When you hit the top of the pay scale

[Anonymous]

Fello Feds-

What happens at your agency when you hit the top of the payscale for your grade? Are you just done - no merit ever again?

And if they up the band in the future, do you automatically move up with the band or do you stay whete you are until the next merit even if past forgone increases would have put you at the new band max?

[Anonymous]

Are GS or payband? On GS it’s pretty straightforward— you get whatever the schedule says for your level/step. You can still more from 15/9 to 15/10 over time but it won’t change your paycheck. You can still get a bonus and I guess you could get a QSI up to 15/10 but that would be a waste of paperwork.

[Anonymous]

I think OP is asking what happens at step 10 of any grade, not necessarily cap (15/10) situation. Op, unless your career ladder takes you up to next grade, you are stuck.

[Anonymous]

At 15-10, you get an annual pay raise if that becomes law (base; not the locality component) and a cash bonus if your agency gives out bonuses. Other than that ... it’s pretty much just people gossiping about when you’ll be leaving so they can compete for your 15.

[Anonymous]

You have traded stability for salary increases.

Maybe not a bad deal as you enter your 40s and 50s unless you have executive connections

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At 15-10, you get an annual pay raise if that becomes law (base; not the locality component) and a cash bonus if your agency gives out bonuses. Other than that ... it’s pretty much just people gossiping about when you’ll be leaving so they can compete for your 15.

This is it. Was wondering if I would get a raise at all this year despite a top rating.

I have never given my salary much of a thought before but am finding this situation depressing. And our expenses increase each year more than the bands move so its like a pay cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At 15-10, you get an annual pay raise if that becomes law (base; not the locality component) and a cash bonus if your agency gives out bonuses. Other than that ... it’s pretty much just people gossiping about when you’ll be leaving so they can compete for your 15.

This is it. Was wondering if I would get a raise at all this year despite a top rating.

I have never given my salary much of a thought before but am finding this situation depressing. And our expenses increase each year more than the bands move so its like a pay cut.

Absent a qsi, there are long waits to get within grade increases. I suppose that, as very seems likely to happen, a Democratic president and Democratic Congress will give feds a meaningful pat raise for 2022. But a maxed out 15 will always only get the base component of such a raise. That’s been 1.4 or 1.0 percent in recent times. It might be 2.6 for 2020, but that’s all still a mystery and nobody knows. So basically, yes, you have to decide whether to give up the federal job or take a risk in the private sector.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At 15-10, you get an annual pay raise if that becomes law (base; not the locality component) and a cash bonus if your agency gives out bonuses. Other than that ... it’s pretty much just people gossiping about when you’ll be leaving so they can compete for your 15.

This is it. Was wondering if I would get a raise at all this year despite a top rating.

I have never given my salary much of a thought before but am finding this situation depressing. And our expenses increase each year more than the bands move so its like a pay cut.

Absent a qsi, there are long waits to get within grade increases. I suppose that, as very seems likely to happen, a Democratic president and Democratic Congress will give feds a meaningful pat raise for 2022. But a maxed out 15 will always only get the base component of such a raise. That’s been 1.4 or 1.0 percent in recent times. It might be 2.6 for 2020, but that’s all still a mystery and nobody knows. So basically, yes, you have to decide whether to give up the federal job or take a risk in the private sector.

^ pay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At 15-10, you get an annual pay raise if that becomes law (base; not the locality component) and a cash bonus if your agency gives out bonuses. Other than that ... it’s pretty much just people gossiping about when you’ll be leaving so they can compete for your 15.

This is it. Was wondering if I would get a raise at all this year despite a top rating.

I have never given my salary much of a thought before but am finding this situation depressing. And our expenses increase each year more than the bands move so its like a pay cut.

I think this is why there are so many poor performers in government. They have no incentive to bust their butts. Capable, motivated people hit the ceiling and leave. The rest just sit and relax. There need to be better performance-related bonuses in order to keep top employees, but god knows this would be abused (or already has been) and wind up as a scandal.

[Anonymous]

Making 170 a year with stability and a pension at the end is a decent gig. You could do a lot worse!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Making 170 a year with stability and a pension at the end is a decent gig. You could do a lot worse!

Won’t that be 170,800?

[Anonymous]

I have been at the top of the GS-13 for a while now. I have been promised that a new job will be created at the GS-14 for a while now too, but whatever.

For the past 4-5 years that I've been at Step 10, I have received outstanding ratings and have been awarded $2500-$3500 each time since I couldn't have a merit raise.

I'm pretty happy to see the 2020 pay tables that someone recently posted here! That helps.

-- Signed, an outstanding yet increasingly apathetic fed worker who probably should have moved on years ago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been at the top of the GS-13 for a while now. I have been promised that a new job will be created at the GS-14 for a while now too, but whatever.

