COMP NEWS – The Biden administration is giving federal workers new overtime considerations along with a sizable federal pay increase.
President Joe Biden is giving federal workers a 5.2% federal pay increase next year, the White House said on Thursday.
Biden wrote a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate to officially set the raise in motion. The federal government’s new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
It’s the most significant base pay increase for federal employees in nearly four decades. The across-the-board pay increase will be 4.7 percent and locality pay increases will average an additional 0.5%, starting Jan. 1.
In comparison, salaries for private sector workers rose by an average of 4.6 percent in 2023.
‘We must attract, recruit, and retain a skilled workforce with fair compensation in order to keep our government running, deliver services, and meet our nation’s challenges today and tomorrow,’ Biden said in a statement.
The increase will also increase overtime considerations for many employees. The budget increase could still be blocked by Congress.
The president introduced his plan for a 5.2% pay increase in March in his budget proposal.
Congress could still block it through the budget process.
Biden has pushed federal employees to be back in the office following the work-from-home policies implemented during COVID.
Private businesses, along with the federal government, are encouraging workers return to the office, either full time or on a hybrid schedule.
And he’s said millions of employees earning less than $55,000 a year will be entitled to overtime pay.
The rule will ensure workers are paid time and a half for every hour they work over a 40-hour week. Some 3.6 million people stand to benefit from the change being spearheaded by the US Department of Labor.
Currently only employees earning less than $35,568 are automatically owed overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours in a week, under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
To read more about U.S. government staff and their incoming pay raises, click here.
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