104 STAT. 432 PUBLIC LAW 101-366 —AUG. 15, 1990 "(2) The maximum rate of basic pay for any grade for a covered position may not exceed the maximum rate of basic pay established for positions in level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5. "(3) The range of basic pay for each such grade shall be divided into equal increments, known as 'steps'. The Secretary shall prescribe the number of steps. Each grade in a covered position shall have the same number of steps. Rates of pay within a grade may not be established at rates other than whole steps. Any increase (other than an adjustment under subsection (d)) within a grade in the rate of basic pay payable to an employee in a covered position shall be by one or more of such step increments. "(d)(1) The rates of basic pay for each grade in a covered position shall be adjusted periodically in accordance with this subsection in order to achieve the purposes of this section. Such adjustments shall be made— "(A) whenever there is an adjustment under section 5305 of title 5 in the rates of pay under the General Schedule, with the adjustment under this subsection to have the same effective date as the adjustment in the rates of basic pay under the General Schedule; and "(B) at such additional times as the director of a Department health-care facility, with respect to employees in that grade at that facility, determines. "(2) An adjustment in rates of basic pay under this subsection for a grade shall be carried out by adjusting the amount of the minimum rate of basic pay for that grade in accordance with paragraph (3) and then adjusting the other rates for that grade to conform to the requirements of subsection (c). Such an adjustment in the minimum rate of basic pay for a grade shall be made by the director of a Department health-care facility so as to achieve consistency with the beginning rate of compensation for corresponding healthcare professionals in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) labormarket area of that facility. "(3)(A) In the case of a Department health-care facility located in an area for which there is current information, based upon an industry-wage survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for that labor market, on beginning rates of compensation for corresponding health-care professionals for the BLS labor-market area of that facility, the director of the facility concerned shall use that information as the basis for making adjustments in rates of pay under this subsection. Whenever the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the results of a new industry-wage survey for that labor market that includes information on beginning rates of compensation for corresponding health-care professionals, the director of that facility shall determine, not later than 30 days after the results of the survey are released, whether an adjustment in rates of pay for employees at that facility for any covered position is necessary in order to meet the purposes of this section. If the director determines that such an adjustment is necessary, the adjustment, based upon the information determined in the survey, shall take effect on the first day of the first pay period beginning after that determination. "(B) In the case of a Department health-care facility located in an area for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not have current information on beginning rates of compensation for corresponding health-care professionals for the labor-market area of that facility for any covered position, the director of that facility shall conduct a
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