(a) Every employee in the Classified Service of the Government of the United States Virgin Islands who now is in or who shall hereafter be appointed to a position within Range Nos. 1 through 15, inclusive, of Schedule I of the Pay Plan for Government Personnel (section 551 of this title) shall receive a cost-of-living bonus of $300 per annum.
(b) Every per diem employee of the Government of the United States Virgin Islands whose salary, if computed on a per annum basis of 2,080 hours, would fall within Range Nos. 1 through 15 of Schedule I of the Pay Plan for the Classified Service shall receive a cost-of-living bonus of the per hour equivalent of $300 per annum computed on the basis of 2,080 hours per year.
(c) The cost-of-living bonuses provided for by this section shall be paid according to the regular pay periods as provided for by section 555 of this title and such bonuses shall be retroactive to January 1, 1966. The cost-of-living bonus for Government personnel in the Classified Service, provided for by subsection (a) of this section, shall not preclude the regular one-step within-grade increases which are or may become due to such classified employees pursuant to paragraph (1) of section 562 of this title.