TOPICS

Bush issues order implementing 3.5 percent pay raise

By Alyssa Rosenberg arosenberg@govexec.com January 4, 2008

Bush issues order implementing 3.5 percent pay raise

President Bush issued an executive order on Friday implementing the average 3.5 percent civilian pay raise for 2008 that was included in the omnibus spending bill he signed late last year.

The executive order was necessary to specify how the overall raise should be divided between base and locality pay. The president accepted the recommendation of the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Labor and the Office of Management and Budget in distributing 2.5 percent of the increase through base pay, and 1 percent through locality pay.

RELATED STORIES

Updated pay tables for 2008 are available here. OPM also planned to post them on its Web site late Friday.

The bill and executive order override the plan Bush issued in late November that would have limited the 2008 pay raise to 3 percent, split between a 2.5 percent base increase and a 0.5 percent increase in locality pay.

For General Schedule employees, base pay will range from $17,046 in Grade 1, Step 1, to $124,010 for employees in Grade 15, Step 12. For members of the Senior Executive Service, pay will range from $ $114,468 to $172,200.

Employees in the greater Washington, D.C. area will receive the highest total pay adjustment -- 4.49 percent.

VIEW ALL 31 COMMENTS POST COMMENT

COMMENTS

  • Can someone tell me how locality pay is normally calculated for a General Engineer? There is a Special Salary Rate for engineers, so do I get the locality percentage on top of the higher base rate for engineers? Or do I loose the special salary rate? I've been offered a position in DC, but they insist that I go back to the standard GS base... Mike M Posted May 9, 2008 1:57 AM
  • Can anyone please explain why title 38 RN's do not get cost of living or locality pay. We are told it is up to our director- now, I must say that we did get 2.5% this year, last year was 1.7, and the year before that was a 1.3, prior was O and has been for a very long time at our facility. I dont understand this locality pay thing??? And have been told straight forth by the director, " because we don't have to give it to you"! Well, I wonder why there is such a shortage of nurse's!!!! The last time I looked, my gas/electric/etc,etc bills cost the same as anyone else's. Anne Posted January 27, 2008 5:54 PM
  • Try living in NYC. These locality adjustments aren't nearly enough to cover the ever increasing costs of housing and child care. And that's in a household with 2 government salaries. Robert Shlomian Posted January 15, 2008 5:06 PM
VIEW ALL 31 COMMENTS

TODAY'S MOST POPULAR