White House releases details on pay freeze

The White House released more information and details on the pay freeze passed by Congress this week.

By Julia Ziegler
Federal News Radio

The White House is releasing more information on the pay freeze which will take effect for federal employees beginning January 1, 2011.

In a memo from the White House, the details on who is covered under the pay freeze are laid out.

“The Act freezes statutory pay adjustments for all executive branch pay schedules for a two-year period. It also generally prohibits executive departments and agencies from providing any base salary increases at all to senior executives or senior level employees, including performance-based increases.”

The memo goes on to state, “To the extent that an agency pay system provides performance-based increases in lieu of general increases, funds allocated for those performance-based increases should be correspondingly reduced to reflect the freezing of the employees’ base pay schedule.”

While performance-based pay raises are now on hold, the Office of Management and Budget confirms for Federal News Radio that federal employees will remain eligible for within-grade step increases and the increases in pay that come with those step increases (see 2010 Pay Freeze Rates chart below).

Feds also remain eligible for promotions and any increase in pay that would come with that promotion.

Included under the pay freeze are all employees on the General Schedule pay scale, the Foreign Service Schedule pay scale, schedules of the Veterans Health Administration, Senior Executive Service, Uniformed Services, Congress, Justices and Judges, including Administrative Law Judges (see Executive Order below).

The Office of Personnel Management will now be responsible for implementing the pay freeze. OPM released pay rate tables for 2011.

Read the memo from the White House, the executive order, and see the pay rates below. You can also view this information via pdf at the following links.

2010 Pay Freeze Memo

2010 Pay Freeze Executive Order

Pay Rates

If you have other questions about the pay freeze, check out Federal News Radio’s Pay Freeze Q&A.

2010 Pay Freeze Memo

2010 Pay Freeze Executive Order

2010 Pay Freeze Rates

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