Federal Workers: Performance, Pay, and Firing

Chris Edwards Americans are concerned about the performance of the federal bureaucracy. Many people think that federal workers are overpaid and underworked. Some recent news stories provide fresh input to the debate. A story yesterday at GovExec.com regards pay and performance. The federal pay structure is less efficient than private pay structures because it is generally based on seniority, not job performance. But GovExec.com finds that attempts to introduce federal performance pay have not worked very well either: Most federal agencies are not making meaningful distinctions in performance ratings and bonuses for senior executives, according to a new watchdog report. About 85 percent of career senior executives received “outstanding” or “exceeds fully successful” ratings in their performance reviews between fiscal years 2010 and 2013, at the same time that agencies have made smaller distinctions in the amount of individual bonuses, the Government Accountability Office found. This has created a system where nearly everyone is considered outstanding… The level of federal pay is the focus of another recent story. GovExec.com reports on the large number of workers who enjoy high pay: More than 16,900 federal employees took home in excess of $200,000 in base salary in 2014, according to a partial database of federal salary data. The report is based on data from FedSmith.com, which is an excellent source of federal workforce information. Fedsmith’s database can list ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs