White House Calls for ‘Fundamental Reform’ to Feds’ Pay, Delays New 2018 Localities

President Trump still must issue the final order authorizing a 2018 pay increase before the end of the year.

The Office of Personnel Management on Friday released the President's Pay Agent report implementing locality pay adjustments for 2018, which authorizes a 2016 proposal to add two cities to the list of areas where civilian employees will receive a greater pay increase but calls for "fundamental reforms" to federal compensation.

The report, issued Wednesday and signed by Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and acting OPM Director Kathleen McGettigan, confirms that OPM will begin the regulatory process to add Birmingham, Al., and San Antonio, Texas, to the list of regions in the locality pay table. Last year, the Federal Salary Council recommended those two cities be added to the table, but the council was not reconstituted until Wednesday and did not release a report in 2017.

In its report, the President's Pay Agent said it has "major methodological concerns" with the model used to estimate pay gaps cited by the Federal Salary Council.

"The value of employee benefits is completely excluded from the pay comparisons, which take into account only wages and salaries," the officials wrote. "Also, the comparisons of federal vs. non-federal wages and salaries fail to reflect the reality of labor market shortages and excesses."

Acosta, Mulvaney and McGettigan cite a controversial report from the Congressional Budget Office that concludes that federal workers make on average 17 percent more than their counterparts in the private sector. Critics of that report claim that CBO's methodology is too simplistic, and does not take into account different occupation types, locations and other demographic factors.

The report calls for "fundamental reforms" of the federal compensation system for white-collar federal employees, including a shift to performance-based pay.

"We believe it is imperative to develop performance-sensitive compensation systems that will contribute to a government that is more citizen-centered, results-oriented and market-based," the agent wrote. "We need to empower federal agencies to better manage, develop and reward employees in order to better serve the American people."

The Pay Agent also delays the inclusion of Burlington, Vt., and Virginia Beach, Va., which were approved for inclusion in the locality pay table by the Obama administration and scheduled to be added for next year.

"Although we agree with the [Federal Salary] Council that we should issue regulations proposing establishment of new Burlington, Vt., and Virginia Beach, Va., locality pay areas, we have not yet made a final decision on the timing," the report said.

The release of the locality pay report is an important step toward confirming how much federal civilian employees will earn in 2018. But the Trump administration's work is not yet complete.

Before the end of the year, President Trump must issue an executive order formalizing his plan for increasing civilian federal employees’ pay for next year. A 2.4 percent across-the-board pay raise already has been confirmed for members of the military as a result of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law earlier this month.

In May, Trump proposed a 1.9 percent across-the-board pay increase for civilian federal workers as part of his fiscal 2018 budget proposal. In August, he announced plans to implement that raise. But the White House has been quiet ever since.

Trump must issue an executive order by Dec. 31 in order for a pay raise to go in effect for civilian feds in 2018. Last year, President Obama announced in early December that he would unilaterally increase federal employees’ pay from the originally proposed 1.6 percent increase to 2.1 percent. But he did not finalize that plan until he issued an executive order on the topic on Dec. 27, 2016.

Provided that Trump finalizes the pay raise for civilian federal workers, OPM likely will publish an updated pay table for General Schedule and Senior Executive Service positions, as it has in previous years, in early January.

NEXT STORY: Developing a TSP Withdrawal Plan

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.