Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, REPORTS—GAO shares findings on federal-nonfederal pay disparities, DOD hiring gaps, (May 1, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

The GAO provided recommendations to the DOD on closing federal civilian firefighter staffing gaps.

A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows that a pay gap persists between federal employees throughout the country and their local nonfederal counterparts, despite annual pay adjustments under the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (FEPCA). Another GAO report found that, in FYs 2019-2023, the Department of Defense (DOD) employed fewer civilian firefighters than necessary to ensure safe operations.

Locality pay methodology. The salaries of federal workers across the country may differ from those of their local nonfederal counterparts. To aid in aligning federal workers’ salaries with their local areas, the FEPCA authorized locality pay for General Schedule (GS) employees. The Secretary of Labor and the directors of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) comprise the Pay Agent, which works with the Federal Salary Council to recommend locality pay adjustments to help reduce pay gaps.

The GAO found that, in 2023, of the 2.3 million federal civilian employees analyzed, approximately 1.4 million (60 percent) of federal employees received a locality pay increase. These employees consisted primarily of GS employees, such as administrative law judges. However, even with adjustments over the years, a pay gap persists, the GAO found. Changing how the gap is calculated could make it more credible, the GAO advised.

Since 2019, the Council and Pay Agent have considered but not agreed upon ways to enhance the credibility of the methodology used to calculate locality pay, such as: (1) using indicators such as attrition data to verify pay gap calculations; (2) including nonsalary benefits when comparing federal to nonfederal pay; and (3) calculating separate rates by major occupational group. All of the proposed alternatives would have additional costs, which are largely unknown, according to the Council and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Federal civilian firefighters. In FYs 2019-2023, the DOD employed fewer civilian firefighters than authorized—below the minimum staffing level required for safe operations. According to data from the DOD and OPM, the DOD employed approximately 93 percent of its authorized civilian firefighter positions during this time-period. The authorizations represent the minimum staffing that must be maintained to ensure safe operations; staffing below the authorized levels increases the risk of property loss and environmental damage. The DOD has identified causes of such staffing gaps, including competition from local fire departments, but the GAO found the DOD has not fully addressed the identified causes of the staffing gaps.

The GAO found that the DOD has not developed and implemented a department-wide strategy to mitigate the causes of and close civilian firefighter staffing gaps, which is required by DOD policy and federal regulations. Further, the DOD has not consistently set staffing targets for its civilian firefighter workforce or reported progress in closing identified gaps. Finally, the GAO found the military services have not consistently developed or implemented Fire and Emergency Services civilian strategic human capital plans, which would assess the current state of the workforce and forecast future requirements to manage risks.

The GAO recommended that the DOD implement a strategy to mitigate firefighter staffing gaps and monitor efforts to set annual staffing targets and close gaps. It also recommended that the military services develop strategic human capital plans that include all required elements. DOD generally concurred with the recommendations and identified actions it plans to take to implement them.

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