Permanent pay fix for wildland firefighters takes effect; agencies outline who benefits and when

Federal fire program managers explained how the permanent pay fix approved in the recent continuing resolution will be implemented and who will benefit.

Samantha Storms, division chief for external affairs for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) fire program, opened the briefing and said BLM staff will share resources and a calculator so employees can estimate personal impacts. Grant Beebe, assistant director for fire and aviation, and Ken Schmidt, division chief for budget and evaluation, provided technical details.

The pay reform has two parts: a new base-pay structure that moves eligible positions onto a GW (general wildland firefighter) pay scale (and a corresponding FWS wage-grade table for wage employees), and a new incident response premium pay (IRPP) for qualifying incidents. Ken Schmidt said HR work to move eligible employees into the new tables begins immediately; the incentive premium pay in the old system will be shut off as the change takes effect "Sunday," and HR offices will issue SF-50 notices to affected employees.

Why it matters: managers said the new base pay increases some lower-grade salaries substantially and redirects part of earlier temporary payments into base salary and retirement-eligible pay, which changes retirement and Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) impacts. At the same time, some employees who previously benefited from temporary incentives will see a short-term reduction in take-home pay until new tables and system updates are completed.

Timing and payroll: Schmidt said the new pay tables were expected to be available to HR by about April 14 and that pay processing tied to the new tables could begin around the April 29 pay date, which means one to two pay periods might not reflect incentives until systems are updated and backpay is processed. Panelists said the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had circulated guidance to Interior and Agriculture for comment and that final OPM direction was expected soon.

Coverage and exclusions: presenters stressed the reform expands coverage beyond only on-the-line firefighters to many positions with special fire retirement coverage (including some managers and dispatch positions coded as fire-covered jobs). They also repeatedly acknowledged that large groups of support staff and some dispatch roles remain excluded because their positions are not coded for the special fire retirement coverage required to move to GW pay. BLM staff said they are working with OPM to code additional dispatch positions and with HR offices to ensure position descriptions (PDs) and standard position descriptions (SPDs) are updated over time.

Employee responsibilities and next steps: employees were urged to verify SF-50 notices, confirm incentives are turned off when required, and monitor pay to avoid overpayments that could lead to collection. The BLM posted a pay-rate and compensation estimator on its SharePoint site; staff said they will add locality pay and continue refining the tool. The agencies will monitor implementation through the fire season and perform a review after one year as required by the CR.

What remains uncertain: final OPM guidance is expected to clarify edge cases such as travel time, staging, and whether certain support roles qualify; HR coding for some dispatch and AD positions is still in progress. The agencies said they received Congressional funding to implement the pay changes but the precise figure reported on the call was unclear in the transcript; BLM promised to share formal links and the CR language with the recording.

The session ended with officials reiterating they will post the recording and resources and continue updating guidance as OPM and departmental direction becomes available.