Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act “FAIR Act”

Legislation has been proposed to increase the wages being paid to the federal work force. Rep. Gerry Connolly (VA) and Sen. Brian Schatz (HI) have introduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act, which calls for an average 5.1 percent pay increase for federal employees. The proposed pay increase consists of  a 4.1 percent across-the-board adjustment, as well as an average 1 percent adjustment for locality pay.  

While we all would appreciate taking home a larger paycheck at the end of the pay cycle, this legislation would make a much bigger impact on the work force. In 1990, the Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act was established, which set a goal of a 5 percent disparity between private and public sector pay. In the last report conducted by the Federal Salary Council, the wages in the private sector outpaced those in the public sector by 23.11 percent. What this means to you, on average, is if you were performing a similar job in the private sector your salary would be 23.11 percent higher. While there are advantages to being a federal employee, competitive pay is certainly an area where an opportunity exists.

If your take home pay is an important topic for you, please consider supporting the FAIR Act (H.R. 6398 and S. 3518). You can voice your support on nteu.org in the “Action Center”. NTEU believes all federal employees deserve for their wages to be competitive to their counterparts in the private sector.

Alex Walker