Pay & Benefits

OPM finalizes new locality pay areas ahead of 2024 pay raise

The combination of creating four new locality pay areas and a broad update to underlying maps means that around 33,300 federal workers will see larger pay raises beginning next year.

Pay & Benefits

OPM proposes making it easier to approve some recruitment and relocation incentives

Under proposed regulations, the federal government’s HR agency would no longer need to approve waivers of traditional incentive payment caps in advance, potentially speeding up the hiring and relocation processes.

Pay & Benefits

Democrats reintroduce bill to improve locality pay for some federal jobs

The Locality Pay Equity Act would ensure that locality pay determinations, currently bifurcated between the General Schedule and Federal Wage System pay scales, would be consistent for most federal employees.

Pay & Benefits

Open Season and tax savings

Spending a few hours reviewing your options for 2024, may save you a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars next year.

Pay & Benefits

TSP board OKs new international fund index, this time without China

A previous effort to move the I Fund to a broader benchmark index, which included investments in Chinese corporations, met opposition from the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers.

Pay & Benefits

The federal pay gap spiked again in 2023

Members of an advisory panel that examines federal employee compensation issues on Tuesday recommended advocating new tactics to combat the federal-private sector pay disparity as well as pay compression.

Pay & Benefits

Veterans’ health care coverage expanded by the Biden administration

The VA will create new programs meant to make care more accessible.

Pay & Benefits

An Open Season checklist for active federal employees

Tips for saving money on health care and to help guide you through the process of choosing a plan in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Pay & Benefits

Answers to some of your common questions about CSRS and FERS

Federal retirement expert Tammy Flanagan says “the devil is in the details.”

Pay & Benefits

Senate version of bill to standardize retiree COLAs emerges

The reintroduction of the Equal COLA Act by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., comes just weeks after the 2024 cost of living adjustment announcement revived complaints about how the government calculates annual increases across retirement systems.

Pay & Benefits

As shutdown looms, fed firefighters express concern over continuity of pay and benefits

If Congress fails to stop a funding cutoff "many of us might not get paid, or at least won’t get paid on time, and that’s a real problem," says one firefighter.

Pay & Benefits

OPM begins prep for annual retirement surge

The federal government’s centralized HR office is urging federal agencies to be proactive in ensuring federal workers’ retirement applications are submitted without errors to streamline processing during the annual spike in claims.

Pay & Benefits

Medicare Part D is coming to an FEHB plan near you

The prescription drug benefit is being automatically added to many of the FEHB program options for the 2024 plan year.

Pay & Benefits

TSP funds’ tumble continues into October

Once again, only one portfolio in the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program finished last month in the black.

Pay & Benefits

State and USAID employees abroad face an increased demand and an inadequate supply of mental health resources

The pandemic, war in Ukraine, and a general rise in demand for psychiatric services are some of the reasons the congressional watchdog cited for the strain on mental health resources.

Pay & Benefits

What federal annuitants need to know about Medicare Part D for 2024

This upcoming Open Season will be one of the most important in recent years for annuitants to evaluate their existing plan against those that offer Part D coverage.

Pay & Benefits

TSP: SECURE 2.0 Act contribution limit changes coming in 2026

The federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program will use the entire two-year “transition period” to implement new rules governing how older workers can make catch-up contributions as they approach retirement.