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Obama has Authorized Federal Pay Raise
Federal employees are all set to get a pay raise this year…and it’s official. The president has finally issued the executive order about the federal pay raise that all of the federal employees was after. The executive order has authorized a 1.3% pay raise and it has come after previously we heard about the spending bill that amounted to a little over trillion dollars.
The federal pay raise is here:
The bill hasn’t meant to bring about any differences for the VP and other senior positions. The raise will go into effect as soon as the next year starts and OPM has also already released their report that is highlighting all the salary tables that the people were looking forward to.
The President, in this regard sent out a letter to majority of the congressional members during the month of August where he authorized the majority of the adjustments to the locality pays.
This is something that the federal employees look forward to every year and this year was no different. The anticipation was huge and thankfully, the end result was exactly what the majority wanted. The pay raise is as substantial as was expected and it surely is going to prove to be something great for all the employees. The reason why it’s so important is that the federal employees can thus feel that they are actually cared about and that their concerns also hold importance in the White house. Here’s hoping that this is not just a single port in the storm and that steps like these get taken every now and again in order for the mass of the population to have a smile on their faces. Start calculating your incomes for the coming year and also begin contemplating what you would be doing with the extra quid!
Executive Order increases Federal Employee Wages by 1.3% for 2016
If you were looking for a pay raise in 2016 as a federal employee, you will be happy to know that it has been approved by President Obama in an executive order.
Same 1% Target from the start
At the beginning of 2015, Obama committed to a 1% raise in the 2015 budget for federal employees. This was countermanding a 3 year pay raise freeze that was put in place by Congress. With this executive order the President put in place a raise for the second year in a row, displacing the congressional mandate of no raises for federal employees.
The President sent a letter to congressional leaders this past August outlining the increases across the board and for locality adjustments as state below:
“Specifically, I have determined that for 2016, across-the-board pay increases will be 1.0 percent… Also, I will make a decision by November 30, 2015, regarding an alternative plan for locality payments under 5 U.S.C. 5304a. This decision is consistent with my fiscal year 2016 Budget and it will not materially affect the Federal Government’s ability to attract and retain well-qualified members for the uniformed services.”
If you are in the executive branch of the government however, this raise will not include you. The raise was passed in an omnibus $1.1 trillion spending bill that would continue the freeze on the Vice President’s salary and other political appointees. This 1% raise will take effect 1 January 2016 and most employees can expect their raise on their first biweekly pay on the 10th January.
0.3% for Locality bumps
Although all employees will receive the 1% pay hike, those living in urban areas will receive differing levels of an increase as determined by tables set out in the legislation, mostly tied to the cost of living according to the Labor Department data in those cities. The average pay hike will not exceed 1.3% the President said, but certain locales might see higher than 1.3% dependent upon their location.
An example of one of the top locations pay increases includes the Washington-Baltimore and San Francisco and San Diego areas which will see a 1.46% increase. The pay council advisory board however states that federal pay rates still lag behind private sector jobs by 35% on average.
Employee Unions still advocate 3.8% increases
This pay increase is nowhere near where employee unions advocate for pay increases. For the past two years, pay increases have been 1 percent and pay rates were frozen for 3 years prior, making the last 5 year increases only a paltry 2%. This two percent does not even come close to the rise in the cost of living, increased health care costs and the rising cost of groceries and medicine. The American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. and National Treasury Employees Union President Tony Reardon both contend these raise are ‘simply not enough’.
Federal and Military Retirees kept out of raises
Furthermore, these raises do not increase the payments to Federal or Military retirees that are currently on a fixed income. These retirees usually receive a cost-of-living adjustment every January and will have to go without for 2016. This means making the same fixed income stretch farther in order to deal with increases in the cost of living. Many other benefit systems in the US will also forgo these raises as well.
The executive order was issued after Congress decided to support the recommendation for pay raises.
The pay tables for 2016 have been released
The announcement for the pay tables is always the most anticipated revelation of the year and for 2016, all the details from the senior executive officers’ to those of the general schedule are all out. It’s to be noted here that Obama released the order for the pay raise to take place in the coming year on December 18 and now federal workers and service members are expected to get a happy New Year start.
The pay tables are out:
Starting with the SES, for all those officers that have been certified on the basis of the appraisal system of their performance, the maximum salary per annum will now amount to a staggering 185 thousand and change. This has been raised from a previous amount of 183 thousand dollars. All the other senior officers that are not appraised by the certified system will now be able to achieve as much as 170 thousand dollars and change (The previous amount was 168,700 dollars).
All the workers that work hourly shifts and whose wages are formulated via the wage grade schedule are also to get pay raises this year. Congress is to be lauded a lot in this regard as a deal has recently been signed that has asked the government to give the blue-collar federal employees the same amounts of compensation as their white-collar counterparts.
The pay tables had much to say about the futures of almost everyone related to the government. OPM is also going to hold an enrolment period for the month of February and that will focus on giving those employees opportunities that missed the open season previously and now want to get into the self plus one. It’s to be noted that this limited period is only meant to inculcate and acknowledge the self plus one alterations.
The Minimum Wage Could Spread
Minimum wage is something that all of us look forward to being high; it doesn’t matter the amount we might be earning. There mere knowledge that people are compensated a substantial amount of money for their services is somewhat comforting to know. A minimum wage of 15 dollars per hour appeared to be a mountain to climb for the government but it did eventually become a reality in 2015 and the attempts to make it a common norm throughout the country are going on.
15 dollar minimum wage expected to spread:
It’s expected that around 5 major states and around 10 cities are going to consider making the 15 dollars/hour bill a law as soon as the start of the next year. This will firstly have to get approved by the legislating bodies followed by a ballot that would eventually end up determining whether the people want it or not.
Apart from this, around 14 states are trying their best to make the minimum wages go up on the 1st of January and where the amounts are still a little under 15 dollars, it’s expected to create a wave of assurance among the expecting federal employees which is going to be a good sign.
All in all, steps like these are not only eyed by people that aren’t compensated enough, but it’s also somewhat satisfying for the normal population to know that everybody is getting enough to make both ends meet. Here’s hoping that things continue being on the right track and that this setting of minimum wage extends to the whole country so that prosperity and happiness can prevail regardless of demographic and financial differences. The government is to be lauded in this regard and the importance of the efforts of the Congressional members can also not be undermined.
