A 1.4% Proposed 2011 Pay Raise?

The White House is scheduled to release its fiscal 2011 budget blueprint on Feb. 1, and federal employees will be anxious to learn the Obama administration's proposal for federal pay in 2011. If history is a guide, and the president follows his promise to ensure pay parity between military members and federal civilians, federal employees should be in line for a 1.4 percent pay raise in 2011.

The 1.4 percent figure is based on the change in the Labor Department's Employment Cost Index from September 2008 to September 2009. Under a 2004 law, military salaries must be increased annually at a rate equal to the change in the ECI for the private sector's wages. In December, Obama assured Congress that pay parity between military members and federal civilians would be included in the fiscal 2011 budget proposal, so it's likely that the proposed civilian raise will also be 1.4 percent.

Meanwhile, Military.com notes that the White House will propose a 1.4 percent military pay increase, which, if approved, would be the smallest since the start of the all-voluntary military force in 1973.

Wired Workplace is a daily look at issues facing the federal information technology workforce. It is written by former Government Executive reporter Brittany Ballenstedt and published on Nextgov.com. Click here to read the latest entries.