You’ve got your WIG to keep you warm

Despite the prospect of an extended pay freeze, many nonpostal workers have their "wigs" to keep them warm, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. So, how do...

Despite the fact that feds are heading toward their third year without a pay raise, many nonpostal employees — anywhere from one-third to one-half — are earning more than they did when the White House froze 2011/2012 federal salaries at 2010 levels. Lots of workers managed to move up the 10-step pay ladder either because they got promotions or, more likely, qualified for a WIG.

The longevity step increases, or WIGs (within-grade) raises are set by law. Depending on their satisfactory length of service, workers in the first three steps of their raise generally get a 3 percent raise each year. Those in the next three get raises every 2 years, and those in steps 7, 8 and 9 get them every three years.

The WIG-driven pay raises are a good thing because federal health premiums — to be announced soon — are not going down in 2013. For many feds, even a modest increase in premiums will represent the biggest bite in their 2013 paychecks.

The six-month continuing resolution Congress is expected to okay this week includes an extension of the pay freeze at least through March of next year. President Barack Obama had proposed a 0.5 percent increase, contingent on Congress approving budgets. But…

Thanks to longevity pay increases — which haven’t been tackled by Congress or the White House — federal workers who satisfactorily complete one, two or three years in their pay grade automatically get a 3 percent adjustment regardless of the freeze. Workers in the first three steps of their GS grade get the WIG (within-grade raise) every year.

Although pay is frozen at 2010 levels, workers who get promotions or a step increase can continue to move up the ladder. In the metro Washington, D.C., area, for example, a GS-11, step one employee earns $62,467. At step five of that grade the salary is $70,794 and a move up to the tenth, and top, step of the grade is worth $81,204.

The Carter administration made an attempt to eliminate automatic WIGs or make it tougher to qualify for them. But that effort soon fizzled and the raises have largely remained under the radar scope of subsequent administrations and congressional budget cutters.

Meantime, the two largest nonpostal federal unions — the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union — have made a 2013 pay raise a top priority. J. David Cox, the new president of the AFGE and long-time NTEU leader Colleen Kelley say they will press Congress and the White House to OK a pay raise retroactive to January 2013.


NEARLY USELESS FACTOID

By Jack Moore

If you yelled continuously for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you could produce enough energy to heat a cup of coffee, according to the WeirdFacts.com….The best part of waking up….


MORE FROM FEDERAL NEWS RADIO

House to pass 6-month spending bill that extends pay freeze
The temporary spending bill is needed to avert a government shutdown when the current budget year expires Sept. 30. The stopgap bill makes official an extension of the current two-year federal pay freeze. Last month, President Barack Obama proposed a 0.5 percent pay raise that would only take effect once Congress passed a 2013 budget.

Agencies, colleges share top recruiting tips in tight budget times
Federal recruiters are looking to the nation’s colleges and universities to boost their staffs, but finding the best candidates can be a challenge. Agency recruiters and college advisers tell Federal News Radio there are certain cost- effective and innovative techniques that work better than others when it comes to recruiting the next generation of federal employees.

GSA to centralize oversight of IT, HR after top-to-bottom review
Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini will tell Senate lawmakers today about his plans to continue reforming the agency in the aftermath of the Western Regions Conference scandal. Along with consolidating CIO and human resources offices, Tangherlini wants the Federal Acquisition Service to reduce its fees. Federal News Radio has obtained an exclusive copy of Tangherlini’s testimony.

Six-month CR makes extension of fed pay freeze official
The six-month stopgap spending bill unveiled by the House Appropriations Committee this week officially continues the federal pay freeze until at least March. The continuing resolution, which runs through March 27, gives lawmakers more time to make appropriations for the coming year and staves off the threat of a government shutdown. When lawmakers first announced a temporary deal on 2013 funding, the full Congress had not yet approved any fiscal 2013 spending bills.

VA’s Blue Button now at 1 million users, aims at 100 million soon
Two years ago, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Blue Button project started with the idea that VA could improve veterans’ health outcomes by giving them something they’d been clamoring for: easy access to their own health records that had theretofore been locked up in VA’s data systems and visible only to health care providers.

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Courtesy of: https://www.justice.gov/archives/olp/staff-profile/former-assistant-attorney-general-office-legal-policy-hampton-y-dellingerHampton Yeats Dellinger

    For federal employee justice, some continuity in leadership

    Read more