09-26-2023
In late August, President Biden formalized his plan to provide civil federal employees with an average pay increase of 5.2%. The across-the-board increase will be 4.7% with an average of 0.5% represented by locality pay - the portion of pay calculated by comparing wages for federal versus non-federal employees in similar occupation in the same geographic region. This increase will be the largest base pay increase since the Carter Administration.
“We must attract, recruit, and retain a skilled workforce with fair compensation in order to keep our government running, deliver services, and meet our nation’s challenges today and tomorrow,” Biden said in a statement. “This alternative pay plan decision will continue to allow the federal government to employ a well‑qualified federal workforce on behalf of the American people, keeping pace with prior wage growth in the labor market.”
Some in congress had hoped for a larger increase. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Virginia., and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, introduced a proposal for an 8.7 percent pay raise earlier this year. Others, including the National Treasury Employees Union, endorsed the president’s 5.2 percent pay increase stating “Frontline Federal employees earn 24.09 percent less than people in similar private sector jobs, according to the Federal Salary Council, so Biden’s plan would help chip away at that deficit and make Federal employment more competitive.”