Trump to cut pay raises for government workers

[jxla]

35. Writer must be new to covering federal pay issues

Last edited Fri Sep 1, 2017, 02:26 PM - Edit history (1)

Fortunately for federal employees,Trump's letter does not say what the writer thinks it does. I see he updated the article at 1:21 pm today, but he is still confused about locality pay. OPM has a handy calculator that lets you see how much difference there ibetween locality pay areas.
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2017/general-schedule-gs-salary-calculator/

https://federalnewsradio.com/your-money/2017/08/trump-sets-2018-pay-raise-for-federal-employees/
Most civilian federal employees will receive an average raise of 1.4 percent, with an additional 0.5 percent adjusted in locality pay for a total of a 1.9 percent.

https://www.fedsmith.com/2017/08/31/president-proposes-1-9-average-2018-federal-employee-raise/
President Trump has now issued the letter that verified his intent to move forward with an average raise in 2018 of 1.9%. In this letter, President Trump wrote:

"I have determined that for 2018, across-the-board pay increases will be 1.4 percent and locality pay increases will average 0.5 percent, resulting in an overall average increase of 1.9 percent for civilian Federal employees. I will specify locality pay percentages for each locality pay area by Executive Order before the first pay period in January 2018. These decisions will not materially affect our ability to attract and retain a well-qualified Federal workforce."

For those who pay close attention to this issue, you may recall that the average pay raise for 2018 amounts to 1.9%, as previously announced, and not 1.4%. The difference is locality pay. An additional amount of 0.5% was allocated to locality pay for 2018. The actual percentage of the 2018 raise will vary between different locality pay areas. The actual amount of the raise in locality pay areas may not be disclosed until December.