Evening star., 1920-01-26
PAY CLASS|F|ERS
. GRADE POSITIONS
BY CARD SYSTEM
Method Adopted Whereby
Federal Employees Are Group
ed According to Salaries.

| Solitaire. with government clerks as
the cards. constitutes the latest recre-
alton of the joint congressional COM
mission on reclassiffcation of salaries
| in the District.
| On six tables set end to end mem be RS
| of the classification staff of the com
mission today busted themselves with
| placing cards representing various
| classes in the clerical services. in
| order to arrive at a fair evaluation of
| the classes of positions in each service.
Eight strings were stretched from
| end to end of the six tables. dividing
| the tables horizontally into eight sec
| tions, corresponding with the eight
| ranks of classes. from the underclerk
! to the highest supervisory positions.
! The lowest rank represented the
lowest paid employees. the second
| higher rank the next grade. and SO on
/ through the eight grades to the top,
| in which those employees in supervis-
| ory positions were placed.
No Names Attached.
| No names were attached to the
cards. the cards in each case repre-
| senting the class specifications of the
| job. showing the title, duties. quail
| ficationS and lines of promotion. 1t
| was significant that few employees
were placed in the lowest row.
| The cards were shuff1ed into their
| various positions in the horizontal
| rows between the strings. and into
the vertical rows according to which
! one of the various clerical services
they represented.
| No salaries were attached to the
cards. the classifiers having been or
| dered by the reclassification commits
Sioners to go merely on the assump-
tion that the lowest row would rep
| resent the lowest salary in the cleri-
| cal service. and so on.
The bulk of the federal employees
seemed to fall into the fourth row
mostly being senior clerk" 1t is
believed that the great number of
clerks reach or should reach this po-
| sition and that here many of them
may stay for life.
Senior Clerk Rating.
The senior clerk is usually. it is de-
clared, a first rate man or woman in
every respect. knowing the job thor
oughly and being able to fill it with
only minimum of supervisory di-
rection. These clerks constitute one
| of the great working forces of the
federal government here, and upon
| them much of the work of the gov
ernment rests. especially in its rou-
! tine aspect
! II is generally hoped that under re-
classification an even greater number
: of clerks will be enabled to reach
| tHiS ann anu tIldl tne and
minimum salary which attach to it
will represent salaries upon which a
man with family may live comfort
| ably.
! Scores of clerks. it is pointed out.
must necessarily remain in the grade
OF senior clerk for life. since all en-
; ployes cannot reach the limited few
first supervisory positions.
Hope Under Reclassffcatio tion.
Under reclassifcation it is hoped
that the opportunity will be there for
all to do so who have the ability. but
II IS realized that human nature will
not change. under reclassification or
anything else. and that there ALWAYS
! Will be many who are entirely high
class men and women who must stay
| in this rank.
1t is therefore hoped that this rank
can be made one SO worth while in
every respect that clerks will be
drawn to look forward to it as a goal
| TO be won, and, having reached it. feel
content with an honorable and dig
nif1ed part in the work of the govern
ment here.