A lead agency shall establish a local wage survey committee in each wage area for which it has lead agency responsibility and in which a labor organization represents, by exclusive recognition, wage employees subject to the wage schedules for which the survey is conducted.

The local wage survey committee shall assist the lead agency in the conduct of wage surveys and make recommendations to the lead agency thereon.

Local wage survey committees shall consist of three members, with the chairperson and one member recommended by Federal agencies and designated by the lead agency, and one member recommended by the labor organization having the largest number of wage employees under the regular wage schedule who are under exclusive recognition in the wage area.

All members of local wage survey committees for appropriated fund surveys shall be Federal employees appointed by their employing agencies.

Members for nonappropriated fund surveys shall be nonappropriated fund employees appointed by their employing agencies.

The member recommended by the labor organization must be an employee of a Federal activity for appropriated fund surveys or nonappropriated fund activity for nonappropriated fund surveys who is covered by one of the regular wage schedules in the wage area in which the activity is located.

In selecting and appointing employees recommended by labor organizations and by Federal agencies to serve as committee members, consideration shall be given to the requirement in the prevailing rate law for labor and agency representatives to participate in the wage survey process, the qualifications of the recommended employees, the need of the employees' work units for their presence on the job, and the prudent management of available financial and human resources. Employing agencies and activities shall cooperate and appoint the recommended employees unless exceptional circumstances prohibit their consideration. When the recommended employees cannot be appointed to serve as local wage survey committee members, the responsible lead agency or labor organization shall provide additional recommendations expeditiously to avoid any delay in the survey process.

Employers shall cooperate and release appointed employees for committee proceedings unless the employers can demonstrate that exceptional circumstances directly related to the accomplishment of the work units' missions require their presence on their regular jobs. Employees serving as committee members are considered to be on official assignment to an interagency function, rather than on leave.

A local wage survey committee shall be established before each full-scale wage survey. Responsibility for providing members shall remain with the same agency and the same labor organization until the next full-scale survey.

Recommendations of local wage survey committees shall be developed by majority vote. Any member of a local wage survey committee may submit a minority report to the lead agency relating to any local wage survey committee majority recommendation.

The lead agency shall establish the type of local wage survey organization it considers appropriate in a wage area which does not qualify for a local wage survey committee under paragraph (a) of this section.