Washington, DC - The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has released a 2007 status report on performance-based pay systems within the federal government, which currently support over 298,000 federal employees. The report, Alternative Personnel Systems in the Federal Government - A Status Report on Demonstration Projects and Other Performance-Based Pay Systems, includes information based on agency data, evaluations and studies, and it demonstrates performance-based pay systems "work."

"This report shows performance-based pay systems drive improvements in managing performance, recruiting and retaining quality employees, and achieving results-oriented performance cultures," said OPM Director Linda M. Springer.

The report also includes profiles of demonstration projects currently operating under OPM authority, as well as independent and executive pay systems where employee pay is linked to performance.

Independent systems cover approximately 246,700 federal employees, with more than half working under the Department of Defense's National Personnel Security System (NSPS). In May 2007, OPM issued an assessment of NSPS, concluding the program is being implemented effectively.

Executive pay systems cover more than 8,600 employees in the Senior Executive Service (SES) and the Senior Foreign Service (SFS). Demonstration projects currently cover about 42,500 federal employees.

OPM continues to manage the certification process for SES pay systems and has seen marked improvements in agency implementation of performance-based pay for executives.

For a copy of the report, please go to http://www.opm.gov/aps/reports/index.asp.