Office of the General Counsel

Date: January 12, 2000
Matter of: [xxx]
File Number: S003641

OPM Contact: Murray M. Meeker

The claimant is a civilian [agency] employee who was formerly the [xxx] Reserve [xxx], GS-[xxx]-12, at [xxx]Air Force Base (AFB) in [xxx]. The claimant requests retroactive supervisory differential pay for the period from February 1995 to September 1998, when he supervised an [xxx] Supervisor, WS-xxx]-13, who earned approximately $10,000 per year more than the claimant. For the reasons discussed herein, the claim is denied.

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. ' 5755, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has issued regulations which provide that the head of an agency or an official who has been delegated authority to act for the head of the agency may pay a supervisory differential to General Schedule supervisors who, inter alia, provide direct, technical supervision to one or more civilian employees whose positions are not under the General Schedule. 5 C.F.R. ' 575.402.

The Staff Judge Advocate, Headquarters [xxx], [xxx] AFB, has informed OPM that the authority to authorize supervisory differential pay for employees assigned to the Civilian Personnel [xxx] at [xxx]AFB has been delegated to the [xxx] Commander and that the Civilian Personnel Office acts for the Commander in the administration of this authority.

On January 24, 1997, the Chief, Civilian Personnel Office, Directorate of Personnel, [xxx] AFB, announced that the claimant did not satisfy the requirements for the supervisory differential. The decision explained that the claimant, a third line supervisor, was not required to provide direct, technical supervision, to his Federal Wage System subordinates. This determination was subsequently reviewed and affirmed by Headquarters, [agency] (HQ [acronym]), [xxx]Air Force Base, [xxx], which explained that while the claimant may have possessed the technical knowledge that would have enabled him to provide direct, technical supervision to his Federal Wage System subordinates, the position that the claimant incumbered did not require that the incumbent possess this knowledge or that the incumbent provide direct, technical supervision. The agency concluded, therefore, that the claimant was not eligible for a supervisory differential.

In accordance with these determinations, the claim is denied. This settlement is final. No further administrative review is available within OPM. Nothing in this settlement limits the employee's right to bring an action in an appropriate United States Court.