Proposed Legislation Would Reduce Pay Disparities for Some Federal Employees

Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and Representative Matt Cartwright (D-PA) this month introduced the Locality Pay Equity Act that would reduce pay disparities for some federal employees.

Currently, hourly federal employees fall under the Federal Wage System (FWS) while salaried workers fall under the General Schedule (GS) pay system.

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While both pay systems allow for employees’ compensation to be adjusted based on their location to account for differences in regional economic condition, current law does not require the boundaries used to set locality pay for hourly and salaried workers to align.

Consequently, at some federal facilities, GS employees are included in more generous locality pay areas while FWS employees are not, despite working in the same location.

If passed, the Locality Pay Equity Act (S 3308), would ensure that both General Schedule and Federal Wage System employees are provided locality pay based on the same map of locality pay areas.

This would result in higher locality pay adjustments for many employees on the FWS.

“Under current policy, there are significant and unjust pay gaps between federal employees under the Federal Wage System (FWS) and those on the General Schedule (GS),” said Randy Erwin, National President of the National Federation of Federal Employees.

“The issue stems from outdated FWS wage area boundaries, which were mostly drawn shortly after World War II, reflecting the locations of military installations at the time. However, GS locality boundaries are up to date and more accurate according to commuting rates and other job market considerations. It is fundamentally unfair that federal employees working side-by-side, for the same employer, and in the same location, are paid different wages. It is time to end these pay inequities by guaranteeing pay parity with the Locality Pay Equity Act.”

To read more about the Locality Pay Equity Act, go here.

More information on the Federal Wage System is here.