OPM Asks Agencies to Conduct Pay Analysis in Pay Equity Push
The Biden Administration launched a new push toward promoting pay equity across the federal government workforce.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) asked agencies who manage their own pay systems and have at least 100 employees to conduct an analysis of pay equity and make adjustments based on the findings. Other federal agencies who do not have independent pay systems were encouraged to do an analysis to supplement OPM’s already conducted reviews of the General Schedule (GS), Federal Wage System, and Senior Executive Service (SES) pay systems.
The goal is to close the 5.6 percent pay gap that currently exists between men and women in the federal workforce.
Pay Equity Progress
The expansion of pay equity reviews comes as OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver noted the agency is making progress on pay equity, including prohibiting the use of salary history when setting initial pay for federal positions.
“We don’t want agencies to perpetuate gender pay discrimination that occurred outside of Government when hiring people into Government jobs. But our work is not finished, and we need to do more,” wrote Acting Director Shriver in a memo.
The federal government pay gap has also shrunk to 5.6 percent, from 5.9 percent in 2021. It’s also much smaller than the 16 percent pay gap that exists in the private sector, according to OPM.
Guidance Details
OPM provided detailed guidance on how to conduct a targeted analysis of pay programs, recommending that agencies study government wide pay systems, major occupations, and “Subpopulations with the largest gender-based and racial/ethnic-based pay disparities.”
OPM said agencies should use data from the most recent fiscal year to “obtain an understanding of the current workforce with respect to gender and racial/ethnic groups” which can then be a “baseline for future comparisons.”
OPM also recommended using average salary instead of mean salary so that pay gaps can be easily comparable to OPM’s own numbers.
The instructions are meant to fulfill a 2021 executive order on advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the federal government.
The independent pay system reports are due by October 17.
