Pay & Benefits

Biden administration to extend salary history ban to federal contractors

Officials said that new proposed regulations, released in conjunction with a final rule barring federal agencies from soliciting job applicants’ salary histories, will reduce pay disparities and improve the effectiveness of the federal contract workforce.

Pay & Benefits

Secret Service overtime pay locked in through 2028

The House passed legislation Monday to extend overtime pay authority for agents providing protective services through the next presidential election cycle after it was slated to lapse last month. 

Pay & Benefits

Feds get 7.4% pay raise under congressional Democrats' plan

Despite two years of federal employees receiving the highest pay increases in decades, the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act’s sponsors say the federal workforce continues to suffer from “chronic underinvestment.”

Pay & Benefits

Postal union leader: Stop the misallocation of Civil Service Retirement System pension costs

COMMENTARY | "The failure to uphold the promise to fix the unfair pension allocation is hurting the Postal Service’s ability to recover from the pandemic," writes the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

Pay & Benefits

OPM: Federal salaries won't be tied to private sector pay histories

Agencies can’t use non-federal salaries to help set pay for new or returning federal employees, under a new rule from the Office of Personnel Management. 

Pay & Benefits

GAO: 4% of feds used paid parental leave in the benefit’s first 22 months

In 2022, 81% of federal workers who responded to an annual Office of Personnel Management survey and said they used the then-newly implemented program said they took all 12 weeks of paid parental leave.

Pay & Benefits

Trans veterans were promised access to gender-affirming surgeries — but it never happened

The Transgender American Veterans Association filed a lawsuit on Thursday over the Veterans Affairs Deparment’s failure to act after years of inaction.

Pay & Benefits

Doublecheck your TSP beneficiary designations

The federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement plan changed some rules around contingent beneficiaries in 2022.

Pay & Benefits

Is the 5.2% pay raise enough for feds? Union says no

While the president authorized the largest pay raise for federal employees in more than 40 years last month, the National Federation of Federal Employees said inflation and the outpacing private sector pay means workers need more. 

Pay & Benefits

GSA could soon update some relocation expense reimbursement caps more regularly

It’s been more than a decade since the agency updated the maximum amounts of payments for miscellaneous relocation expenses that don’t require itemized receipts.

Pay & Benefits

What you need to know about the Social Security Earnings Test

When picking a date to start claiming your Social Security benefits, timing is everything.

Pay & Benefits

Election years and the TSP

COMMENTARY | Investing during election years is an exercise in not letting your emotions drive your decisions, says one financial advisor.

Pay & Benefits

OPM reduces the retirement backlog by one-third in 2023

The federal government’s HR agency’s work on improving the retirement application process for federal workers led to the agency shattering yet another longstanding record last month.

Pay & Benefits

New year, new benefit changes

Some 2024 changes that may benefit federal employees and retirees.

Pay & Benefits

A new rule allows the VA to adjust disability compensation to prevent overpayments

The rule, set to go into effect on Jan. 11, would allow the department to suspend or pause disability compensation for Defense Department servicemembers also receiving active service pay. 

Pay & Benefits

Union decries end to retention pay at embattled Illinois prison

Labor leaders at Federal Correctional Institute Thomson said the Bureau of Prisons’ termination of a short-lived initiative to retain employees at the rural facility with a 25% boost to pay will cause hundreds to leave the agency.

Pay & Benefits

Planning a career change in 2024?

If a new career outside of the federal workforce is on your list of resolutions, here are a few things you need to know about your benefits.

Pay & Benefits

When do Roth conversions make sense for your retirement funds?

Paying federal taxes now may be better for you in the long run, explains one financial advisor.

Pay & Benefits

New OPM proposal would ensure feds detailed to temporary promotions are paid properly

Federal HR leaders said in a filing last week that a rule capping increased pay for federal workers noncompetitively selected to perform duties of a higher-graded position at 120 days penalizes employees for their agency’s mistake.

Pay & Benefits

TSP portfolios end 2023 on a high note

Each of the funds in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program finished December in the black.