Federal employees will get a 1 percent pay raise in 2015, according to an executive order signed by President Obama.
President Obama said in an Aug. 29 letter to Congress that he would use his executive authority to issue a pay raise if Congress did not act. On Dec. 19, Obama made the pay raise official, authorizing agencies to raise federal employee pay and increase minimum salaries.
Federal employees will see the pay raise take effect on Jan. 11, the first day of the first full pay period, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
Resource: Read the executive order
In his August letter President Obama said federal employees have suffered through three years of pay freezes followed by a 1 percent raise in 2014.
"However, as the country's economic recovery continues, we must maintain efforts to keep our nation on a sustainable fiscal course. This is an effort that continues to require tough choices and each of us to do our fair share," he wrote in the letter.
Colleen Kelley, the president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said while she appreciates the pay raise she is concerned about the widening gap between federal and private-sector pay.
"Federal employees went without raises in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The 1 percent raises in 2014 and 2015 are inadequate to keep pace with rising costs," Kelley said.
The union will push for higher federal pay and larger locality pay increases in 2015 in order to close that widening pay gap. A larger pay raise for federal workers would also help retain valued employees, she said.
