An All-Out Pay Freeze?

As if freezing the pay of federal workers for two years wasn't enough, now two amendments to spending legislation have been proposed that would also deny federal employees step increases, promotions and performance awards.

Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., introduced an amendment to H.R. 1 -- a continuing resolution that would fund the government through the rest of fiscal 2011 -- that would bar the use of federal funds for any federal employee salary increases. Another amendment by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., would deny federal employees step increases under the General Schedule.

"Headlines painting feds as overpaid, underqualified and completely insulated from the recession score points through the promotion of falsehoods based on biased data manipulation," Patricia Niehaus, president of the Federal Managers Association, said in a letter to members of Congress. "To see lawmakers latch onto these reports as 'fact' is truly disheartening."

Performance-based awards are really the only monetary differentiations federal employees receive for doing a good job. At the same time, a recent survey by Dice.com found that even private sector workers, at least those who work in IT, have endured two straight years of nearly flat salaries overall. That same survey also found that federal IT workers earn slightly more pay than their private sector counterparts.

What are your thoughts on the proposed freeze on performance-based awards? Will an all-out pay freeze affect the recruiting, hiring and retention of IT workers many claim are paid comparably to the private sector?