Q. I work for the Air Force in Germany (YA-02/GS-13). In a recent question/answer on your Web site, it was stated locality pay would start for “affected employees” in 2010. In my situation, would I be an “affected employee?” It further states the locality pay will be phased in. In 2010/2011, overseas employees would only get one-third/two thirds of the locality pay. Will we still be getting some type of post allowance/COLA so that we don’t end up getting paid less than we did in 2009?
Why are overseas employees going to be tied to the “rest of the U.S.” locality pay table? This is one of the lowest salary rates of all the locality pay tables. Overseas living expenses are as high or higher than many other specific-city locality pay rates especially with the low Euro-dollar rate. Are overseas employees going to get some type of post allowance/COLA in addition to locality pay to account for currency fluctuation, or are overseas employees going to continue getting the worst pay deal of all, like they have been getting for many years now?
A The change in law only applies to those employees who work in nonforeign areas of the U.S., specifically, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
