5 CFR §532.205
Verified against eCFR.gov as of June 20, 2026View official text on eCFR.gov ↗
- (a)Wage schedules, including special schedules, shall not include any rates of pay less than the higher of:
- (1)The minimum rate prescribed by section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, or
- (2)The highest State or local minimum wage rate in the local wage area which is applicable to the private industry counterparts of the single largest Federal industry/occupation in the wage area.
- (b)Wage data below the minimum wage rates prescribed by section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, shall not be used in determining prevailing rates.
- (c)Adjustments to regular wage schedules to comply with the minimum wage rate determined to be applicable under paragraph (a) of this section shall be computed as follows:
- (1)The step 2 rate of grade 1 of the nonsupervisory wage schedule shall be set at a rate which, upon application of the 4 percent step-rate differential, provides a step 1 rate which is equal to the applicable minimum wage rate.
- (2)An intergrade differential shall be determined as 5 percent of the rate established as the step 2 rate of grade 1, rounded to the nearest whole cent. This intergrade differential shall be added to the step 2 rate of each grade, beginning with grade 1, to determine the step 2 rate for the succeeding grade until the grade is reached at which the step 2 rate established through the wage survey process equals or exceeds the rate determined under this procedure. Rates of all grades above that point shall be computed in accordance with § 532.221(b) of this subpart.
- (3)Steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 of each grade adjusted under paragraph (c) of this section shall be set at 96, 104, 108, and 112 percent of the step 2 rate, respectively.
- (4)The leader and supervisory wage schedule grades corresponding to each nonsupervisory grade adjusted under paragraph (c) of this section shall be constructed in accordance with the procedures of § 532.203 of this subpart, on the basis of the step 2 rates established under this paragraph for the nonsupervisory wage schedule grades.
- (d)All wage schedule adjustments made under this section shall be effective on the effective date of the applicable minimum wage rate.