Evening star., 1924-07-20
MANY CLERKS MISUNDERSTAND
CLASSIFICATION, SAYS BARTLETT
LaU Viii Benefit All When 1t Gets to Working
Smoothly, He HoLds-ErpLain Difficulties
of First Operation.


cized, but not the law.
Room for Promotions.
Again. as seen in the foregoing
statement with reference to grade
l." there is a considerable range be-
tween the lowest salary, Sl,l40. and
the highest salary. $1,000. although
doing the same work This range Is
intended to answer the requirements
OF promotion within the grade. When
an employe is kept doing the same
work for a few years he becomes
more expert, more faithful, and
should therefore get more pay.
Whether he shall be promoted equf-
tably and fairly within this grade is
again a question of just and fair ad-
mintstration. Two persons, equally
deserving. could get different promo
ttons, but careful efficiency ratings
on the basis of those ratings. Fa-
voritism should in no way creep in,
although it is possible.
The law provides certain limita-
I grade. 1t does not permit the ad
ministrator to put ali in grade at
the top salary. 1t requires that they
be averaged along the line so that
the average Of all in the grade should
be the midway point of the grade.
Co-Operation Lis Needed.
Then again, the appropriation for
that it is impossible to promote at
all. 1t may be made so low that
more people will have to be kept In
the lower grades and less in the
higher. proper cooperation, how
ever. between the department. the
budget and the Congress ought to
work out a just and efficient result
along these lines.
Grade two in the service, which
more nearly describes ordinary clerks.
includes all classes of positions, the
duties OF which are to perform, under
immediate supervision. Assigned Of
f1ce work requiring training or ex-
perience."
This grade begins at $3.50 and
runs to $3.50. Stenographers have
been classed in this grade.
If this were in the post offices of
the country, they would begin at
sl.400 and run automatically in four
years to s1,S00 as the law now
stands.
Professional Service Rating.
The law also sets forth a line
of classification under the head of
professional mad scientific service
These grades run from grade one
to grade seven. Grade one in the
professional and scientific service be-
gins at $1.S60 and may reach under
| a system of discretionary promotions.
as high as s2,400. Grade seven is as
high as $1,000. This grade includes
people who have professional educa-
tions, such rs lawyers, doctors, etc,
or scientific education.
There Is also line of graduation
under the heading Of subprofessionaI
service. This runs from grade one
to grade eight Grade one ranges
from 5000 to s1.26O and grade eight
from $4,000 to $4,000.
The law also sets up a line of
RI I'm q ion
ranging from grade one to grade
| ten. Grade one in the custodial servr
| Ice is junior messenger grade In
this the salary is from 5000 to $3.50.
Grade two in the custodial service
| is referred to as the office-laborer
grade. 1t includes all classes of po-
sitions the duties of which are to
| handle desks, mail sacks and other
heavy objects and to perform sim
| liar work ordinarily required of un-
skllled laborers; to operate elevators;
TO clean office rooms or to perform
| other work of similar character. The
| salaries in this grade run from $3.50
to 81. 40 The highest grade, grade
ten. in the custodial service. is re-
| ferred to as the chief custodial grade
1t embraces those who supervise
custodIal labor. The salaries range
from s2,40o to $4,000.
Takes Time to Work 1t,
There is another graduation under
the law called the clerical echanicaI
service. Here the grades run from
one to fve. In grade one the pay
Is 40 to SO cents an hour. In grade
! nVe the rate of compensation is So 900
to $500 |'O''
1t will be seen from the foregoing
that the work of the classification
board and the department heads in
adjusting every one of the 10000
employees into his proper place is
one Of extraordinary complexities and
difficulties and that it will REQUIRE
a long time perhaps to get every
detail properly adjusted and the
whoie organization justly co-ordi-
mated but L believe this will come
ABOUT in time, and that not too long.
congress can amend the law from
tlme to time, raising such salaries
as seem inadequate and making such
appropriations as will enable the
law to be carried out in the hest
| way according to the light or eY.
perlence as 1T shall be revealed after
the law has been tried sufficiently.
lf certain employees get no more
pay under the classification act than
thy they ald before, that merely shows
| that they were being paid before
| along the same line that Congress
laid down.
| Sees Few Getting Less.
II certain other employees get much
| more than they obtained before, it
| shows that they have been recefv-
ing much less than the standard laid
doYn by Congress for their grade.
| IN reducing any chaotic and unsys-
| tematlc organization to a system II
| must necessarily be that some viii
be raised and others lowered.
| think 1t rather extraordinary that 80
1eW are lowered by the classification
| act. In fact. practically no one is
| lowered, as the law 80 provides. hut
| certain ones are receiving a slight
! amount less because OF the per
centage retained for the retirement
| fund.
| An employe should not be content
| ed with the grade he is in. He
should study and become so expert
that he will be lifted out of that
grade into a higher grade. II an
| administrator finds that a person in
grade is competent to do the work
! in grade 4, he has the discretion To
| take him out of grade and put
| him in grade 4.
| 1 think there is far more incentive
| under the classification law to do
good work and to improve ones edu-
cation and skill than there was
| under the old regime.
! There will be less transferr1ne
| from one department to another and
less opportunity for personal favor
| itism.
| On the whole, believe the gov
| ernment has taken very decide
step forward in inaugurating this
law and that 1t can take still further
steps forward in improving 1t.
L