The widely anticipated pay raises for 2009 were just released this morning. In an executive order, President George W. Bush outlined how various pay schedules will be impacted by the 3.9 percent overall pay raise that Congress enacted. Also, the Office of Personnel Management released the new 2009 pay tables for the various localities.
Among the highlights:
- Basic pay under the General Schedule will go up 2.9 percent. The remainder of the 3.9 percent overall pay raise enacted by Congress will go toward locality raises.
- Among the 30-plus locality pay zones, employees in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore-Northern Virginia region will see the biggest pay hikes. Those folks will get an overall pay raise of 4.78 percent, including the 2.9 percent basic pay increase. That amounts to base pay plus 23.10 percent.
- Meanwhile, the lowest-paying locality zone — “Rest of the U.S.” — will see overall pay increases of 3.52 percent, including the 2.9 percent basic pay increase. That amounts to basic pay plus 13.86 percent.
- The highest-paying GS employees — which are those at GS-15 Step 10 in the higher-paying localities — will see their pay capped at $153,200, which is the pay rate for Level IV of the Executive Schedule. That’s up from the previous cap of $149,000.
- The maximum pay for Senior Executive Service members in certified performance-based pay systems will increase from $172,200 to $177,000, while the minimum pay will increase from $114,468 to $117,787. For SES members outside of certified systems, the max goes up from $158,500 to $162,900.
- Executive schedule pay increases from $139,600 to $143,500 at Level V, the lowest level, and from $191,300 to $196,700 at Level I, the highest level.
Now you can see what’s in your stocking for the coming year!
