Pay: More Than Just the Annual Raise

Oooh, FedSmith's Ralph Smith is stepping into a minefield today. In a piece on federal compensation, he notes:

There is little doubt that many readers believe that federal employees receive considerably less than those in the private sector. That is no doubt true in many cases. But one feature of federal employment that is sometimes not considered is that, in addition to the average salary increase that is reported every year, federal employees also have a number of other features in the federal human resources program that also add to their average pay.

Smith goes on to list some of the features: cash awards, time off awards, promotions and within-grade step increases.