Federal Aviation Ad- ministration or the Department of Defense who is assigned to a flight test pilot position classified not lower than GS-12 located in a re- gion or center, the duties of whose position are determined by the Administrator or the Sec- retary to be unusually taxing, physically or mentally, and to be critical to the advance- ment of aviation safety; and (3) any employee of the Federal Aviation Ad- ministration who occupies a position at the Federal Aviation Administration Academy, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the duties of which are determined by the Administrator to require the individual to be actively engaged in or directly responsible for training employ- ees to perform the duties of a position de- scribed in subparagraph (a); (b); or (c) or para- graph (1) of this subsection, and who, imme- diately prior to assuming such position at such Academy, occupied a position referred to in subparagraph (a), (b), or (c) of paragraph (1) of this subsection. (b) The premium pay payable under any sub- section of this section is in addition to basic pay and to premium pay payable under any other subsection of this section and any other provi- sion of this subchapter. (c)(1) The Administrator or the Secretary may pay premium pay to any employee of the Fed- eral Aviation Administration or the Department of Defense who— (A) is an air traffic controller located in an air traffic control center or terminal; (B) is not required as a condition of employ- ment to be certified by the Administrator or the Secretary as proficient and medically qualified to perform duties including the sepa- ration and control of air traffic; and (C) is so certified. (2) Premium pay paid under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be paid at the rate of 1.6 per centum of the applicable rate of basic pay for so long as such employee is so certified. (d)(1) The Administrator or the Secretary may pay premium pay to any air traffic controller of the Federal Aviation Administration or the De- partment of Defense who is assigned by the Ad- ministrator or the Secretary to provide on-the- job training to another air traffic controller while such other air traffic controller is directly involved in the separation and control of live air traffic. (2) Premium pay paid under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be paid at the rate of 10 per centum of the applicable hourly rate of basic pay times the number of hours and portion of an hour during which the air traffic controller of the Federal Aviation Administration or the De- partment of Defense provides on-the-job train- ing. (e)(1) The Administrator or the Secretary may pay premium pay to any air traffic controller or flight service station specialist of the Federal Aviation Administration or the Department of Defense who, while working a regularly sched- uled eight-hour period of service, is required by his supervisor to work during the fourth through sixth hour of such period without a break of thirty minutes for a meal. (2) Premium pay paid under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be paid at the rate of 50 per centum of one-half of the applicable hourly rate of basic pay. (f)(1) The Administrator or the Secretary shall prescribe standards for determining which air traffic controllers and other employees of the Federal Aviation Administration or the Depart- ment of Defense are to be paid premium pay under this section. (2) The Administrator and the Secretary may prescribe such rules as he determines are nec- essary to carry out the provisions of this sec- tion. (Added Pub. L. 97–276, § 151(c)(1), (d), Oct. 2, 1982, 96 Stat. 1200, 1201; amended Pub. L. 97–377, title I, § 145(a), formerly § 145, Dec. 21, 1982, 96 Stat. 1917, renumbered Pub. L. 98–78, title III, § 320(1), Aug. 15, 1983, 97 Stat. 473; Pub. L. 98–525, title XV, § 1537(c)(1)–(6)(A), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2635, 2636.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1984—Pub. L. 98–525, § 1537(c)(6)(A), inserted ‘‘and the Department of Defense’’ in section catchline. Page 680 TITLE 5—GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES § 5547 Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–525, § 1537(c)(1)(A), inserted ‘‘and the Secretary of Defense (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Secretary’)’’ in provisions preceding par. (1). Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 98–525, § 1537(c)(1)(B), inserted ‘‘or the Department of Defense’’ in provisions preceding subpar. (A) and ‘‘or the Secretary’’ in provisions fol- lowing subpar. (C). Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 98–525, § 1537(c)(1)(C), inserted ‘‘or the Department of Defense’’ and ‘‘or the Sec- retary’’. Subsecs. (c)(1), (d), (e)(1), (f)(1). Pub. L. 98–525, § 1537(c)(2)–(5)(A), inserted ‘‘or the Secretary’’ after ‘‘Administrator’’ wherever appearing, and ‘‘or the De- partment of Defense’’ after ‘‘Administration’’ wherever appearing. Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 98–525, § 1537(c)(5)(B), inserted ‘‘and the Secretary’’. 1982—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 97–377 added par. (3). