Biden Raises Minimum Wage to $15 for Federal Employees

The Biden administration has directed its agencies to increase the minimum wage for federal employees to $15 an hour. The new policy, which takes effect this Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022, will give a pay boost to about 70,000 workers, most of whom work at the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Department of Agriculture.

In a statement, the American Federation of Government Employees applauded the Biden administration for taking this action to fulfill a long-sought goal of the labor movement and improve workers’ daily lives. 

"Because 85 percent of federal workers live outside the DC area, it is hard to imagine a single action that could have a more significant positive impact on all American workers’ paychecks beyond raising the federal minimum wage itself, which would take an act of Congress," AFGE wrote. "Setting a new, $15 per hour wage floor for federal government work will encourage employers across the country who are currently paying poverty wages to compete for labor and start paying fairer rates, lifting the wages of American workers across the country."