Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-22
FEDERAL SALARY
SCALE IS STUDIED
Lower Grades Pay Higher,
Upper Pay Less, Than
Outside Positions.

! Government salaries in the lower or
smaller paid grades are higher than
those in outside employ, while salaries
| in the higher executive positions outside
| the Government service are generally
| higher than those in the Federal en-
ploy.
These are the conclusions drawn by
| the Personnel Classification Board from
a survey covering the entire country,
numbering more than half a million
| separate cases, explained to the sub
committee of the House in charge OF
the independent Offices appropriation
bill for 1882 by William H. McReynolds,
! director of classification. The Person
! mel Classification Board had available
! SIS 900 for such a survey, and its find
ings may have definite bearing on
revision of Government pay schedules.
Findings Are Summarized.
Findings of the board, briefly, are
these:
In clerical employment, from the bot
tom up, in the first three or four grades,
the Government pay rate is measurably
higher than the outside rate.
disparity between pay in outside employ
and in the Government service de-
CreaSeS.
In the higher grades the non-Govern-
ment rate of pay is higher than the
Government rates.
Although III private employ there is
no accepted standard for certain
grades of work. certain large employers
Of clerical help have worked out a
schedule of remuneration which agrees
in many details with the classification
schedules employed in the Federal
service.
Grade Rates Contrasted.
In the case of Grade l employees,
which is the lowest clerical grade in the
Government service, Mr.. McReynolds
explained that the Government rate is
close to $3.50 a year higher than the
average outside rate, based on records
Of about 100000 outside employees,
spread over the several States, in grades
comparable to Grade l in the Federal
service. AS we get up to Grade 2 en-
ployes the difference is cut down to
about $500 higher in the Government
service than the average outside" Mr..
McReynolds told the committee, while
Grade comes to about $3.50 differ
ence"; and in Grade the commercial
close together The average is about
the same" In the higher grades the
non-Government rate is higher than
the Government rate.
Change Rests With Congress.
Chairman E. H. Wason of the sub
committee questioned Mr.. McReynolds
as to whether the result of the investi-
cation would be tendency to lower the
n IF
eminent service, but Mr. McReynolds
pointed out that such a move would
rest with Congress. My experience has
been" he said, that you are not likely
to reduce the lower salaried groups, but
certainly the data gathered would not
justify cur recommending in the report
that a higher minimum rate be fixed
for Government service compared with
the outside" The report on the survey
Is in the hands of the printer, and will
be SUBMITTED to Congress as soon as 1t
is available, Mr.. McReynolds said.
Mr.. Wason said the findings of the
report either will reduce or will have
tendency to reduce the wages or sal
aries in the Government service, or
have the effect Of raising them in the
ncn-Government employ. Such a move
with regard to the lower paid employees
in the Federal service would be dia-
ulttL lCoiIy DppOSeQ 70 IIle pan lot up
ward revision Of pay scales to bring
under average employees up to average,
as proposed by the National Federation
OF Federal Employees, according to Pres
ident Luther Steward of the federation.
Skilled Men Are Lost.
Under questioning by Representative
Summers. a member of the subcom-
mit,ee, Mr.. McReynolds said that lO0,-
600 employees from New York to San
Francisco doing work similar TO that
done in the Government service would
receive less money in the routine cleri-
cal grades in private employ than in
the Government service.
Every study that has ever been made,
Mr.. McReynolds said in reply to a
question by Representative Boylan.
shows that the Government pays lower
rate in positions above the $4,000 level
than the outside employer does. and
that this condition leads to the loss to
the Government of trained men. who
are lured away from the Federal service
by higher wages.