The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a final rule to change how Federal Wage System (FWS) wage area boundaries are defined, making them more similar to those used for General Schedule (GS) locality pay areas. This rule, effective October 1, 2025, and impacting about 10% of FWS employees, aims to address pay disparities by reducing the number of FWS wage areas and aligning them more closely with GS locality pay areas. It is based on recommendations from the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC) and is expected to result in pay increases for some workers while others may see little change or enter pay retention due to the restructuring.
Simple Explanation
The government decided to change some rules about how it pays certain workers to make it fairer, like how other workers are paid. This change will make some people's pay go up, while some might stay the same, and it will cost a lot of money to do this.