Q. I am a Defense Department employee in Washington D.C. If I change my locality three months before I retire Jan. 1, when I retire would the lesser locality pay kick into my base and be used as the high-3?
A. How may times do I have to say this? Your high-3 is your highest three consecutive years (78 pay periods) of average basic pay, regardless of when they occur in your career.
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How do you know what your basic pay is if locality pay is added in with your hourly pay
Go to https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2017/general-schedule. Look under General Schedule Base for your grade and step. Then go to the Locality Pay Tables for your area and do the same. While those figures are for 2017, they should be close enough for comparison purposes.