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By Phil Piemonte

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Just how much is the pay freeze costing you?

One union says it can help you find out.

The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents feds at a dozen or so federal departments and agencies, has posted a free online calculator that the union says will help you see how much you are losing under the federal civilian pay freeze.

The calculator, which IFPTE says assumes a 2 percent inflation rate on base salary, lets you enter a salary, say $50,000, and then automatically generates figures showing your annual salary over 20 years, three ways—with no pay freeze, a two-year freeze and a three-year freeze. For each year, the calculator also computes your cumulative loss under each of the two freeze scenarios.

According to the IFPTE calculator, over the course of 20 years, a two-year freeze for the $50,000 salary example cited above would cost that hypothetical employee nearly the current value of his or her salary—$47,138. Under a three-year freeze, that person would lose $68,550 over 20 years.

We don't know how this calculator works, but a union of engineers probably has decent math credentials, right?

Click here to take a look for yourself.

Posted by Phil Piemonte on Jan 04, 2012 at 7:19 AM



 

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Reader comments

Tue, Jan 24, 2012 Freaked out Fed

Speak for yourself, Ammo Joe! I am a GS6 that needs every penny to cover the increase in insurance premium. My office is so short staffed we get abused by upper management AND the clients we don't get the time to serve properly. I have been doing the job of two overworked people for almost two years now and can't keep up! The proverbial pile gets higher and so does my blood pressure. This is costing me my HEALTH.

Thu, Jan 12, 2012

What has the pay freeze cost me? It has cost me my desire to always put forth my best effort. It has cost me my faith in my employer's integrity. It has cost me my previous willingness to work nights and weekends in order to make sure projects are completed on time (no OT, I'm exempt).

Thu, Jan 12, 2012 Zingore

Half a percent pay raise after 3 years of no raise at all? That's certainly the "Change" Obama promised--unfortunately it won't buy one cup of coffee a day unless you're making well into the 6 figures.

Tue, Jan 10, 2012 Tim K. Fayetteville, AR

Something else to consider: Our counterparts in the private sector they aren't offered the same deal (a pay freeze) and are laid off lose much more when you put a pen to it. The absence of income all together, for an unknow amout of time, will compound to much more than our losses. Especially when you include other benefits such as retirement and medical expenses. Food for thought. Be blessed.

Tue, Jan 10, 2012 Tim K. Fayetteville, AR

Chris in Ohio - I don't disagree that there are job cuts within the Federal ranks. RIF's are a possibility but with those come options such as priority job placement and a lot of our civilian counterparts don't have that luxury. We're offered early retirement and buyouts. They're offered nothing. Do you see what I mean? Ever since the bottom fell out (referring to the economy) I can see how Top Management is being held accountable for their individual budgets thus resulting in "lag" times to fill positions or the alternative of not filling the position at all. In some situations, contracting money comes out of a different pot and probably from an entity that isn't feeling the same monetary crunch as everyone else. This in return becomes a tool for managers to use to compensate for their employee losses. Until you link the two together, you'll still have a "shrinking" Federal work force with a growing deficit. Thanks for acknowledging my post my friend.

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