Pay Measure Passes, but Delays Continue

Congress has cleared a long-delayed bill (HR-2673) to fund many agencies for the remainder of the current fiscal year that contains a 4.1 percent average federal pay raise for 2004, which would supersede the average 2 percent raise that took effect earlier this month by default. Last year the Federal Salary Council recommended that a 4.1 percent increase be paid as 2.7 percent across the board and the other 1.4 percentage points divided up as locality pay; if the White House follows that recommendation, the result would be total raises above 2003 rates ranging from 3.89 to 5.34 percent. Although the higher raise will be retroactive the first pay period of 2004 when the default raise kicked in-in most cases, January 11-it could be several months before employees get the increase. Implementing policies would have to be issued, and then agencies would have to reprogram their payroll systems to make the change-a process that in a similar situation last year took until well into the spring at some agencies. The measure also changes the way blue-collar pay is linked to general schedule pay, substituting localized rates for the GS national average. Meanwhile, a group of House members of both parties active in civil service issues has written to President Bush urging him to continue parity between military and federal employee pay in his fiscal 2005 budget proposal, which is scheduled for release next week.