Evening star., 1933-04-16
CLASSIFYING ACT
HELD BENEFICIAL
Former Civil Service Head
Says Repeal Would Destroy
Well Done Work.
BY WILLIAM C. DEMING.

BY WILLIAM C. DEMING,
Former President. United States Civil Service
Commission.
The drive for economy very naturally
has resulted in efforts to reduce sx-
penses In every Government agency.
This 10 especially true Is to such Or
carnations which are new or not par
ticulerly well understood. The pro-
gram, In Its general outline, would abol-
ish q number of new activities Age
seems to insure some immunity There
is In the Federal service an aristocracy
that survives.
In a broader sense, however, under
the operation of the new economy act
retrenchment will be general and all
officials and all employees will face IS
per cent reduction in salary.
This Is made necessary, first, by large
and growing deficit; second. because it
is believed present standards of remu-
neration. fixed during the boom days of
the World War and subsequently. are
out Of relation to the reduced cost of
living
About the time Nation wide propa-
ganda was heralding Two cars for
every garage, new suit of clothes for
every day in the week and q pair Of
suspenders for each suit" Congress nat
urally kept step to the advancing stand
ards Of living
The Welch act and the Brookhart bill
made some arbitrary increases
There also was the classification act,
sometimes called the Redistribution
act.
Perhaps the name is unfortunate. At
any rate. this highly practical and much
needed reform is not we'll understood,
although it has been in effect for sew
eral years.
Under Economy Ban.
Because the name suggests SO little
to the man in the street as we'll as the
man on the Hill. the classification act
Is also under the ban.
Therefore, it is argued that 1t
should be relegated to the ash pile.
along with other freakish frills Or
broken down war agencies
The classification act Is neither but
1t is just as well to recognize why criti-
cisms are heard resulting in one or
more bills in Congress to repeal this
law.
There are those who regard the sepa-
ration Of the various services into
grades as q unique and roundabout
method OF automatically increasing sal
aries. They liken it to a moving stair
way with landings at every step. 1t Is
suggested that many 60 up but none
come down.
The real merits of the cIassificati ton
act. unfortunately. are obscure to those
not familiar with the personnel prob
lem.
While this law, which became effec-
tive In the United States Government
with respect to the departmental SER
vice IN 1924, was not well understood.
1t was not an experiment The princi-
pie upon which it Is founded had been
used IN the postal service and in other
countries and had made considerable
progress In grading and systematizing
duties and wages.
board of very able. conscientious
men was named to administer the act.
Their duties are not performed mechan-
ically or perfunctorily. Considering the
limited funds and limited force which
the board had to attack the problem.
l feel that the work has been very we'll
done
1t was not practicable during the first
years of the existence of the Classifica-
ton Board to make personal investi-
CATION Of every job description, but I
understand that 1t is done now.
Before proceeding to q more technical
discussion Of the subject. one simple
example out Of thousands which existed
10 years ago will prove clearly the need
for this reform.
As president of the United States
Civil Service Commission in 1928. 1
found that in many of the older Fed
eral departments there was a variation
tA
In the wages paid for the same class
Of work. In the General Land Once,
for esample. a frst-grade stenographer
might me receiving $500 or $1,000. or
even 81 200, Is the highest compensa-
tion, while in . board or bureau estab-
lt1hed during or after the World War,
. hrst-grade Sten0grapher might be re-
ceiving from 81 500 to 81 800 per annum
In Losical Order.
But let us discuss the matter In
logical order:
Comprehensive investigations CT con-
ditions respecting personnel administra-
tion prior to the passage Of the classifi-
cation act, as found by q special Joint
commission of Congress. developed the
following results, among others
i. The Government had no standard
to guide it in fixing the pay of its en-
ployes and no working plan for relating
the salaries appropriated to the char
acter and importance Of the work for
which such salaries were to be paid.
Salaries for the same kinds Of posi-
tions were fixed In some instances by
Congress. and in other instances by
department heads with no responsibility
for coordination.
Consequently the salary and wage
rates for positions involving like duties
and responsibilities and calling for the
same qualifications showed wide varia-
tions and marked inequalities The
scales OF pay were different In different
departments. some departments paying
markedly higher than other depart
ments for the same class of work
In individual cases determinations in
pay for the same work were frequently
due to such irrelevant or disturbing fac
tors as the sex of the incumbent. per-
sonal or political favorittsm. ill-consid-
cred judgments, administrative good
fortune, or lack of knowledge Of what
A. Z result of this situation. the Gov
ernment had put itself in the position
Of wasting funds on the one hand and
doing serious injustice to individuals on
the other. and of failing to get that
degree Of efficiency in administration
that more equitable and uniform wage
policy would bring about.
Standards and Pay Policy.
To cure these defects, the classifica-
ton act was designed to establish stand
ards and . policy for fixing pay, and
to centralixe in one agency the respon-
sibilitv for applying these standards and
this policy uniformly in different de-
partments An equitable and uniform
wage policy was set up, namely: (a)
Rates Of pay for positions were to be
70 hxed that there shall be equal pay
for equal work, irrespective OF sex, and
90 differences among scales of pay
for positions shall be logically related