Uncle Sam strives to be the model employer, and in at least one area, he’s making progress. When it comes to equal pay for equal work, the federal government is significantly closer to that goal than the nation as a whole. Closing the gender pay gap has been the focus of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission at two dozen events around the country in April and May. Women in the federal government make 11 cents less on the dollar than their male counterparts, according to the most recent data available from the General Accountability Office.