PAY

The express terms of this Article apply to Air Traffic Control Specialists (ATCS) assigned to the terminal/en route options, Traffic Management Coordinators/Specialists (TMC/TMS), Air Traffic Control Specialists assigned to the Flight Service option, and NOTAMS bargaining units.

Definitions.

a. Air Traffic Control (ATC) Facility: Terminal facility, en route facility, or the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (A TCSCC).

b. Base Pay: Employee’s pay rate including applicable Locality Pay adjustment in effect.

c. Basic Pay: Employee’s pay rate excluding applicable Locality Pay adjustment in effect.

d. Certified Professional Controller (CPC): This title applies to an Air Traffic Control Specialist, who is or has been facility certified in a terminal/en route air traffic control facility or flight service station (FSS) in the Agency. Once an employee has achieved CPC status in his/her first terminal/en route facility or FSS, that status is permanent.

For TMCs and TMSs, this title applies to Air Traffic Control Specialists who are facility certified and are involved in the traffic flow management of aircraft.

e. CPC/TMC/TMS-In Training (CPC-IT/TMC-IT/TMS-IT): This title applies to a CPC/TMC/TMS who transfers into a new facility.

f. Demotion: Movement from a Front Line Manager (FLM) position or higher into a CPC position.

g. Developmental: This title applies to an air traffic controller in training at a field facility who has never been facility certified in a terminal/en route air traffic control facility, flight service station, or the ATCSCC in the Agency. For pay setting purposes, developmental stages are Developmental-1 (D1), Developmental-2 (D2), and Developmental-3 (D3). Academy Graduate (AG) is not considered a developmental stage for pay setting purposes.

h. Facility Pay Level (FPL): Established using a complexity formula for pay setting (Appendix A) that computes a Traffic Count Index (TCI) for each air traffic facility in the terminal and en route options.

i. New Hire: This title applies to an individual who is not currently a federal employee and has never been employed as an Air Traffic Control Specialist in a terminal/en route air traffic control facility, flight service station, or the ATCSCC in the Agency.

j. New Entrant: This title applies to a current federal employee who has never been employed by the Agency as an Air Traffic Control Specialist in a terminal/en route air traffic control facility, flight service station, or the ATCSCC in the Agency.

k. Promotion is defined as:

(1) Movement from AG into the first developmental stage.

(2) Movement from the final developmental stage into the CPC position.

(3) Movement from the CPC position to an FLM or higher position.

l. Re-Entrant:

(1) CPC Re-Entrant: This title applies to an individual who is not currently employed as an Air Traffic Controller by the Agency, but was previously a CPC in a terminal/en route air traffic control facility, flight service station, or the ATCSCC in the Agency.

(2) Developmental Re-Entrant: This title applies to an individual who is not currently employed as an Air Traffic Controller by the Agency, but was previously a developmental controller in the Agency.

m. TemporaryPromotion:MovementfromaCPCtoanFLMor higher position for a temporary period of time.

n. Transfer: Any movement of a CPC/TMC/TMS/Staff Support Specialist (SSS) or Developmental Air Traffic Controller to another CPC/TMC/TMS/SSS or Developmental Controller position at the same, lower, or higher ATC FPL or flight service station (e.g. bids, swaps, and Employee Requested Reassignments).

There are four (4) kinds of transfers:

(1) Transfer to a higher level facility.

(2) Transfer to a lower level facility.

(3) Transfer to the same level facility.

(4) Either voluntary or involuntary transfer between CPC and SSS positions.

o. Unsuccessful Training: The inability to successfully conclude an air traffic control training program in either a terminal facility, en route facility, flight service station, or the ATCSCC in the Agency. For the purposes of pay setting, there are two (2) scenarios applicable to unsuccessful training:

(1) Developmental: Initial certification attempt(s) with the purpose of attaining CPC status.

(2) CPC-IT certification: Subsequent certification by a CPC upon reporting to a new facility.

Pay Rates.

a. Bargaining unit employees assigned to terminal/en route facilities shall have their pay determined by the ATC FPL to which they are assigned. ATC FPLs range from ATC FPL-4 through ATC FPL- 12.

b. The Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) shall be equivalent to the highest ATC FPL.

c. NOTAM Specialists shall be paid equivalent to the ATC FPL-8 pay band.

d. Bargaining unit employees assigned to the Flight Service option shall be paid in accordance with the FSS pay band.

Additional Pay.

a. Locality Pay: Eligible bargaining unit employees will receive Locality Pay in addition to Basic Pay and will have their Locality Pay adjusted annually consistent with government-wide changes as defined in Title 5 USC Chapter 53 coincidental with the annual pay adjustment. Basic Pay is used to calculate pay actions and then applicable Locality Pay is applied on the Basic Pay in effect.

b. Premium/Differential Pay:

(1) COLA Pay/Post Differential: Eligible employees will receive COLA Pay/Post Differential as defined by statute and as currently administered outside the contiguous forty- eight (48) states.

