Committee to vote on paid parental leave bill Wednesday
May 5th, 2009 | Pay & Benefits | Posted by Steve Losey
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee plans to vote on HR 626, the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, tomorrow at 1 p.m. The bill would allow new parents to take four weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child.
The committee’s ranking Republican, Darrell Issa of California, opposes the bill. Issa sent letters to the committee members last night saying that “it is simply not the right time” to create a new $850 million benefit for federal employees during the tough economy:
While our committee contemplates enhancing federal benefits packages, the rest of working America is living in fear — worrying about not just losing their benefits, but their jobs completely. Taxpayers are reaching the breaking point when it comes to subsidizing higher federal spending at their expense. Responsible American families are cutting costs and dealing with job loss and the destruction of their savings and retirement accounts.
Federal employees already receive 12 weeks of unpaid leave after the birth or adoption of a child, and can use paid sick leave or vacation time during that period.
Tags: Congress, parental leave, Pay & Benefits
Paid parental leave: What do you think?
January 22nd, 2009 | Pay & Benefits | Posted by Steve Losey
Lawmakers have reintroduced a bill that would provide four weeks of paid leave for federal employees who give birth to or adopt a child. Similar bills have failed in the past, however. And though Democrats have a stronger position in this Congress than they did last year, it still remains to be seen whether this bill will become law.
What do you think? Has the lack of paid parental leave hurt you when your family grew? We’d like to hear from you. Send an e-mail to Stephen Losey at slosey@federaltimes.com.
Tags: Congress, parental leave, Pay & Benefits
2009 pay raises are out!
December 19th, 2008 | Career Information Pay & Benefits Workplace | Posted by Steve Watkins
The widely anticipated pay raises for 2009 were just released this morning. In an executive order, President George W. Bush outlined how various pay schedules will be impacted by the 3.9 percent overall pay raise that Congress enacted. Also, the Office of Personnel Management released the new 2009 pay tables for the various localities.
Among the highlights:
- Basic pay under the General Schedule will go up 2.9 percent. The remainder of the 3.9 percent overall pay raise enacted by Congress will go toward locality raises.
- Among the 30-plus locality pay zones, employees in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore-Northern Virginia region will see the biggest pay hikes. Those folks will get an overall pay raise of 4.78 percent, including the 2.9 percent basic pay increase. That amounts to base pay plus 23.10 percent.
- Meanwhile, the lowest-paying locality zone — “Rest of the U.S.” — will see overall pay increases of 3.52 percent, including the 2.9 percent basic pay increase. That amounts to basic pay plus 13.86 percent.
- The highest-paying GS employees — which are those at GS-15 Step 10 in the higher-paying localities — will see their pay capped at $153,200, which is the pay rate for Level IV of the Executive Schedule. That’s up from the previous cap of $149,000.
- The maximum pay for Senior Executive Service members in certified performance-based pay systems will increase from $172,200 to $177,000, while the minimum pay will increase from $114,468 to $117,787. For SES members outside of certified systems, the max goes up from $158,500 to $162,900.
- Executive schedule pay increases from $139,600 to $143,500 at Level V, the lowest level, and from $191,300 to $196,700 at Level I, the highest level.
Now you can see what’s in your stocking for the coming year!
Tags: Pay & Benefits