Federal Employment: Impact of the President's Budget on Federal Employees
(Testimony, 03/10/94, GAO/T-GGD-94-108).

The President's budget would limit the 1995 pay raise for federal
workers to 1.6 percent, a further compromise of efforts to make
government salaries competitive with private sector pay. Given the
challenges involved in reducing the deficit, federal employees may again
have to make sacrifices, such as the proposed pay limitation. At the
same time, however, the pay comparability issue could harm efforts to
recruit and retain quality employees. GAO supports the move to a
smaller, more efficient government wherever possible. But unless staff
cuts are based on well-considered planning and good communications,
critical skills could be lost and the productivity of remaining workers
could be harmed. The budget's proposal to charge agencies the full
government share of accruing costs of the Civil Service Retirement
System does not affect the deficit, but is an important step toward
identifying the full costs of government programs. The proposed higher
agency contributions are probably not needed to ensure that the
retirement system honors its commitments to workers and retirees.
Rather, the objective is to properly recognize accruing costs and charge
them to agency programs.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-GGD-94-108
     TITLE:  Federal Employment: Impact of the President's Budget on 
             Federal Employees
      DATE:  03/10/94
   SUBJECT:  Federal employees
             Federal employee retirement programs
             Accounting procedures
             Government retirement benefits
             Federal personnel legislation
             Accrual basis accounting
             Deficit reduction
             Reductions in force
             Salary increases
             Budget deficit
IDENTIFIER:  Civil Service Retirement System
             Employment Cost Index
             National Performance Review
             Military Retirement System
             Federal Employees Retirement System
             Consumer Price Index
             
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