16 Things Seniors Born Between 1941-1969 Could Take Advantage OfPresident Trump signed a spending measure earlier this month that reversed the 2019 pay freeze for civilian federal employees and provided a 1.4 percent across-the-board raise plus as a 0.5 percent locality pay adjustment. The pay raise is retroactive to January 1 (or the first applicable pay period of 2019).
But federal employees — and groups that represent them — have been asking when the 2019 federal pay raise will be implemented.
Federal News Network reported yesterday:
“As of now, the Office of Personnel Management has sent updated pay tables to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance, according to Tara Vales, spokesperson for Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. After OMB’s review, President Donald Trump must sign an executive order to begin the process for federal payroll providers to update their systems. Vales said the increase could come as soon as the March 22 pay check or as late as the April 5 check. ”
There will also be 6 new locality areas for 2019:
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Burlington, Vermont
- Corpus Christi, Texas
- Omaha, Nebraska
- San Antonio, Texas
- Virginia Beach/Norfolk, Virginia
Delay Not Without Precedent
As reported by FedWeek yesterday, the wait for these specifics are not without precedent in similar situations. In fact, the wait for the pay raise to be implemented has been longer in the past.
“While the executive order precedes the OPM instructions, it has to await OPM’s calculations of new GS pay tables, since those tables are included with it,” Fedweek reported. “That involves dividing the 0.5 percentage points of the raise designated for locality pay among GS localities—now 50 city areas plus Alaska, Hawaii and the catchall ‘rest of the U.S.’ elsewhere — based on local pay data reported last fall by the Federal Salary Council. The raises likely will range about 1.7 to 2.3 percent.”