Which federal websites and documents are authoritative for 2026 pay adjustments and locality determinations?
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Executive summary
Official, authoritative sources for 2026 federal pay adjustments and locality determinations are led by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) — which publishes pay tables, special-rate notices and policy pages — and the Federal Salary Council/Pay Agent reports that drive locality recommendations (see OPM pay tables and FSC materials) [1] [2]. The White House’s alternative pay plan letter and the President’s message to Congress also determine the final adjustment amount and locality freeze decisions; OPM implements those decisions via executive order and pay tables [3] [4].
1. Who sets the numbers: OPM is the publication engine, the President/Pay Agent choose the plan
The Office of Personnel Management is the central, authoritative website for published General Schedule and locality pay tables, special-rate notices, and policy guidance — OPM’s “Salaries & Wages” and General Schedule pages host the official tables and implementation guidance agencies use [1] [5]. The President’s alternative pay plan or budget message to Congress determines whether statutory FEPCA formula increases apply or whether an alternative plan (or locality freeze) is used; OPM then implements that direction by issuing pay tables and special-rate notices, as occurred in 2025–2026 planning [3] [4].
2. Federal Salary Council and Pay Agent: the technical work behind locality recommendations
Locality percentages and proposed comparability payments come from the Federal Salary Council (FSC) and related working-group reports, which model private-sector pay gaps and recommend locality-area adjustments; the FSC’s working papers and recommendation PDFs show the ECI-based formulas and locality-specific comparability payments that would produce a 2026 formulaic increase absent an alternative plan [2] [6]. Those FSC documents are the primary technical sources for how locality pay would be calculated under the statutory FEPCA process [2].
3. Documents you must watch for final, legally binding rates
For authoritative, binding values look for (a) the President’s pay message/alternative pay plan to Congress, (b) the Executive Order that finalizes the percentage adjustments, and (c) OPM’s posted salary tables and special-rate notices with effective dates — OPM explicitly anticipates publishing special-rate tables and final pay tables by year‑end to take effect in January [3] [4] [7]. The Government Publishing Office postings and Congressional documents reflecting the President’s message also track the legal and budgetary rationale for changes [8].
4. Special rates and law-enforcement carve-outs: separate authoritative notices
When particular law enforcement or hard-to-fill occupations receive higher base or special rates, OPM issues specific “2026 Special Rates for Certain Law Enforcement Personnel” and related special-rate tables; these OPM pages explain scope, authority, and effective dates and are the controlling source for which LEOs get the larger increases referenced in policy letters [4]. Those special-rate pages are where agencies and employees confirm eligibility and implementation timing [4].
5. What non-OPM sources are useful — and how to treat them
Industry and advocacy sites (FedSmith, FederalPay, FederalPensionAdvisors, news outlets) produce timely estimates and calculators but are secondary; they frequently reproduce OPM figures and the President’s pay message and can misstate whether locality increases will occur unless tied back to OPM or the President’s letter [9] [10] [3]. Use them for practical calculators and summaries, but always cross-check against OPM pay tables and the FSC/Pay Agent documents for authoritative confirmation [7] [2].
6. Common sources of confusion and where reporting disagrees
Reporting diverged over the “formula” increase (what FEPCA would produce) versus the President’s alternative plan: FSC and GovExec analyses show a formulaic base increase around 3.3% plus sizable locality adjustments if the statute applied, while the President’s alternative plan (and related OPM implementation in 2026) called for a 1% base increase with locality pay frozen for most and a 3.8% boost targeted to some law enforcement roles [2] [3] [11]. The disagreement is not about math but about policy choice — whether to let the statutory formula and Pay Agent recommendations take effect (documented in FSC reports) or to follow the administration’s alternative plan (documented in the President’s pay message and OPM notices) [2] [3].
7. How to verify your own pay change: checklist of authoritative pages
To confirm an individual employee’s 2026 pay change, consult: OPM’s General Schedule salary tables and locality area PDFs (final tables posted on opm.gov), the OPM special-rate notice for law enforcement if applicable, the Federal Salary Council/Pay Agent recommendation documents for locality methodology, and the President’s pay message/Executive Order referenced in GPO or OPM releases — each of those is cited in OPM materials and FSC reports [7] [4] [2] [8].
Limitations and transparency: available sources here reflect the 2025–2026 policy exchanges (FSC reports, OPM pages, and the President’s alternative pay plan). Available sources do not mention final, line‑by‑line December 2025 Executive Order text on a consolidated OPM pay table beyond the notices and draft schedules cited above; always confirm with the final OPM pay-table PDFs and the specific OPM special-rate page for binding authority [7] [4].