(2) Sunday Premium Pay: Employees will earn Sunday premium pay at an additional rate of twenty-five percent (25%) of their hourly rate of Base Pay for all hours actually worked on Sunday.

(3) Night Differential: Employees will earn night differential at an additional rate of ten percent (10%) of their hourly rate of Base Pay for all hours actually worked between 6:00 PM and 6:00 AM, unless otherwise provided for in this Agreement.

(4) Affordability Differential: Employees will receive an affordability differential at an additional rate of their hourly rate of Base Pay to offset affordability, commuting, and other issues affecting specific locations in accordance with Appendix K.

(5) Overtime Pay: Employees will receive overtime pay as defined in Article 38 of this Agreement.

(6) Holiday Premium: Employees will receive holiday premium pay as defined in Article 28 of this Agreement.

(7) Controller-In-Charge (CIC) Premium: Employees will receive CIC premium pay as defined in Article 18 of this Agreement.

(8) Missed Meal Pay: Employees will receive missed meal premium pay as defined in Article 33 of this Agreement.

(9) On-The-Job Training Instruction (OJTI): Employees will receive OJTI premium pay as defined in Article 68 of this Agreement.

(10) Hazardous Duty Pay Differential(s): Employees will receive hazardous duty pay differential(s) as defined in Article 81 of this Agreement.

(11) Remote Site Pay: Employees permanently assigned to a covered flight service station or those who work rotational assignments at a covered flight service station, identified in Appendix L, shall receive a ten percent (10%) premium computed on Base Pay for all hours worked at a covered facility.

(12) Other: Employees will be paid other premiums/differentials in accordance with applicable statute or regulations.

New Hire/New Entrant/Re-Entrant Pay Setting.

a. New Hire (required to attend Initial Qualifications (IQ) Training): Basic Pay for terminal and en route employees is set at the AG pay band effective the day after their graduation from the FAA Academy.

Basic Pay for Flight Service employees is set at the FSS IQ pay band upon entering initial qualifications training and is set at the FSS AG pay band upon successful completion thereof.

b. New Hire (not required to attend Initial Qualifications Training): Basic Pay set at the AG pay band upon the effective date of his/her appointment to his/her facility of record.

c. New Entrant: A new entrant will retain his/her current federal pay up to the maximum of the Developmental-3 pay band.

d. For a Military or DOD Civilian controller with fifty-two (52) consecutive weeks experience as a certified air traffic controller, Basic Pay shall be set at the lowest developmental pay level for the assigned ATC facility upon the effective date of their appointment to their facility of record.

e. Re-Entrant:

(1) CPC Re-Entrants shall be considered a CPC at their assigned facility.

(a) CPC Re-Entrant currently employed by the federal government will retain current Basic Pay if it is within the CPC pay band for the assigned ATC facility.

i. If current Basic Pay is below the minimum of the CPC pay band for the ATC Facility Pay Level, pay will be raised to the minimum of the CPC pay band. If the current Basic Pay exceeds the established CPC pay band, pay will be set at the top of the CPC pay band.

CPC Re-Entrants not currently employed by the federal government will have their Basic Pay set in the CPC pay band of the facility to which the employee is assigned.

i. If the previous Basic Pay is below the minimum of the CPC pay band for the ATC Facility Pay Level, pay will be raised to the minimum of the CPC pay band. If the previous Basic Pay exceeds the established CPC pay band, pay will be set at the top of the CPC pay band.

(2) Developmental Re-Entrants currently employed by the federal government will retain their federal pay up to the maximum of the Developmental-3 pay band.

(3) Developmental Re-Entrants voluntarily separated for more than one (1) year or involuntarily separated, Basic Pay shall be set at the AG pay band.

(4) Developmental Re-Entrants voluntarily separated for less than one (1) year, Basic Pay shall be set at the minimum of the Developmental stage held prior to separation. If the same Developmental stage does not exist at the new facility, employee’s pay is set at the minimum of the lowest available Developmental stage above the AG level at the new facility.

f. When an employee qualifies in more than one of the categories in this Section, pay will be set to provide the maximum benefit to the employee.

Developmental Pay Setting.

a. The developmental pay band minimums identified in Appendix C have been established using the following formula based on the difference between the AG pay level minimum and the CPC pay band minimum:

b. Progression upward to the next developmental stage (including the CPC pay band) will be to the minimum of the next developmental (or CPC) pay level or a six percent (6%) increase to Basic Pay, whichever is greater.

