Pay Caps Set to Rise

The pay caps applying to career federal employees in several high-level salary systems appear likely to rise by 3.3 percent in 2003 because of the linkage between those caps and pay for top elected and appointed officials. Members of Congress, federal judges and executive branch political appointees will receive a 3.3 percent raise in January unless Congress acts to block the raises. While Congress has done so many times in the past-mostly out of sensitivity to raising its own pay-it now appears that the 2003 raise will be allowed to go into effect. Action-or lack of it-on the raise for top-level officials does not directly affect the general federal employee raise for a year. Under the fiscal 2003 Treasury-Postal appropriations bill that has passed the House (HR-5120), and is pending in the Senate (S-2740), general schedule employees would receive in January a 4.1 percent average increase and wage grade employees would receive raises up to the GS average amount (wage grade raises are paid at differing times of the year, varying by locality).