Margaret Weichert, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, said that implementation of the 1.9 percent Federal pay raise included in the budget bill passed in February has been held up by legal concerns, but is in its final stages.
“We’re in the final legal clearance stage–and I know that sounds like you’ve heard that before–but to me, this is an object lesson in the complexity of our pay systems,” said Weichert during a media gathering after an event hosted by the National Academy of Public Administration.
Weichert expanded on the legal troubles with implementing the retroactive pay raise for civilian Federal employees.
“The EO [executive order] that unleashes the retroactive pay is dealing with pay tables that are so highly complex, that it is exceedingly legalistic how we have to actually get this squared away. And so the challenges are not actually how some people thought…it’s purely a lawyering activity that is near its end.”
The delay in implementing the retroactive pay raise has come under fire from members of Congress, who have sent letters to Weichert and acting Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney asking for clarification on the delay.
“I totally get that people are frustrated that it takes this long–I’m frustrated too,” she said.