Where can federal employees find the official 2026 pay tables and effective dates once announced?
Executive summary
Federal employees should watch the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) website for official 2026 GS and special-rate tables; OPM posts final pay tables on opm.gov and typically releases tables in December for an effective date in the first full pay period of January (OPM pages and prior-year practice) [1] [2]. OPM’s 2026 guidance says special-rate tables are expected by year-end with a tentative effective date of January 11, 2026, and multiple news outlets and federal pay sites mirror that timing and direct readers to OPM for the authoritative files [3] [4].
1. Where the official tables will appear — go to OPM.gov first
For authoritative, final pay tables—General Schedule base tables, locality tables, special rates, and related FAQs—OPM is the official source; its Salaries & Wages and General Schedule pages host current and historical tables and provide contact points for agency questions [1] [5]. Independent federal-pay aggregators republish and analyze numbers, but they explicitly say the final tables are published on opm.gov and to rely on OPM for the official files [6] [2].
2. Expected timing and effective dates — December posting, January pay-period effect
Multiple sources describe the routine calendar: OPM usually posts final pay tables in December and the adjustments take effect with the first full pay period of January; for 2026, OPM and related pages indicated special-rate tables would be released by the end of the calendar year with a tentative effective date of January 11, 2026—the same date cited for the GS base increase’s first full pay period [3] [4]. News reports and federal-pay sites repeatedly point to that December/January schedule as the practical timetable for employees planning pay or retirement estimates [2] [7].
3. What to monitor on OPM pages — which files and FAQs to check
When OPM publishes, federal employees should look for: (a) the General Schedule pay tables (base rates by grade/step); (b) locality pay tables or locality-area definitions; (c) special-rate tables for law enforcement and other covered occupations; and (d) OPM FAQs and Federal Salary Council reports that explain coverage, effective dates, and agency implementation guidance [3] [5] [8]. OPM’s Salaries & Wages landing page is the gateway to those documents [1].
4. Secondary sources — useful but not authoritative
Sites such as FedSmith, FederalPay.org, GeneralSchedule.org and FedManager prepare estimated tables and calculators and often publish immediate, user-friendly versions of proposed changes; those pages explicitly say they are estimates until OPM posts final tables [7] [6] [9] [10]. Use these tools for quick planning, but always cross-check against OPM’s final PDFs and OPM guidance before acting on pay-impact calculations [7] [6].
5. Special rates and law-enforcement increases — OPM timeline and agency consultation
OPM’s dedicated page for 2026 special rates explains it will consult agencies and anticipates releasing special-rate tables by year-end with a tentative effective date of January 11, 2026; that page also describes the statutory authorities OPM will use to set coverage and magnitudes for law-enforcement increases [3]. News outlets and payroll-advice sites echo that OPM will finalize special rates after agency input and then publish the tables for implementation [11] [4].
6. Practical next steps for employees and HR shops
Monitor OPM’s Salaries & Wages and General Schedule pages and subscribe to OPM or trusted federal-pay newsletters; check agency HR email and payroll calendars for the first full pay period in January (OPM and agency calendars govern implementation) [1] [12]. If you need a quick estimate before OPM’s final posting, use reputable estimate tools (clearly labeled as estimates) but plan to reconcile pay in January once OPM’s official tables are live [7] [6].
Limitations and caveats: available sources do not mention a direct single-file “2026 pay tables” email alert from OPM; instead OPM posts documents on its website and some independent sites offer mailing lists to notify readers [1] [6]. Sources disagree on the political contours and proposed raise amount—administration letters and press summaries describe a 1% base increase with frozen locality pay and targeted law enforcement boosts, while other analyses reference alternative projections—so rely on OPM’s final tables for pay computations [2] [3] [7].