Transfer Pay Setting.

a. FSS employees transferring to an ATC Facility: If an FSS employee’s Basic Pay is below the ATC FPL-5 band maximum, the employee’s pay shall be considered as if it were an ATC FPL- 5; if an FSS employee’s Basic Pay is above the ATC FPL-5 band maximum, the employee’s pay shall be considered as if it were an ATC FPL-6.

b. ATC employees transferring to an FSS: If an employee’s Basic Pay is below the FSS pay band minimum, the employee shall be treated as if the employee is transferring to a higher level facility; if an employee’s Basic Pay fits within the FSS pay band, there is no change in Basic Pay; if an employee’s Basic Pay is above the FSS pay band maximum, the employee shall be treated as if the employee is transferring to a lower level facility.

c. CPC transfer to a higher level facility, pay is set as follows

Note: Employees whose Basic Pay exceeds the pay band maximum of the new facility will not receive the percentage increase; their Basic Pay will remain unchanged.

(1) One-half (1/2) of the increase is paid upon initial transfer to the new facility; the other one-half (1/2) is paid when fully certified in the new facility.

d. CPC transfer to a lower level facility:

(1) Voluntary: Basic Pay is set at the current Basic Pay if it falls within the new CPC pay band. If current Basic Pay is higher than the top of the new band, Basic Pay is set at the top of the CPC pay band.

(2) Involuntary through no fault of the employee: Basic Pay is unchanged and the employee shall be granted pay retention.

(3) Involuntary for Cause: Basic Pay is set at the current Basic Pay if it falls within the new CPC pay band. If current Basic Pay is higher than the top of the new band, Basic Pay is set at the top of the CPC pay band.

e. Transfer to the same level facility: Basic Pay is unchanged or band minimum, whichever is greater.

f. Employees transferring pursuant to exercising return rights under Article 59 of this Agreement: Basic Pay will first be recalculated as though the employee never left the facility at which he/she was last fully certified prior to executing his/her first tour of duty under Article 59 of this Agreement. Transfer pay will then be set in accordance with paragraphs (a) - (e) of this Section.

g. A CPC-IT who does not achieve facility certification in the new facility shall have his/her pay set as though the employee never left the facility at which the employee was last fully certified. Transfer pay will then be set in accordance with paragraphs (a) - (e) of this Section.

h. Developmental controller transfer:

(1) Voluntary transfer to the same or higher level facility: Basic Pay is unchanged.

(2) Voluntary transfer to a lower level facility: Basic Pay is unchanged if it falls within the pay band of the same Developmental stage of the lower level facility, not to exceed the pay band maximum. If the same Developmental stage does not exist at the new facility, employee’s pay is set at lowest available Developmental stage at the new facility, not to exceed the pay band maximum.

(3) Involuntary transfer (through no fault of the employee) to a lower level facility: Basic Pay is unchanged and the employee shall be granted pay retention.

(4) A developmental controller who previously transferred to a new facility under (1) or (2) of this subsection, but does not achieve facility certification and is reassigned a lower level facility shall have his/her pay set at the same Developmental stage percentage of the lower level facility’s minimum Developmental stage. If the same Developmental stage does not exist at the new facility, the employee’s pay is set at the lowest available Developmental stage at the new facility, and pay may not exceed the Developmental pay band maximum.

i. Hardship Transfers and Transfers for Mutual Reassignment:

When a bargaining unit employee is granted a Hardship Transfer or Transfer for Mutual Reassignment (Swap), pay is set as follows:

(1) CPC: (a)

Transferring to the same or higher level facility:

i. Basic Pay is unchanged and is not subject to the pay band maximum at the time of transfer.

ii. If current Basic Pay is below the CPC pay band at the new facility, Basic Pay is set at the minimum of the pay band upon becoming facility certified.

Transferring to a lower level facility:

i. If current Basic Pay fits into the CPC pay band of the lower level facility, Basic Pay remains unchanged.

ii. If current Basic Pay is higher than the top of the new CPC pay band, Basic Pay is set at the top of the new pay band.

(b)

(2) CPC-ITs who previously transferred under Section 7(c) who have not yet fully certified in their new facility will have their Basic Pay recalculated as though they never left the previous facility and then Section 7(i)(1) described above for a CPC Hardship Transfer/Swap shall apply.

(3) CPCs and CPC-ITs who transfer to a lower ATC FPL in accordance with the rules of Section 7(i)(1)(b), and who subsequently transfer to a higher ATC FPL within two (2) years of the effective date of the initial transfer, will have their pay set in accordance with the rules of Section 7(i)(1)(a) rather than Section 7(c).

(4) Developmentals who transfer under this subsection will have their pay set in accordance with Section 7(h).

j. On movement from an SSS to CPC within the same facility, pay remains unchanged.

Annual Adjustments to Pay Bands.

