Travel Trouble

Federal employees recently learned they would receive less money for hotel expenses while traveling, but the General Services Administration, which sets per diem rates, might reconsider some of those changes.

GSA last month announced it would lower per diem rates for lodging in 310 of 378 nonstandard, mostly metropolitan areas beginning on Oct. 1. For travelers to the Washington area, that means reimbursement would range from $157 to $211, compared to rates from $170 to $229 in fiscal 2010.

But federal travel managers have until Dec. 31 to appeal to GSA if they feel the new rates are too low. Agencies must report the ZIP codes for areas where employees are traveling, the names of hotels refusing to accept the per diem rate and how many times managers had to approve expenses that exceeded those rates or employees had to choose a different hotel and thus incur extra transportation expenses.

Any additional changes to per diem rates will apply starting on April 1, 2011.

For workers interested in knowing rates for particular cities, GovLoop, a social networking site for federal employees, has a per diem calculator that allows users to search by city name or ZIP code. The tool also lists restaurants, hotels and nightlife options.

Pay Gap Peace

The public-private pay gap is a sticking point for Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry, but despite work being done to resolve the controversy, he's not optimistic about reaching a truce anytime soon.

USA Today in August reported that on average, annual federal pay and benefits (ringing in at $123,049) are more than double what private workers earn ($61,051). Analyses from the right-leaning Heritage Foundation and the libertarian Cato Institute have added fuel to the fire, though observers say no report has produced an apples-to-apples comparison of federal and private sector jobs.

Berry told reporters on Tuesday he is working with the Office of Management and Budget to look at the available data and formulas to determine if improvements to pay calculation are necessary. The final recommendation will result from a meeting with OMB Acting Director Jeffrey Zients and representatives from the Labor Department, which should take place in the near future, Berry said.

"I don't want to get ahead of myself," he said. "It may be that no changes are needed. In other words, it may be the conclusion of this meeting is that the current process is accurate and doing a good job, or as good a job as can be done with the data that's available."

According to Berry, the goal is to compete with Fortune 500 companies to recruit and retain top talent. But the debate over the public-private pay gap has been going on for years and isn't close to a resolution, he said.

"This fight I expect will continue going forward," said Berry. "I don't expect any sort of Kumbaya moment where suddenly this 25-year battle is going to be drawn to conclusion. I think we might have a better shot of Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton succeeding in the Middle East."