Pay Administration

Yes. By law (5 U.S.C. 5362(c)), the retained grade of an employee must be treated as the grade of the employee's position for all purposes, including pay setting and pay administration. Thus, the agency must pay the employee under the rules that apply to the General Schedule pay system during the grade retention period. This includes any hazard pay differential that is appropriate for a GS employee who performs the actual duties assigned to the employee (i.e., in this case, the FWS duties). The employee is not entitled to an environmental differential paid to wage employees during the period of GS grade retention.