Pay bands are to be adjusted annually in the first full pay period of January equivalent to the percentage pay schedules are adjusted for employees under the General Schedule (GS).

Annual Pay Adjustments.

a. Each employee will receive an annual increase to Basic Pay equivalent to that provided to other federal employees in the annual adjustment to pay under the statutory General Schedule (GS) increase effective the first full pay period in January.

b. Each employee will receive an annual length of service adjustment of one-point-six percent (1.6%) to Basic Pay, not to exceed the pay band maximum, effective the first full pay period in June. If the length of service adjustment will cause the employee’s Basic Pay to exceed the band maximum or the employee’s Basic Pay is already equal to or exceeds the band maximum, the employee will receive a pay increase up to the band maximum and the remainder as a lump sum payment, effective the first full pay period in June. The annual length of service adjustment to Basic Pay shall not be granted in any year in which a prohibition on step increases under the General Schedule (GS) is enacted by statute.

Facility Pay Level Increase.

a. CPCs/TMCs/TMSs in a facility whose ATC FPL increases will have their Basic Pay increased by six percent (6%) for each level the facility is raised up to the new pay band maximum or to the new pay band minimum, whichever is greater.

b. CPC-ITs/TMC-ITs/TMS-ITs in a facility whose ATC FPL increases will have their Basic Pay increased by six percent (6%) for each level the facility is raised up to the pay band maximum and will continue to receive the other one-half (1/2) of the transfer pay when certified in the new facility.

c. Developmentals in a facility whose ATC FPL increases will have their current developmental Basic Pay increased by six percent (6%) per level up to the pay band maximum and subsequent developmental pay sets will be recalculated to correspond with the new ATC FPL.

Facility Pay Level Decrease.

Bargaining unit employees whose ATC FPL decreases shall be granted ATC FPL and pay retention as follows:

a. ATC Facility Pay Level Retention: Employees assigned to the facility on the effective date and transfers whose selection has been approved at the Service Area level on or before the effective date of the level decrease shall retain the previous higher level CPC pay band for two (2) years from the effective date of the decrease. Transfers whose selection was approved at the Service Area level after the effective date and new hires assigned to the facility after the effective date shall be paid in accordance with the newly applicable pay band.

b. Pay Retention: At the expiration of ATC FPL Retention, employees assigned to the facility shall be entitled to Pay Retention. If Basic Pay exceeds the newly applicable CPC band maximum, employees shall receive fifty percent (50%) of the annual increase, identified in Section 9(a) of this Article, as an adjustment to Basic Pay and fifty percent (50%) will be paid as a lump sum payment.

Controller Incentive Pay (CIP).

a. All employees assigned to facilities eligible to receive CIP will receive payment at the facility-specific rate. The total amount of funds available in the CIP pool, in fiscal years 2016 and beyond, shall be fixed at $30,000,000 per fiscal year, except as provided in this Section.

b. In any fiscal year that CIP payments will exceed the fixed amount, as adjusted by any over or under payment from the prior fiscal year, the Parties shall meet to collaboratively determine whether to:

(1) Terminate CIP payments effective the pay period prior to exceeding the fixed amount; or

(2) Terminate CIP payments at the conclusion of the pay period in which the fixed amount is exceeded.

The fixed amount of CIP available in the subsequent fiscal year will be adjusted by an amount equivalent to any over or under payment of the prior year’s fixed amount resulting from the application of this Section.

The Agency will provide the Union with at least thirty (30) days advance notice of the stopping date and all data/information relied upon in making the determination to stop CIP payments. In the event CIP payments are terminated before the end of the fiscal year, the Agency will notify the Union of the total CIP paid during the fiscal year and the net underpayment/overpayment amount within thirty (30) days after the end of the fiscal year.

c. Except due to the application of subsection (b)(1) of this Section, if the total amount of the payments in any fiscal year is less than $30,000,000, it shall not result in a forfeiture of the remaining funds. The Parties at the national level will collaboratively determine how to allocate the remaining funds to the Air Traffic Control Specialist, Traffic Management Coordinator/Specialist, and NOTAM Specialist bargaining unit(s), for the purpose of attracting and retaining employees at targeted facilities.

d. In the event the CIP program is amended prior to the end of a fiscal year, payment of CIP for the remainder of that fiscal year will be in accordance with any subsequent agreement.

Promotions/Demotions.

a. Following the conclusion of a temporary promotion, the employee’s previous Basic Pay and Union determined seniority will be reinstated as though the employee had never left the bargaining unit position previously assigned without accruing seniority for the duration of the temporary promotion.

b. When a former bargaining unit employee is demoted to a bargaining unit position, Basic Pay is set in the new pay band as if the employee never left their bargaining unit position.

c. Demotions are not applicable within or from the CPC career level.