Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay
Signed: December 22, 2017
Published: December 27, 2017
Document Number: 2017-28160
📋Summary
This executive order sets updated pay rates for a wide range of federal pay systems by adopting new official pay schedules for 2018. It affects federal civilian employees under the General Schedule, Foreign Service, and certain Veterans Health Administration pay systems; Senior Executive Service officials; Executive Schedule officials; the Vice President and Members of Congress; federal judges; administrative law judges; and members of the uniformed services (including cadets and midshipmen). It directs that locality-based pay adjustments be paid according to a new schedule and instructs the Office of Personnel Management to carry out and publish the locality pay changes. Most of the new pay schedules take effect at the start of the first applicable pay period on or after January 1, 2018, while uniformed services pay is effective January 1, 2018, and it replaces the prior 2016 pay-adjustment executive order.
💼Business Impact
This executive order primarily affects businesses that employ or compete for talent with federal workers—especially federal contractors, defense and aerospace firms, healthcare providers working with the VA/VHA, and companies in high–federal employment markets (e.g., DC, Northern VA/MD, San Diego, Huntsville). By raising/adjusting General Schedule, SES, uniformed service, and locality pay tables, it can increase wage pressure for comparable roles (IT, engineering, cybersecurity, nursing/clinical staff, program management) and may indirectly raise contract labor rates where pricing is tied to prevailing market pay. There are no direct new compliance obligations for most private employers, but contractors should review labor category rate cards, escalation assumptions, and any contract clauses that reference federal pay schedules or locality pay, and be prepared to justify rate adjustments in proposals or recompetes. Immediate actions: benchmark your compensation against updated GS/locality tables in your hiring geographies, adjust recruiting/retention plans for hard-to-fill roles, and for government-facing businesses, reforecast project labor costs and pricing for 2018 performance periods.
Full Text
Executive Order 13819 of December 22, 2017
Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1 . Statutory Pay Systems. The rates of basic pay or salaries of the statutory pay systems (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5302(1)), as adjusted under 5 U.S.C. 5303, are set forth on the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof:
(a) The General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5332(a)) at Schedule 1;
(b) The Foreign Service Schedule (22 U.S.C. 3963) at Schedule 2; and
(c) The schedules for the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs (38 U.S.C. 7306, 7404; section 301(a) of Public Law 102-40) at Schedule 3.
Sec. 2 . Senior Executive Service. The ranges of rates of basic pay for senior executives in the Senior Executive Service, as established pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5382, are set forth on Schedule 4 attached hereto and made a part hereof.
Sec. 3 . Certain Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries. The rates of basic pay or salaries for the following offices and positions are set forth on the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof:
(a) The Executive Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5312-5318) at Schedule 5;
(b) The Vice President (3 U.S.C. 104) and the Congress (2 U.S.C. 4501) at Schedule 6; and
(c) Justices and judges (28 U.S.C. 5, 44(d), 135, 252, and 461(a)) at Schedule 7.
Sec. 4 . Uniformed Services. The rates of monthly basic pay (37 U.S.C. 203(a)) for members of the uniformed services, as adjusted under section 601 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115-91), as signed by the President on December 12, 2017, and the rate of monthly cadet or midshipman pay (37 U.S.C. 203(c)) are set forth on Schedule 8 attached hereto and made a part hereof.
Sec. 5 . Locality-Based Comparability Payments.
(a) Pursuant to section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, and my authority to implement an alternative level of comparability payments under section 5304a of title 5, United States Code, locality-based comparability payments shall be paid in accordance with Schedule 9 attached hereto and made a part hereof.
(b) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall take such actions as may be necessary to implement these payments and to publish appropriate notice of such payments in the Federal Register.
Sec. 6 . Administrative Law Judges. Pursuant to section 5372 of title 5, United States Code, the rates of basic pay for administrative law judges are set forth on Schedule 10 attached hereto and made a part hereof.
Sec. 7 . Effective Dates. Schedule 8 is effective January 1, 2018. The other schedules contained herein are effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2018. ( printed page 61432)
Sec. 8 . Prior Order Superseded.Executive Order 13756 of December 27, 2016, is superseded as of the effective dates specified in section 7 of this order.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 22, 2017.
