The General Schedule (GS) is the basic pay schedule for federal civilian white-collar employees.1 The GS governs the establishment and adjustment of salaries for a workforce that, as of September 2021 (most current data available), numbered 1,547,641 employees representing professional, administrative, technical, and clerical occupations.2 It is a schedule of annual rates of basic pay consisting of 15 grades, designated “GS-1” through “GS-15,” consecutively, with 10 rates of pay, known as “steps,” for each grade.

The General Schedule (GS) payscale is the federal government payscale used to determine the salaries of over 70% of federal civilian employees. An employee's base pay depends on two factors - the GS Paygrade of their job, and the Paygrade Step they have achieved (depending on seniority or performance).

The General Schedule (GS) is the predominant pay scale within the United States civil service. The GS includes the majority of white collar personnel (professional, technical, administrative, and clerical) positions. As of September 2004, 71 percent of federal civilian employees were paid under the GS.