SUMMARY: Today, the President sent Congress a letter transmitting an alternative pay plan for the calendar year 2024 pay raise for federal workers that would institute an average 5.2% pay increase consisting of a 4.7% across-the-board increase and 0.5% for locality pay. 

Today, the President sent congressional leaders a formal letter transmitting an alternative pay plan for the calendar year 2024 pay raise for federal workers in the General Schedule that would provide an average 5.2 percent pay increase in January 2024.

The Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act, establishes, the annual, across-the-board pay raise for most federal employees absent congressional action to establish a pay raise. The pay is set using a formula tied to the Department of Labor’s Employment Cost Index (ECI), which measures the rise in private sector pay. Under the formula prescribed under this law, the ECI figure minus a half percent, the across-the-board pay increase should be 4.7%. This amount is before any locality pay is added. However, this same law also provides the President with the ability to set a different pay raise amount, which is required to be transmitted to Congress by September 1st of the preceding calendar year. Today’s action formalizes the White House’s planned January 2024 pay increase as originally proposed earlier this year in the administration’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget request to Congress but provides additional details on how the increase will be allocated between an across-the-board increase and locality pay.

According to the alternative pay memo, the across-the-board increase will be 4.7 percent and 0.5 percent will be allocated for locality pay, resulting in an average increase of 5.2 percent, equal to the increase proposed for the military.

It is still possible that Congress could act to provide a different amount. As of now, overall FY 2024 congressional appropriations work remains incomplete as we near the start of the new fiscal year on October 1st. As you may recall, the House and Senate Financial Services and General Government appropriations bills (H.R. 4664/S. 2309), the bills that would include any changes to the annual federal employee pay increase should Congress decide to act, were silent on the issue, thereby deferring to the President’s proposal.

While NTEU has always supported the concept of pay parity with the military, given the years of below market pay adjustment and the recent increase in inflation, we will continue to

push Congress and the administration to support the FAIR Act (H.R. 536/S. 124) and provide an average 8.7 percent increase for next year, consisting of an across-the-board increase of 4.7 percent and 4.0 percent for locality pay. Providing federal workers an average 8.7 percent pay raise in 2024 would begin to address the shortfall in pay in the past and help make the federal government a more competitive employer, especially in higher cost areas of the country given the low unemployment numbers. In addition, the average 8.7 percent increase, which is equal to the cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security benefits and Civil Service Retirement System annuities for 2023, will help employees retain their purchasing power given the increases in inflation.

NTEU will continue to fight to ensure that federal workers receive a fair pay increase and will keep you updated on all administration and congressional developments that impact federal employee pay. To find out more and see what you can do, click here.