SEC Halts NTEU-Opposed Merit Pay System
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is temporarily separating its performance management system from its merit pay system, which has been the target of several NTEU grievances alleging discrimination.

Until the agency implements a new performance management system, all employees receiving an 'acceptable' rating will receive an 'equivalent' share of the funds SEC has available for merit increases. The SEC did not specify the percentage increase that each employee would receive.

NTEU has filed a series of grievances for each year since 2003, arguing that the SEC merit pay system discriminates against African Americans and employees age 40 and older. Last fall, an arbitrator ruled in NTEU's favor in the grievance covering the 2003 performance period; the others remain pending.

The SEC's announcement was made last week at a House subcommittee hearing examining pay-for-performance systems in the federal government. President Kelley testified at that hearing, criticizing alternative pay systems at NTEU-represented agencies and defending the General Schedule as a "market-based" system with "the goal of achieving comparability with the private sector."