Expert's View

By now you probably know that the President proposed a 3 percent salary increase for general schedule employees in 2008 and that the Congress trumped him by passing a 3.5 percent increase. On December 28, the President signed off on the increase, making it official. Of that 3.5 percent, 2.5 percent will be applied across the board and 1 percent will be used to fund locality pay, with the amount varying depending on where you work. For most employees, the new rate went into effect on the pay period that started on Sunday (January 6). For those of you who aren’t on that schedule, your increase will be effective on the first pay period that begins on or after January 1, 2008.

To find out how you fared, go to www.opm.gov/oca/ and take a good look at the pay tables. You’ll not only find those for GS employees but also for the Senior Executive Service, Senior Level and Scientific or Professional positions, the Executive Schedule and many more employment categories. You can also compare what you’re earning now with last year’s rates by going to the Prior Salary Tables section.

For those of you who retired around the end of the year and have already received a lump sum payment for your unused annual leave, here’s a bit of good news. Since unused annual leave is projected forward as if you were still on the rolls, you’ll be entitled to a supplemental payment from your agency for any hours that would have carried forward into the new pay year. If you haven’t yet received your lump sum payment, when you do, check to make sure that the 2008 pay increase has been factored in.