### §3962. Salaries of Senior Foreign Service members

#### (a) Prescription by President; basic salary rates; adjustments; determinations by Secretary

(1) The President shall prescribe salary classes for the Senior Foreign Service and shall prescribe an appropriate title for each class. The President shall also prescribe ranges of basic salary rates for each class. Except as provided in paragraph (3), basic salary rates for the Senior Foreign Service may not exceed the maximum rate or be less than the minimum rate of basic pay payable for the Senior Executive Service under section 5382 of title 5.

(2) The Secretary shall determine which basic salary rate within the ranges prescribed by the President under paragraph (1) shall be paid to each member of the Senior Foreign Service based on individual performance, contribution to the mission of the Department, or both, as determined under a rigorous performance management system. Except as provided in regulations prescribed by the Secretary and, to the extent possible, consistent with regulations governing the Senior Executive Service, the Secretary may adjust the basic salary rate of a member of the Senior Foreign Service not more than once during any 12-month period.

(3) Upon a determination by the Secretary that the Senior Foreign Service performance appraisal system, as designed and applied, makes meaningful distinctions based on relative performance—

(A) the maximum rate of basic pay payable for the Senior Foreign Service shall be level II of the Executive Schedule; and

(B) the applicable aggregate pay cap shall be equivalent to the aggregate pay cap set forth in section 5307(d)(1) of title 5 for members of the Senior Executive Service.

#### (b) Career appointees in Senior Executive Service accepting limited appointment in Senior Foreign Service; adjustment

(1) An individual who is a career appointee in the Senior Executive Service receiving basic pay at one of the rates payable under section 5382 of title 5 and who accepts a limited appointment in the Senior Foreign Service in a salary class for which the basic salary rate is less than such basic rate of pay, shall be paid a salary at his or her former basic rate of pay (with adjustments as provided in paragraph (2)) until the salary for his or her salary class in the Senior Foreign Service equals or exceeds the salary payable to such individual under this subsection.

(2) The salary paid to an individual under this subsection shall be adjusted by 50 percent of each adjustment, which takes effect after the appointment of such individual to the Senior Foreign Service, in the basic rate of pay at which that individual was paid under section 5382 of title 5 immediately prior to such appointment.

(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, §402, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2087; Pub. L. 97–241, title I, §124, Aug. 24, 1982, 96 Stat. 281; Pub. L. 108–447, div. B, title IV, §412(a), Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 2905.)

#### **Editorial Notes**

#### References in Text

Level II of the Executive Schedule, referred to in subsec. (a)(3)(A), is set out in section 5313 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

#### Amendments

2004—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 108–447, §412(a)(1), substituted "The President shall also prescribe ranges of basic salary rates for each class. Except as provided in paragraph (3), basic salary rates for the Senior Foreign Service may not exceed the maximum rate or be less than the minimum rate of basic pay payable for the Senior Executive Service under section 5382 of title 5." for "The President shall also prescribe one or more basic salary rates for each class. Basic salary rates for the Senior Foreign Service may not exceed the maximum rate or be less than the minimum rate of basic pay payable for the Senior Executive Service under section 5382 of title 5, and shall be adjusted at the same time and in the same manner as rates of basic pay are adjusted for the Senior Executive Service."

Subsec. (a)(2), (3). Pub. L. 108–447, §412(a)(2), added pars. (2) and (3) and struck out former par. (2) which read as follows: "The Secretary shall determine which of the basic salary rates prescribed by the President under paragraph (1) for any salary class shall be paid to each member of the Senior Foreign Service who is appointed to that class. The Secretary may adjust the basic salary rate of a member of the Senior Foreign Service not more than once during any 12-month period."

1982—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 97–241 designated existing provisions as par. (1), inserted provision authorizing the President to prescribe one or more basic salary rates for each class, and added par. (2).

#### **Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries**

#### Effective Date

Section effective Feb. 15, 1981, except that subsec. (a), for purposes of implementing section 4151 of this title, is effective Oct. 17, 1980, see section 2403(a) and (d)(2) of Pub. L. 96–465, set out as an Effective Date note under section 3901 of this title.

#### **Executive Documents**

#### Establishment of Salary Classes With Titles for Senior Foreign Service

For establishment of salary classes with titles for the Senior Foreign Service, at basic rates of pay equivalent to that established from time to time for the Senior Executive Service under section 5382 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, see section 4 of Ex. Ord. No. 12293, Feb. 23, 1981, 46 F.R. 13969, set out as a note under section 3901 of this title.