Trimming Bonuses

Besides being hit by a two-year pay freeze, federal employees also saw a decrease in the amounts paid out for bonuses last year, according to federal data.

Asbury Park Press reports that the federal government paid roughly $439 million in employee bonuses in 2011, down $43 million since new austerity measures were introduced.

The payroll data, provided by the Office of Personnel Management, covers roughly 1.3 million employees, but excludes the military, Defense and Treasury departments, FBI, CIA, White House, Congress and other independent commissions and agencies, including the Postal Service. The data covered base pay and bonuses, but not overtime.

The largest merit awards went to senior executives in Washington and air traffic controllers. The highest award, $62,895, went to 16 employees from departments like Agriculture and NASA. In June 2011, OPM Director John Berry and Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, sent a memorandum to agencies urging them to limit total spending on performance-based awards to 5 percent of salaries for senior managers, and 1 percent for lower-ranking employees.

The administration’s memo did not apply to the “3Rs,” or recruitment, retention and relocation incentives, which are frequently offered to employees in occupations critical to agency missions, including information technology.

Still, the administration has urged agencies not to exceed 2010 spending on 3Rs incentives this year. OPM also issued regulations in February 2011 to overhaul the way agencies use the 3Rs due to concerns about the continued growth of the program given recent market conditions.

Have the austerity measures affected your bonus-earning potential this year? What impact have these cuts had on recruiting and retaining IT workers?