Pay Raise

Senator says rule to stem Head Start employee turnover could bar children from early education

The HHS rule would require wage and benefit increases for Head Start staff, but Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., claimed the proposed changes would reduce funded, if vacant, slots in the education program.

EEOC averts the threat of a one-day furlough

Chair Charlotte Burrows said in a statement that the agency found enough savings to avoid furloughing employees on Aug. 30.

As millions of acres burn, firefighters say the U.S. Forest Service has left them with critical shortages

The country’s wildland firefighting resources are spread thin, more blazes are imminent, and supervisors of local crews are reluctant to allow firefighters to travel far from home to help elsewhere.

EEOC workers could be furloughed for one day due to budget shortfall

No additional funding and a high pay increase for federal employees helped create the agency’s financial conundrum.

Cassidy ties proposed 30% pay and benefits cuts to federal telework

The Louisiana Republican has introduced bills to bar federal workers from receiving locality pay if they telework at least once per week and excising locality pay from all future feds’ pensions.

Senate appropriators endorse 2% pay raise for feds next year

With neither chamber in Congress willing to override President Biden, his plan to increase federal workers’ pay by 2% on average appears headed for implementation later this year.

OPM finalizes rule to ensure temporarily promoted feds are paid properly

A two-decades old Office of Personnel Management advisory opinion capping increased pay for federal workers temporarily performing duties of a higher-graded position at 120 days inadvertently penalized workers rather than their errant employer.

OPM directs agencies to conduct pay equity studies

The gender pay gap in the federal government was 5.6% in 2022, meaning women federal workers earned on average 94 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts.

A House funding bill would make recent federal firefighter pay raises permanent

The House Appropriations Committee is set to advance a spending package Tuesday that would codify recent temporary pay raises for federal wildland firefighters into law and fund them to the tune of $330 million.

The House’s DHS funding bill preserves TSA’s recent pay increases

Although lawmakers have yet to act on a bill to codify the Biden administration’s decision to provide Transportation Security Administration employees with Title 5 protections and compensation, Congress is poised to continue funding the initiative.

Biden’s 2% raise more likely upon advancement of Senate defense policy bill

The Senate Armed Services Committee last week advanced its version of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, endorsing a 2% average pay raise for civilian federal workers alongside a 4.5% increase for military service members.

Feds are still slated for a 2% average pay raise in 2025 per House appropriations bill

The House Appropriations Committee advanced legislation Thursday that failed to override President Biden’s 2025 pay plan.

A CBO report raises new questions about Biden’s 2% pay raise plan

Analysis favored by conservatives shows that when comparing workers’ “total compensation,” the private sector has nearly caught up to the federal government’s pay and benefits package for employees.

Pekoske touts impact of pay increases at TSA budget hearing

Workforce attrition has halved since the implementation of a new pay system that mirrors the General Schedule, while employee morale has reached its highest ever, according to the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.

“It feels impossible to stay”: The U.S. needs wildland firefighters more than ever, but the federal government is losing them

Highly skilled firefighters are the last line of defense against wildfires, but that line is fraying because the government decided long ago that they’re not worth very much.

Lawmakers, employee groups call for a permanent increase in federal firefighter pay

Under current measures implemented by the Biden administration, federal wildland firefighters will face yet another “pay cliff” this fall.

Employee groups air their disappointment with Biden’s 2% raise proposal

Multiple groups representing federal employees expressed their displeasure this week at the White House’s proposed pay raise, noting that it falls both behind the cost of inflation and military compensation.