CFR > Title 5 - Administrative Personnel > CHAPTER XCIX—DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND LABOR RELATIONS SYSTEMS (DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE—OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT) > PART 9901—DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NATIONAL SECURITY PERSONNEL SYSTEM (NSPS) > SUBPART C—Pay and Pay Administration (§9901.301 to §9901.372) > 9901.352—Setting an employee's starting pay.

9901.352—Setting an employee's starting pay.

(a) Subject to the requirements of this section, the Secretary may set the starting base salary rate for individuals who are newly appointed or reappointed to the Federal service anywhere within the rate range of the assigned pay band (subject to any applicable control points). Pay will be set based upon the following considerations:
(1) Labor market considerations (i.e., availability of candidates and labor market rates);
(2) Specialized skills, knowledge, and/or education possessed by the employee in relation to the requirements of the position;
(3) Critical mission or business requirement(s);
(4) Salaries of other employees in the organization performing similar work; and
(5) Current salary of the candidate.
(b) For the purposes of this section, “newly appointed” means those individuals who have not previously been employed in the Federal service—i.e., this is their first Federal appointment. The term “reappointed” means those individuals who have been previously employed in the Federal service and have been separated from the Federal service for at least 1 full workday immediately before employment in an NSPS position. The term “Federal service” includes civilian service as an employee of any entity of the Federal Government, including the judicial branch, legislative branch, and executive branch (including Government corporations, the Postal Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Postal Service and any nonappropriated fund (NAF) instrumentality described in 5 U.S.C. 2105(c) ).