Senior Executive Service (United States) – American Federation of Government Employees Local 704

What Exactly is Fair in Federal Compensation?

By Kellie Lunney July 11, 2013

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When it comes to pay, fairness is an elusive concept. What is too much, too little, just right? The answers depend on who’s talking, and when they’re talking.

This is why the debate about whether federal employees are over- or underpaid rages on. It’s complicated, relative, and, of course, political.

Federal compensation once again dominated government news headlines this week. Furloughs for 650,000 Defense Department civilians across the country began on Monday, guaranteeing those employees smaller paychecks this summer. Acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Danny Werfel said he wants to get rid of performance bonuses in 2013 to reduce the number of furlough days employees are forced to take. And the Senior Executives Association is trying to reignite a discussion of pay compression, a byproduct of the government’s imperfect pay systems. Continue reading “What Exactly is Fair in Federal Compensation?”

Government executives could rake in bonuses as other workers furloughed

4:25 PM, May 18, 2013 |

By Lindsay Wise McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — An elite group of federal employees is set to receive cash bonuses despite this year’s automatic budget cuts, according to a report by a Senate subcommittee.

The report showed that members of the government’s highly paid Senior Executive Service — who make up less than 1% of the federal work force — had received more than $340 million in bonuses from 2008 through 2011. The bonuses came on top of annual salaries that ranged from $119,000 to $179,000.

In a process known as sequestration, $85 billion in across-the-board federal spending cuts took effect March 1, forcing the government to slash services and furlough workers. A month later, the Obama administration froze bonuses for the vast majority of federal workers. Continue reading “Government executives could rake in bonuses as other workers furloughed”