For the past 4-5 years that I've been at Step 10, I have received outstanding ratings and have been awarded $2500-$3500 each time since I couldn't have a merit raise.

I'm pretty happy to see the 2020 pay tables that someone recently posted here! That helps.

-- Signed, an outstanding yet increasingly apathetic fed worker who probably should have moved on years ago

So you have been at the top of the scale for your grade for 4-5 years, and haven’t secured a new position at a higher grade? Whether one is promised to you or not, you have to seek out opportunities, even if it means leaving your agency or going out of your comfort zone. What is stopping you from moving on, especially if you are such an outstanding performer?

Perhaps you have weighed the benefits to a Fed career (pension, stability, reasonable health insurance costs, etc.) and decided to stay. If so, there is no shame in that, but you shouldn’t be apathetic - you’ve made that choice. Your agency, your team deserves an employee who is fully committed to the mission.

If you feel you are under-compensated for the value you bring, by all means look elsewhere. Just know that many private sector firms also operate with pay and structures, and it generally takes much more effort and proven results to move to the next level. The grass may be greener, but isn’t always.

- - Signed a Fed who continues to outperform because it is my work ethic, and I am grateful for the perks I enjoy now that I didn’t have in the private sector.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been at the top of the GS-13 for a while now. I have been promised that a new job will be created at the GS-14 for a while now too, but whatever.

For the past 4-5 years that I've been at Step 10, I have received outstanding ratings and have been awarded $2500-$3500 each time since I couldn't have a merit raise.

I'm pretty happy to see the 2020 pay tables that someone recently posted here! That helps.

-- Signed, an outstanding yet increasingly apathetic fed worker who probably should have moved on years ago

So you have been at the top of the scale for your grade for 4-5 years, and haven’t secured a new position at a higher grade? Whether one is promised to you or not, you have to seek out opportunities, even if it means leaving your agency or going out of your comfort zone. What is stopping you from moving on, especially if you are such an outstanding performer?

Perhaps you have weighed the benefits to a Fed career (pension, stability, reasonable health insurance costs, etc.) and decided to stay. If so, there is no shame in that, but you shouldn’t be apathetic - you’ve made that choice. Your agency, your team deserves an employee who is fully committed to the mission.

If you feel you are under-compensated for the value you bring, by all means look elsewhere. Just know that many private sector firms also operate with pay and structures, and it generally takes much more effort and proven results to move to the next level. The grass may be greener, but isn’t always.

- - Signed a Fed who continues to outperform because it is my work ethic, and I am grateful for the perks I enjoy now that I didn’t have in the private sector.

LOL... You are funny. Or full of yourself...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been at the top of the GS-13 for a while now. I have been promised that a new job will be created at the GS-14 for a while now too, but whatever.

For the past 4-5 years that I've been at Step 10, I have received outstanding ratings and have been awarded $2500-$3500 each time since I couldn't have a merit raise.

I'm pretty happy to see the 2020 pay tables that someone recently posted here! That helps.

-- Signed, an outstanding yet increasingly apathetic fed worker who probably should have moved on years ago

So you have been at the top of the scale for your grade for 4-5 years, and haven’t secured a new position at a higher grade? Whether one is promised to you or not, you have to seek out opportunities, even if it means leaving your agency or going out of your comfort zone. What is stopping you from moving on, especially if you are such an outstanding performer?

Perhaps you have weighed the benefits to a Fed career (pension, stability, reasonable health insurance costs, etc.) and decided to stay. If so, there is no shame in that, but you shouldn’t be apathetic - you’ve made that choice. Your agency, your team deserves an employee who is fully committed to the mission.

If you feel you are under-compensated for the value you bring, by all means look elsewhere. Just know that many private sector firms also operate with pay and structures, and it generally takes much more effort and proven results to move to the next level. The grass may be greener, but isn’t always.

- - Signed a Fed who continues to outperform because it is my work ethic, and I am grateful for the perks I enjoy now that I didn’t have in the private sector.

Hey, I'm the PP you responded to (not the person above). I get it. I thought that I wrote my post in such a way that my self-awareness would be obvious. Yes, I've been at top of grade with outstanding ratings and bonuses for 4-5 years. Yes, I know that I could have moved on (it's in my signature!). That's why I put those details in there. And yes, I am now lacking motivation. I appreciate your rah-rah attitude, gratitude and work ethic. I used to have all that too. I just wanted to write something realistic, from me to the OP. Not to discourage him/her too much. But this is where you might end up if you don't look out for yourself or examine your choices.

I work for a great agency with incredibly talented colleagues. My complaints are not special. What stopped me from moving on is that I really loved my job and coworkers, and then I was having kids and I appreciated the flexibility that I was given as a reliable performer. But now I guess I'm in a midlife crisis kind of thing, where I am questioning greener grass, outside the box of getting a new employer. It all feels like indentured servitude to me right now.