The United States Office of Personnel Management administers the pay scale of General Schedule employees along with health insurance and pensions and coordinates the hiring of new employees.
As next year approaches, general schedule and federal employees must be wondering about the 2025 pay scale. This year, the White House budget proposed a pay increase for GS employees, so let’s see what employees can expect from 2025.
OPM Pay Scale 2025
The White House budget proposed a 2% pay scale increase for GS employees, meaning the rate of increase will be reflected in the GS pay scale beginning in January 2025. The Biden administration proposed a 12% average pay increase for 14,500 blue-collar workers. collars in October 2024.
In August 2024, the White House also unveiled an alternative pay scale plan for civilian federal employees where the proposal was to increase federal pay by 1.7% and local pay by 0.3%, resulting in a 2% increase.
The US Office of Personnel Management publishes the federal salary structure for federal GS employees working for the government. OPM generally releases the pay scale in December for the following year, so employees waiting for the 2025 pay scale can expect a pay scale and pay scale update in December 2024.
What does the lawmaker say about OPM’s 2025 pay scale?
Lawmakers and Democrats have asked the White House for a larger wage increase in 2025 to reduce the financial burden on employees. According to the latest information, the Senate and the Democrats sent the proposal to the White House a week ago.
Lawmakers are demanding that the White House review pay increases for civilian federal and military employees. The White House’s alternative plan proposes a 2% pay increase for GS employees, while military personnel can expect a 4.5% increase in 2025.
Congressman Gerry Connolly and others have urged the White House to match pay increases for military personnel with pay increases for civilian federal employees. So the position of the legislators is clear: they are demanding a 4% salary increase saying that both civilians and soldiers work tirelessly for the growth and security of the nation, so the payments should be matched.
How does OPM calculate salary?
According to OPM rules, the office calculates a pay grade based on the following factors:
- The annual rate of the employee’s basic salary
- Supplement for special price (if any)
- Local Pay is an increase that keeps wages in sync with private employee wages based on geographic area.
The office calculates wage rates and rounds them to the nearest cent, for example, if the office considers hourly rate, fortnightly rate, night pay, Sunday premium, overtime and holiday premium when calculating the pay scale.
How does the federal payroll system differ from GS employees?
The General Schedule (GS) pay structure is designed for civilian federal employees, while the FWS pay structure primarily applies to most blue-collar workers, including those in trades, crafts, and labor roles within the executive branch. However, if the pay scale were to increase, this would happen to both.
Previously, the law placed officials and employees in different personnel systems. The FWS and GS wage systems differ because they are governed by different laws and regulations. This regulation is intended to revise the criteria that determine the geographic boundaries of pay areas used by FWS in connection with certain existing GS pay areas.
As we mentioned, the Biden administration mentioned a 12% raise for 14,500 workers, which will not include GS employees.
Impact of the OPM salary increase in 2025
OPM administers the increase in the federal pay system and the general schedule system to decide pay scales for people who work for the government. The OPM pay scale revision to be announced in December 2024 for 2025 may affect the system as follows:
- With a 2.5% COLA increase for 2025, employees can expect an increase in their pay.
- Because the pay scale depends on geography and demographics, people living in San Francisco or New York in the top states can expect to see a bigger pay increase compared to other regions.
- A 2 percent wage increase is one of the lowest price increases in recent years, it wouldn’t change much for employees, so lawmakers are calling for a bigger wage increase next year. Employees received 3.6% this year and a 4% increase in 2023, so a 2% increase is still a concern for many employees.
The 2025 salary scale for blue collar workers (FWS) and general schedule employees will be announced soon in December 2024, the most likely increase we can expect is 2%.
