Also taking effect as of the first pay period of the year are the FEHB and FEDVIP premiums for the 2023 plan year. Image: Waxen/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe general schedule pay raise paid as of the first full pay period of the year—January 1-14 for most—should be reflected in pay distributions covering that period, which in most cases employees should be receiving in the days ahead.
While the raise averaged 4.6 percent, GS employees should remember that it varied by locality to vary by locality from 5.15 percent in the Seattle-Tacoma locality to 2.37 percent in the “rest of the U.S.” locality for areas outside the city areas with their own rates.
Blue-collar employees receive their raise at differing times of a fiscal year, including some getting raises retroactive to last October; they generally receive the same percentage as GS employees locally but there is a complex capping mechanism in place.
The GS pay cap is rising to $183,500. That limit now applies to those in the upper steps of GS-15 in 33 of the localities, as well as to the upper steps of GS-14 in the San Francisco locality, the highest-paid.
Career senior executives and those under other high-level pay systems who are paid within a range do not get raises automatically but as a practical matter many agencies pay performance-based raises to them at the start of the year. In most cases the pay cap under those systems will be $212,100. Pay remains frozen for political appointees, including political SES members.
Also taking effect as of the first pay period of the year are the FEHB and FEDVIP premiums for the 2023 plan year. Also, the pay statement should reflect elections made for health care accounts, dependent care accounts or both under the flexible spending account program, and any increases in FEGLI premium levels linked to increased coverage levels when salaries increase.
Also increasing automatically with a raise are TSP investments by those who invest on a percentage of salary basis; agency contributions under FERS likewise rise. For those who invest on a dollar amount basis, investments won’t rise unless they elect to increase that amount; FERS matching contributions won’t rise unless they do so, although the automatic 1 percent amount rises regardless.
For retirees, the COLA adjustment—8.7 percent under CSRS, 7.7 percent under FERS for those eligible—should have been received with the January payout. That should also have reflected changes in FEHB and FEDVIP premiums for the 2023 plan year.
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