Federal Prosecutors Seek Equitable Pay and Working Conditions to DOJ Counterparts
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg
Pay disparities and inconsistent workplace flexibility benefits for Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs) are being called into question. The National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys (NAAUSA), which represents the interests AUSAs, argues that rising inflation and competition with private sector law firms that offer greater compensation and flexibility is leaving U.S. Attorney Offices (USAO) a step behind in the war for talent. The organization requested the Justice Department (DOJ) keep pace with legal employers in the private sector, or at least offer comparable salaries to attorneys working in Main Justice offices.
NAAUSA Vice President Adam Hanna stated the Administratively Determined (AD) pay schedule that AUSAs are on is inferior to the General Schedule (GS) pay scale available to most DOJ attorneys. In the first 10 to 15 years of service as an Assistant U.S. Attorney there is a significant pay disparity compared to attorneys at Main Justice. A GS-15 at DOJ with five years of experience will earn upwards of $46,000 more annually compared to an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the same experience, doing similar work in a USAO.
Since the organizations inception more than 30 years ago, NAAUSA has raised the issue with DOJ leadership with some success. In 2009, the Attorney General permitted AUSAs to receive locality-pay, which AUSAs were not entitled to previously, like all other federal employees under the GS schedule. Hiring practices reforms in 2016 improved baseline AUSA entry salaries but left the broader inequity unaddressed. NAAUSA argues the issue persists due to systemic issues with the AD system and requests a transfer to the GS system. NAAUSA estimates it would cost the DOJ between $40 and $50 million to equalize the pay disparity AUSAs face under the AD pay system.
NAAUSA Vice President Hanna maintains the treatment of AUSAs augments a harmful work culture at DOJ, suggesting that a federal prosecutor’s is easily replaceable.
For more than a decade, U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) employees have had one of the lowest pay satisfaction scores in the Partnership for Public Service's Best Places to Work in the Federal Government Survey. As of 2020, the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys and the USAO ranked 359 out of 407 for agency attitudes toward pay.
During a January webinar, Hanna acknowledged that wage inequity in the DOJ extends beyond the AUSAs, most notably to the Office of General Counsel at the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
“This culture is harmful to your worth as a professional,” Hanna stated in a webinar, “Advocate for your colleagues–and not just AUSAs.”
In addition to issues with pay, NAAUSA has advocated for improved workplace flexibilities as the DOJ considers post-pandemic reentry plans.
In a statement released in January explaining member survey results on work life benefits, NAAUSA notes that, at present, DOJ leaves workplace flexibilities up to individual U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. This “patchwork” approach causes inconsistent access to benefits and leaves benefits to the discretion of individual U.S. Attorneys.
The association has called on DOJ to allow AUSAs to telework two days a week if it does not conflict with their job duties. In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, NAAUSA President Steve Wasserman indicated that DOJ's decentralized approach fails to address health concerns and ensure safety.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic is an evolving and dynamic situation, the last two years have demonstrated AUSAs capacity to utilize telework to perform their duties and problems that arise from the Department’s current approach to telework,” stated Wasserman, “It is our hope that NAAUSA can partner with the Department as telework and reentry plans evolve to ensure the continuous, just, and effective administration of justice.”
NAAUSA holds it is not only beneficial to AUSAs, but also beneficial to the administration of justice to have a uniform, baseline policy on teleworking. Particularly, as the private sector acknowledges, the next generation of attorneys place a high value on workplace flexibility and partial telework policies serve as a valuable recruiting tool in one of the hottest job markets in decades.
In the survey of AUSAs conducted in late 2021, NAAUSA found more than 90 percent of the 700 respondents held they were able to successfully do their job while teleworking, and further support a department-wide policy allowing telework at least two days a week.
As an AUSA from the Western District of Tennessee explained, their office permitted minimal telework during the pandemic, and the discussion on the future of telework post-pandemic "has not been encouraging."
“I worked in the private sector for 14 years before coming to the USAO. In private practice, no one cared where you were as long as the work got done. I never understood why USAO treats work like shifts at GM, punching a clock and sitting at a desk,” stated a AUSA from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Valarie Mulcahy, Acting Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer at DOJ, issued an update to the department’s telework and remote work policy on February 2, 2022. The policy does not provide updated guidance for USAOs or institute an official approach to telework other than to establish a Component Telework Coordinator position to advise the department on telework matters.