Government operations and workforce · Federal pay

Executive Order 12883: Delegating a Federal Pay Administration Authority

President: Bill Clinton

Delegated to the President’s Pay Agent the authority to extend locality pay to eligible non-General Schedule positions; OPM still describes the amended order as governing.

Status: In effect.

Is Executive Order 12883 still in effect? Yes. Continuing delegation used in the current locality-pay program.

What does Executive Order 12883 do?

EO 12883 amended EO 12748 to let the President’s Pay Agent exercise the President’s authority under 5 U.S.C. § 5304(h) to extend locality-based comparability payments to eligible categories of positions outside the General Schedule. OPM administers the process for the Pay Agent and continues to describe EO 12748 as amended as the governing delegation. The underlying statute requires extensions for covered categories to be renewed.

Administration position: The order delegated a pay-administration decision. It did not itself extend locality pay to every non-General Schedule employee or set an individual salary.
SignedNovember 29, 1993
Order amendedEO 12748
Delegated bodyPresident’s Pay Agent

Before and after

Before the order

EO 12748 designated the Pay Agent, while the President retained the specific § 5304(h) extension authority.

After the order

The Pay Agent could approve eligible category extensions and OPM could administer the annual process.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
President’s Pay AgentDecide eligible extensions of locality payUnder 5 U.S.C. § 5304(h)
OPMAdminister extension requests and renewals for the Pay AgentDuring annual pay administration
Executive agenciesRequest single-agency category extensions where applicableUnder OPM procedures

What happened next

EO 12748 designated the President’s Pay Agent.

EO 12883 added the § 5304(h) delegation.