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1984 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 98–525 effective Oct. 1, 1984, see section 1537(f) of Pub. L. 98–525, set out as a note under section 4109 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1982 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 97–377, title I, § 145(b), as added by Pub. L. 98–78, title III, § 320(2), Aug. 15, 1983, 97 Stat. 473, pro- vided that: ‘‘The amendment made by subsection (a) of this section [amending this section] shall be effective as of 5 o’clock ante meridian eastern daylight time, Au- gust 3, 1981.’’ EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 97–276, § 151(h)(1), Oct. 2, 1982, 96 Stat. 1202, provided that: ‘‘(1) The amendments made by subsections 152 [151] (b), (c), (e), and (g) of this joint resolution [enacting subsecs. (a) and (b) of this section and amending sec- tions 5532, 5547, and 8344 of this title] shall take effect at 5 o’clock ante meridian eastern daylight time, Au- gust 3, 1981. ‘‘(2) The amendments made by subsection 152 [151] (a) and subsection 152 [151] (d) of this joint resolution [en- acting subsecs. (c)–(f) of this section and amending sec- tion 4109 of this title] shall take effect on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning after the date of the enactment of this joint resolution [Oct. 2, 1982].’’ § 5547. Limitation on premium pay (a) An employee may be paid premium pay under sections 5542, 5545(a), (b), and (c), 5545a, 5546(a) and (b), and 5550 only to the extent that the payment does not cause the aggregate of basic pay and such premium pay for any pay pe- riod for such employee to exceed the greater of— (1) the maximum rate of basic pay payable for GS–15 (including any applicable locality- based comparability payment under section 5304 or similar provision of law and any appli- cable special rate of pay under section 5305 or similar provision of law); or (2) the rate payable for level V of the Execu- tive Schedule. (b)(1) Subject to regulations prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management, subsection (a) shall not apply to an employee who is paid pre- mium pay by reason of work in connection with an emergency (including a wildfire emergency) that involves a direct threat to life or property, including work performed in the aftermath of such an emergency. (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), no em- ployee referred to in such paragraph may be paid premium pay under the provisions of law cited in subsection (a) if, or to the extent that, the aggregate of the basic pay and premium pay under those provisions for such employee would, in any calendar year, exceed the greater of— (A) the maximum rate of basic pay payable for GS–15 in effect at the end of such calendar year (including any applicable locality-based comparability payment under section 5304 or similar provision of law and any applicable special rate of pay under section 5305 or simi- lar provision of law); or (B) the rate payable for level V of the Execu- tive Schedule in effect at the end of such cal- endar year. (3) Subject to regulations prescribed by the Of- fice of Personnel Management, the head of an agency may determine that subsection (a) shall not apply to an employee who is paid premium pay to perform work that is critical to the mis- sion of the agency. Such employees may be paid premium pay under the provisions of law cited in subsection (a) if, or to the extent that, the ag- gregate of the basic pay and premium pay under those provisions for such employee would not, in any calendar year, exceed the greater of— (A) the maximum rate of basic pay payable for GS–15 in effect at the end of such calendar year (including any applicable locality-based comparability payment under section 5304 or similar provision of law and any applicable special rate of pay under section 5305 or simi- lar provision of law); or (B) the rate payable for level V of the Execu- tive Schedule in effect at the end of such cal- endar year. (c) The Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe regulations governing the methods of applying subsection (b)(2) and (b)(3) to employ- ees who receive premium pay under section 5545(c) or 5545a, or to firefighters covered by sec- tion 5545b who receive overtime pay for hours in their regular tour of duty, and the method of payment to such employees. Such regulations may limit the payment of such premium pay on a biweekly basis. (d) This section shall not apply to any em- ployee of the Federal Aviation Administration or the Department of Defense who is paid pre- mium pay under section 5546a. (e) Any supplemental pay resulting from re- ceipt of the level 1 border patrol rate of pay or the level 2 border patrol rate of pay under sec- tion 5550 shall be considered premium pay in ap- plying this section. (Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 488; Pub. L. 90–83, § 1(31), Sept. 11, 1967, 81 Stat. 201; Pub. L. 97–276, § 151(e), Oct. 2, 1982, 96 Stat. 1201; Pub. L. 98–525, title XV, § 1537(d), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2636; Pub. L. 100–523, § 2, Oct. 24, 1988, 102 Stat. 2605; Pub. L. 101–509, title V, § 529 [title II, § 204, title IV, § 410(b)], Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1427, 1456, 1469; Pub. L. 102–378, § 2(43), Oct. 2, 1992, 106 Stat. 1352; Pub. L. 103–329, title VI, § 633(b)(2), Sept. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 2427; Pub. L. 107–107, div. A, title XI, § 1114(a), Dec. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 1239; Pub. L. 113–277, § 2(g)(1), Dec. 18, 2014, 128 Stat. 3005.)