The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is taking further steps to address pay equity in the federal workforce.

In 2022, OPM conducted a governmentwide study that found a 5.6 percent gender pay gap in the federal workforce, meaning women on average make approximately 94 cents for every dollar men earn. This figure is dramatic improvement from 1992, when the gender pay gap was 25 percent, and also compares favorably with the current nationwide gender pay gap of 16 percent.

Earlier this year, OPM issued a final rule prohibiting consideration of non-federal prior salary history when setting initial pay during the hiring process for federal employees. And on July 18, OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver published a memo entitled “Advancing Pay Equity: Pay Gap Data Analysis Guidance and Request for Reports on Independent Pay Systems.” This memo examines Biden Administration pay equity provisions found in Executive Order 14035, encourages agencies with independent administrative pay authority to review and revise their pay policies, and recommends agencies conduct their own pay gap data analysis.

The memo outlines the purpose of the analysis to:

1. Identify areas where potential gender-related and racial/ethnic-related pay disparities exist within your agency (if any);

2. Determine if there are identifiable reasons for any disparities;

3. Provide a basis for the development of targeted strategies to reduce any gender related and racial/ethnic-related pay disparities; and

4. Track to see whether strategies to advance DEIA reduce any gender-related and racial/ethnic-related pay disparities over time.