Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay
The order sets new pay rates for federal civilian employees, military service members, senior executives, judges, and Members of Congress, effective at the start of the first pay period on or after January 1, 2021, superseding the 2019 pay adjustment order.
What this order does
What it orders
The order establishes updated pay schedules across the full range of federal compensation systems. It sets rates for the General Schedule (covering most federal civilian workers), the Foreign Service Schedule, Veterans Health Administration pay scales, the Senior Executive Service pay band, the Executive Schedule for top political appointees, salaries for the Vice President and Members of Congress, pay for federal judges and justices, monthly basic pay for uniformed military members and cadets, locality-based comparability payments, and pay for administrative law judges.
Most schedules take effect on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2021; Schedule 8 covering uniformed services is effective January 1, 2021. The order directs the Office of Personnel Management to implement locality-based comparability payments and publish appropriate notice in the Federal Register. It supersedes the prior pay adjustment order from December 26, 2019.
Who it affects
Federal civilian employees on the General Schedule, Foreign Service officers, Veterans Health Administration staff, Senior Executive Service members, top political appointees, Members of Congress, the Vice President, federal judges and Supreme Court justices, uniformed military members, cadets, midshipmen, and administrative law judges.
Why it matters
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees and military service members see their official base pay rates updated. The schedules determine take-home pay and also affect pension calculations, overtime thresholds, and other benefits tied to basic pay.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The pay schedules themselves (the actual rate tables) were published as graphic attachments in the Federal Register but are not reproduced in this text. The Office of Personnel Management is directed to implement locality-based comparability payments and publish Federal Register notice. Most changes activate on the first day of the first pay period on or after January 1, 2021; military pay activates January 1, 2021 directly. The 2019 predecessor order is superseded on those same effective dates.
Actions and deadlines
- Implement locality-based comparability payments and publish notice in the Federal Register
- Apply updated uniformed services pay rates from Schedule 8
- Apply all other updated pay schedules on the first day of the first applicable pay period
Agencies directed to act
Authority and reach
What this order changes
Revokes Executive Order 13901