Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay

This executive order implements annual pay adjustments for federal employees, military personnel, and certain officials across all three branches of government, effective January 1, 2019. It updates pay schedules for the General Schedule, Senior Executive Service, uniformed services, judges, and other covered positions, superseding the previous year's order.

Federal Register Open PDF 84 FR 65

Impact dates

Jan 1, 2019
Schedule 8 (uniformed services pay) effective
Jan 1, 2019
All other schedules effective first day of first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2019

Key directives

Set adjusted pay rates for statutory pay systems (Schedules 1-3)
Set Senior Executive Service pay ranges (Schedule 4)
Set Executive, Legislative, and Judicial salaries (Schedules 5-7)
Set uniformed services monthly basic pay (Schedule 8)
Implement locality-based comparability payments (Schedule 9)
Set administrative law judge pay rates (Schedule 10)
OPM Director to publish locality pay notices in Federal Register
Supersede Executive Order 13819

Who is ordered

OPM Director · OPM

Timeline

Immediate

EO signed December 28, 2018

Near term (90d)

Schedule 8 (military pay) effective January 1, 2019
All other schedules effective first pay period on or after January 1, 2019 (typically mid-January 2019)
OPM must publish locality pay notices in Federal Register

Long term

Annual pay rates established until superseded by subsequent order

Risks & tensions

Routine annual adjustment; no policy tension evident
Vague on exact non-military effective date—depends on agency pay period cycles, typically mid-January