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 will have more details on proposed 2011 pay raise on Monday. Stay tuned.
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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