Federal Personnel Improvements Act of 1988

(Measure passed Senate, amended)

Federal Personnel Improvements Act of 1988 - Title I: Alternative Compensation Programs - Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to implement demonstration programs using alternative compensation systems as set forth in this Act. Provides for participation in such systems by employees in collective bargaining units.

Describes the types of alternative systems as follows: (1) a system under which annual pay adjustments are made so that total pay and benefits are comparable to those of private enterprise for the same level of work; (2) a system under which annual pay adjustments are made so that rates of basic pay are consistent with those for the same level of work in private enterprise within the same geographic region; (3) a system under which conditions of employment shall be subject to collective bargaining; and (4) a system which identifies separate career categories, adjusts pay based on specified factors, provides pay differentials, and authorizes special awards and performance recognition.

Title II: Higher Minimum Rates of Pay, Miscellaneous Allowances, and Other Matters - Authorizes OPM, when it finds that the Government is experiencing significant difficulty in recruiting or retaining well-qualified employees under a statutory pay system for one or more occupations in one or more areas or locations, to establish minimum rates of basic pay for one or more grades or levels, occupational groups, series, classes, or subdivisions thereof, and to make corresponding increases in all rates of the pay range for each such grade or level. Describes conditions which may require higher minimum rates of pay as: (1) pay rates for the positions involved are generally less than the rates payable for similar positions held by individuals outside the Government, or held by individuals within the executive branch of the Government; (2) the remoteness of the area or location involved; (3) the undesirability of the working conditions or the nature of the work involved, including exposure to toxic substances or other occupational hazards; (4) any other circumstance which OPM may identify.

Requires an increase in such higher minimum rates of pay by not less than any percentage of the increase in rates of pay under the General Schedule.

Authorizes recruitment and retention bonus payments and advance payment of basic pay to employees eligible for higher minimum rates of pay. Limits bonus payments by an agency during any fiscal year to one percent of the agency's payroll for that fiscal year, unless OPM authorizes a higher limit due to unusually difficult recruitment or retention problems. Directs OPM to report annually to the Congress on bonus payments.

Expresses the expectations of the Congress that bonus payments will prove to be a more cost-effective method to deal with recruitment and retention difficulties than the payment of higher minimum rates of pay.

Repeals bonus payment authority seven years after the date of enactment of this Act.

Eliminates the GS-11 grade requirement for paying new employees above the minimum rate of the appropriate grade.

Removes the limitation on allowances based on duty at remote worksites. (Currently, such amount may not exceed $10 per day.)

Removes certain limitations on uniform allowances for agency employees, including that such costs be limited to $125 per employee a year.

Authorizes incentive special pay for commissioned nurse officers in the Public Health Service.