Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-02-20


The success Of this Govern
nlent. and thus the success O
our Nation. depend in the las
analysis upon the quality O
our career services. The legisla
ton enacted by the Congress
as well as the decisions made b,
me and the Department an,
Agency heads. must all be i'm
plemented by the career mel
and women in the Fedora
service.
In foreign affairs, nationa
defense, science and technology
and a host of other fields, the.
face unprecedented problems o
unprecedented Importance ant
perplexity. We are all depend
eat on their sense of loyalt,
and, responsibility as we'll Al
their competence and energy
and just as they have respon'
sibilities to the Government
so does the Government have
obligations to them.
We properly establish higf
standard S for our publ,
servants. We investigate theil
character and associations be-
fore considering them for en-
pIoyment. We hire them only
after they nave passed difficult
examinations. We require then
to abide by rigorous standards
of conduct and ethics. We de.
mand consistently high per.
Torrance from them on the
job.
Accordingly, the salaries fol
the services they perform
should be fixed under we'll
understood and OBJECTIVE
standards, high enough to at.
tract and retain competent per-
sonnet, sufficiently flexible tt
motivate initiative and indus
try, and comparable with the
salaries received by THEN
counterparts in private life. TIC
pay more than this is to be I'm.
fair to the taXpayers-to pay
less is to degrade the public
service and endanger our ma
tinnal security
Unfortunately, these basic
standards for Federal salary
systems are not met today. Toe
many Federal employees are
underpaid in proportion tc
their responsibilities. Too many
receive smaller salaries than
are paid by many private in
dustries, and even by many
State and local governments
for less responsible work. Toe
many top-grade or supervisory
Federal employees are paid little
more, and sometimes even less
than their subordinates. Too
many key career employees are
unable to afford continued pub
lie service.
Incentive Needed
Existing statutory Federal
pay structures cannot be justi-
fled as sound and equitable,
either internally or externally
Internally, salaries between
various levels of works should
be enough to provide an in
centive to undertake more
responsible duties and to rep
resent, dollar-Wise fair differ
ences in work requirements.
Over the years, piece-meal
statutory revisions - with pri-
mary emphasis on bringing the
lower pay levels abreast of
changes in the cost of living -
have severely compressed the
spread between the top and
bottom salaries. The 8.8 to /
and IL to l salary ratios be-
tween the highest and lowest
Classification Act and Postal
Field Service grades existing
prior to World War II have
shrunk to ratios of less than 6
to /, making it impossible to
offer pay increases consistent
with the added responsibilities
Of grade to grade promotion,
or to offer an appropriate
range of incentives within q
particular grade.
There is little consistency or
logic in the salary differences
between existing grade levels
And employees paid under a
wage board system, with wages
based on the prevailing rates
in industry, are frequently paid
more than their supervisors
whose salaries are fixed by the
more rigid and less logical
provisions Of the Classification
Act.
Externally, except for en-
ployes paid under wage board
systems, Federal salaries gener-
ally do not compare favorably
and cannot compete success
fully with private industry
Every objective survey has dem
onstrated that salaried Gov
eminent employees at almost
every work level receive less
compensation, on a national
average basis, than private en-
ployes performing similar work
- and the greater the level Of
difficulty and responsibility
the greater the gap between
Federal and private pay.
A Federal employee beginning
a professional or administrative
career can look forward to a
maximum salary increase of nc
more than four-and-one-quar-
ter times his entrance salary
whereas his counterpart in pri-
vate industry can look forward
to an increase of six or sever
times his beginning salary
Moreover, the Federal EN-.
ploye's top salary, if he stay.
to reach it, will be less thar
half that Of his private enter.
prise counterpart.
States, Cities Lead U. S.
Even State and local govern.
ments have passed the Fedora
government. The head of 6
Federal Cabinet Department
receives less than the head Of