Washington, D.C. – The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) today issued a proposed rule to increase parity between the Federal Wage System (FWS), the federal pay schedule for blue-collar workers, and the General Schedule (GS) system, the government’s largest pay scale. If finalized as proposed, this regulation would provide a meaningful pay increase for approximately 14,500 blue-collar workers, including those in trade, craft, and manual labor occupations.   

“Investing in America means investing in all Americans to make sure everyone has a fair shot and we leave no one behind. That means being paid a fair wage, no matter where you work or how you were hired. For too long, workers hired under the Federal Wage System were paid less money than their counterparts hired under a different pay system to work in the same area,” said U.S. President Joe Biden. “My Administration is working to change that. I’m proud that a new proposed rule from my Administration aims to close that gap and raise wages for roughly 14,500 blue-collar workers— such as hardworking carpenters, mechanics, electricians, and others working at military installations and other federal facilities.” 

“Every worker deserves equal pay for equal work. We are committed to enhancing equity for the government’s critical blue-collar workers.” said OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver. “This announcement is the latest in the Biden-Harris administration’s effort to make every federal job a good job, including by implementing a $15 minimum federal wage, obtaining pay increases for wildland fire fighters, issuing pay equity regulations to eliminate the use of non-federal salary history when setting pay for federal jobs, and more.”  

“The workers at Tobyhanna and Letterkenny Army Depots are a pillar of our Commonwealth’s economy and play a key role in protecting our national security,” said U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA). “This proposed rule would ensure highly skilled workers are paid what they deserve so they can continue supporting their families and contributing to Pennsylvania’s economy and security. The workers at Tobyhanna and Letterkenny have been fighting for this for a long time, and I’m going to keep pressing to get this done.” 

If finalized, the proposed rule would modify the criteria used to set boundaries for the FWS system and bring it more in line with the boundaries set by the GS system. This would lead to greater equity across federal pay systems, with FWS workers’ pay more aligned with GS workers who work in the same geographic area.  

The public will have 60 days to submit comments on the Federal Register on the proposed rule starting on Friday, October 11. 

Around 200,000 federal workers are currently paid under the FWS. If the rule is finalized as proposed, more than 14,500 of those workers would see an average wage increase of up to 12%, with the highest concentrations of employees impacted located at major military installations. Roles most impacted by the proposal would be those working in trade, craft and laborer jobs such as civilian maintenance mechanics, carpenters, air conditioning equipment mechanics, electricians, janitors, forklift operators, and more. 

FAQ 

What is the FWS? 

The Federal Wage System (FWS) is a uniform pay-setting system that covers federal appropriated fund and nonappropriated fund blue-collar employees who are paid by the hour.  The system's goal is to make sure that federal trade, craft, and laboring employees within a local wage area who perform the same duties receive the same rate of pay.  Note:  This regulation only covers the appropriated fund. 

Why are federal workers paid under different systems? 

• There are a variety of job classification and pay systems in use by the federal government. The General Schedule (GS) pay system covers many white-collar civilian federal employees while the FWS pay system covers most trade, craft, and laboring employees (blue-collar workers) in the Executive Branch.   

• Historically, laws have placed white and blue-collar employees in separate personnel systems. FWS and GS pay systems differ because they are governed by separate laws and regulations authorizing different types of surveys, occupational and geographic coverage, pay adjustment cycles, and pay ranges. The purpose of this regulation is to modify the criteria for the geographic boundaries of the wage areas used by the FWS in relation to certain, existing GS wage areas.   

Which regions will be most affected should this proposal be finalized as proposed? 

If the regulation is finalized as proposed, states with the most blue-collar federal workers seeing a pay increase: 

• Maine  
• California
• Pennsylvania
• Alabama
• Maryland 

Counties with the most blue-collar federal workers seeing a pay increase: 

• Calhoun County, AL 
• San Bernardino County, CA  
• San Joaquin County, CA  
• Muscogee County, GA  
• Ann Arundel County, MD  
• York County, ME  
• Franklin County, PA 
• Monroe County, PA  

How does this rule create more parity between the two systems? 

The proposed changes address inequities between the Federal government’s two main pay systems (FWS and GS). While the pay systems are different in some ways, the concept of geographic pay differentials based on local labor market conditions is a key feature of both systems. This rulemaking would address most of the differences in pay between FWS employees and GS employees working at the same location. It would align FWS wage areas and GS locality pay areas and address observable geographic pay disparities between FWS and GS employees that are caused by using different sets of rules to define the geographic boundaries of FWS wage areas and GS locality pay areas 

See the official NPRM here. 

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