General Wage Increase
On May 26, 2026, we let you know that we would provide additional information about the HRMS updates to reflect the General Wage Increases (GWI) resulting from the Collective Bargaining and Enacted Budgets effective July 1, 2026. This email contains the additional information, including agency action(s) required for the implementation of the above. Included within this message you will find the GWI Directly/Indirectly Valued and Exceptions spreadsheet for agency action.
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Actions needed for Implementation of HRMS Changes Effective July 1, 2026
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Employee Group
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Agency Action
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General
Wage Increase
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Represented* and
non-represented
(indirectly valued)
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No agency actions are needed; OFM will automate.
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*WPEA – GG
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See WPEA – GG, below.
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Non-represented
(directly valued)
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Agencies to review/validate spreadsheet and submit corrections to the OFM Help Desk. Additional details below.
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General Wage Increases (GWI) will be treated as they have been in years past in that OFM automates it as much as possible. Agency action is needed only for directly valued employees. The following provides additional details for both indirectly and directly valued employees, including the agency action needed:
- For indirectly valued employees, non-WPEA salary schedules will include the GWI and are being updated by OFM on June 11, 2026, and effective July 1, 2026. In addition, indirectly valued employees’ basic pay records will be automatically updated in HRMS by OFM via table updates based on the General Service Salary Schedule and Special Salary Schedules. This includes semi-monthly and hourly employees paid from a salary schedule (pay scale). No agency actions are needed for OFM to implement GWIs for indirectly valued employees effective July 1, 2026.
- WPEA - GG salary schedules will be in HRMS on July 8, 2026, effective July 1, 2025, and July 1, 2026. See the communication titled WPEA Agreement Impact for All Agencies distributed on May 14, 2026, regarding WPEA represented positions and employees.
- For directly valued employees, the majority of directly valued employees (e.g., typically those in WMS and Exempt jobs) will be automatically updated by OFM on June 23, 2026. However, OFM needs agencies to validate their data before implementation. A list of impacted directly valued employees are listed under the tab titled Include Directly Valued EE on the spreadsheet for GWI attached to this email. Also included in a tab titled Exclude Directly Valued EE, is a list of directly valued employees who will not have their salary automatically updated effective July 1, 2026.
Agency Action: Review the GWI - Directly Indirectly Valued and Exceptions spreadsheet and notify the OFM Help Desk of any corrections no later than the close of business on June 22, 2026. Detailed instructions are contained within the spreadsheet on the instructions tab.
Targeted Job Classification Increases
HRMS will be updated to reflect Targeted Job Classification changes resulting from the 2025-2027 Collective Bargaining cycle and Enacted Budgets effective July 1, 2026. Agency review and action is necessary.
Automatic updates to implement the targeted job classification increases and updates will start on June 23, 2026. This update will create new:
- Planned compensation records for job classifications and positions
- Position to job relationships for shadow classes
- Basic pay records
- Organizational assignment records, if applicable
Please note, exceptions to the updates requiring agency action may include:
- Existing job classifications where some positions require reallocation to a newly created or updated job classification,
- Directly Valued Employees, and
- Employees with a job-to-person relationship
Agency Actions Required
The Job Class Updates 7-1-2026 spreadsheet (sent May 26, 2026) identifies the changes that OFM will be implementing through an automatic process to incorporate job classification and compensation changes as a result of the 2025-2027 Collective Bargaining cycle and Enacted Budgets effective July 1, 2026.
See the “Agency/OFM Action Required” column to determine whether OFM is in-whole, or in-part providing programmatic updates and take all other necessary steps/actions to ensure accurate updates are made to job, position, and employee records in HRMS.
Once these changes are made, agencies will receive a final list of the changes for individual agencies to validate.
The detailed documents of all proposed changes are available at HR.wa.gov within the public notice of June 23, 2025, State HR Director’s Special Meeting.
Final List
On or around July 1, 2026, OFM will send agencies a final list of targeted job classifications, positions and employees who were automatically updated. Agencies will have until July 21, 2026, to review and make manual updates in HRMS in time for the July 24, 2026, pay date. There will be exceptions which will be on a separate tab for agencies to take necessary action, such as employees in y-rate status.
If you need assistance navigating the spreadsheet, please contact classandcomp@ofm.wa.gov.
Additional information:
- This communication was sent to the OFM GovDelivery HRMS Communications topic
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