Pay Raise
OPM lays out early plans for law enforcement-only pay raise
Federal employee groups decried President Trump’s plan to raise pay for most civilian employees by just 1% next year while giving military service members and law enforcement officers 3.8%.
Trump intends to give feds 1% pay raise with some law enforcement officers getting more
White House officials had previously suggested that there would be no increases to federal employees’ salaries in 2026.
Trump’s pay freeze plan expected by end of month
The president must publish his alternative pay plan by Aug. 31 if he wishes to avert automatic large-scale increases to locality pay under the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act.
Updated
More than 60,000 feds are still waiting for their 2025 pay raise
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision last spring to shutter a slew of advisory committees has imperiled already enacted pay raises for federal employees in blue collar jobs.
OPM strips career HR from Schedule C appointments, salary setting
“You’re about to see a s-------d of employees making” the maximum federal salary, one expert quipped.
Trump likely to propose pay freeze for federal workers in 2026
In OMB’s response to agency budget submissions, the White House budget office told officials to prepare for a freeze on federal civilian pay next year.
Democrats introduce bills to provide feds 4.3% average pay raise in 2026, standardize retiree COLAs
Lawmakers have reintroduced annual bills aimed at setting a marker for the upcoming federal pay raise debate and to end bifurcated cost-of-living increases for federal retirees.
OPM set to finalize rules standardizing General Schedule, blue collar locality pay maps
The final rule implementing the long-requested adjustment to the Federal Wage System’s map of wage areas won’t be published until after President-elect Trump’s inauguration.
EEOC: The federal gender pay gap gets worse with age
The discrepancy between what men and women make in the federal government is substantially larger for those over 40 years old than that of their younger counterparts.
Biden finalizes 2% pay raise for feds next month
The president was apparently unmoved by federal employee groups and some House Democrats’ pleas to restore pay parity between the civilian and military workforces.
What difference does 2.5% make?
Here's what a Dec. 31, 2025 retirement might look like with a 4.5% increase in pay for 2025 compared with only a 2% increase.
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Lawmakers call on Biden to grant feds a 4.5% raise in 2025, restoring pay parity
President Biden previously came under fire from federal employee groups and some lawmakers for proposing only a 2.0% average pay raise for civilian workers, abandoning a longstanding Democratic priority.
Feds in 2024 made almost a quarter less than their private sector peers
The Federal Salary Council, which reported the disparity, also recommended creating new locality pay areas in Kennewick-Richland-Walla Walla, Wash., and Syracuse-Auburn, N.Y.
Cost-of-living adjustments will decline for federal retirees again in 2025
For the second straight year, former federal workers will see a smaller increase to their defined-benefit annuities in January, with FERS retirees set for a 2% increase and CSRS annuitants a 2.5% bump.
OPM moves to standardize General Schedule, blue collar locality pay areas
For years, federal employee unions have bemoaned that the pay systems’ differing maps of high-cost regions created pay inequity within agency workforces.
Labor Department sets 2025 federal contractor minimum wages
In a pair of filings in the Federal Register Monday, Labor Department officials set the range of minimum wages for contractors between $9.30 per hour for tipped workers to $17.75 per hour, depending on the job type.
Biden formally announces 2% average pay raise for feds in 2025
The president each August must declare an “economic emergency” to prevent large automatic increases to locality pay from taking effect, in accordance with the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act.
Republicans criticize EEOC over nixed one-day furlough
The agency said that no additional funding and a high pay increase for federal employees helped create its budget shortfall, but GOP leaders called it a failure to adjust spending.
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.
