Pay Order Expected

President Bush is expected to issue by the end of the month an order that will decide how the January general schedule raise is to be divided between across the board and locality components. A total average increase of 3.9 percent was enacted into law more than a month ago—a sharp contrast to the events in some recent years, when the raise was not finalized until well into December—and an advisory group has recommended paying a 2.9 percent increase to all GS employees and parceling out the funds for the other percentage point as locality pay. That likely would yield raises ranging from about 3.4 to about 5.4 percent, depending on indicated pay gaps. OPM sometimes issues draft pay tables for the upcoming year shortly after such orders; sometimes there is a lengthy delay. Another presidential order typically issued in late December finalizes the pay tables and also finalizes rates in certain other salary schedules, such as the SES and foreign service. Wage grade employees typically get the same increase paid to GS employees in their areas, even though there is a separate locality pay system for them.