APPENDIX D CLASSIFICATION ACT OF 1949 [PUBLIC LAW 429, 81ST CONG., APPROVED OCTOBER 28, 1949] To establish a standard schedule of rates of basic compensation for certain employees of the Federal Government; to provide an equitable system for fixing and adjusting the rates of basic compensation of individual' employees; to repeal the Classification Act of 1923, as amended; and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Classification Act of 1949." TITLE I-DECLARATION OF POLICY SEC. 101. It is the purpose of this Act to provide a plan for classification of positions and for rates of basic compensation whereby (1) in determining the rate of basic compensation which an officer or employee shall receive, (A) the principle of equal pay for substantially equal work shall be followed, and (B) variations in rates of basic compensation paid to different officers and employees shall be in proporation to substntial differences in the difficulty, responsibility, and qualification requirements of the work performed and to the contributions of officers and employees to efficiency and economy in the service; and (2) individual positions shall, in accordance with their duties, responsibilities, and qualification requirements, be so grouped and identified by classes and grades, as defined in section 301, and the various classes shall be so described in published standards, as provided for in title IV, that the resulting position-classification system can be used in all phases of personnel administration. TITLE II-COVERAGE AND EXEMPTIONS SEC. 201. (a) For the purposes of this Act, the term "department" includes (1) the executive departments, (2) the independent establishments and agencies in the executive branch, including corporations wholly owned by the United States, (3) the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, (4) the Library of Congress, (5) the Botanic Garden, (6) the Government Printing Office, (7) the General Accounting Office, (8) the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, and (9) the municipal government of the District of Columbia. (b) Subject to the exemptions specified in section 202, and except as provided in sections 204 and 205, this Act shall apply to all civilian positions, officers, and employees in or under the departments. SEC. 202. This Act (except title XII) shall not apply to— (1) the field service of the Post Office Department, for which the salary rates are fixed by Public Law 134, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved July 6, 1945, as amended and supplemented; (2) the Foreign Service of the United States under the Department of State, for which the salary rates are fixed by the Foreign Service Act of 1946, as supplemented by Public Law 160, Eighty-first Congress, approved July 6, 1949; and positions in or under the Department of State which are (A) connected with the representation of the United States to international organizations; or (B) specifically exempted by law from the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, or any other classification or compensation law; (3) physicians, dentists, nurses, and other employees in the Department of Medicine and Surgery in the Veterans' Administration, whose compensation is fixed under Public Law 293, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved January 3, 1946; (4) teachers, school officers, and employees of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia, whose compensation is fixed under the District of Columbia Teachers' Salary Act of 1947, as supplemented by Public Law 151, Eighty-first Congress, approved June 30, 1949; and the chief judge and the associate judges of the Municipal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and the Municipal Court for the District of Columbia; (5) officers and members of the Metropolitan Police, the Fire Department of the District of Columbia, the United States Park Police, and the White House Police; (6) lighthouse keepers and civilian employees ou lightships and vessels of the Coast Guard, whose compensation is fixed under authority of section 432 (f) and (g) of title 14 of the United States Code; (7) employees in recognized trades or crafts, or other skilled mechanical crafts, or in unskilled, semiskilled, or skilled manual-labor occupations (except such employees in positions to which the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, now applies, the duties of which involve the maintenance and operation of public buildings and associated equipment or the performance of work in scientific or engineering laboratories as aides to scientists or engineers), and employees in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing the duties of whom are to perform or to direct manual or machine operations requiring special skill or experience, or to perform or direct the counting, examining, sorting, or other verification of the product of manual or machine operations, whose compensation shall be fixed and adjusted from time to time as nearly as is consistent with the public interest in accordance with prevailing rates; (8) officers and members of crews of vessels, whose compensation shall be fixed and adjusted from time to time as nearly as is consistent with the public interest in accordance with prevailing rates and practices in the maritime industry; (9) employees of the Government Printing Office whose compensation is fixed under Public, Numbered 276, Sixty-eighth Congress, approved June 7, 1924; (10) civilian professors, lecturers, and instructors at the Naval War College and the Naval Academy whose compensation is fixed under Public Law 604, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved August 2, 1946, senior professors, professors, associate and assistant professors, and instructors at the Naval Postgraduate School whose compensation is fixed under Public Law 303, Eightieth Congress, approved July 31, 1947; and the Academic Dean of the Postgraduate School of the Naval Academy whose compensation is fixed under Public Law 402, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved June 10, 1946; (11) aliens or persons not citizens of the United States who occupy positions outside the several States and the District of Columbia; (12) the Tennessee Valley Authority; (13) the Inland Waterways Corporation; (14) the Alaska Railroad; (15) the Virgin Islands Corporation; (21) teachers, school officers, and members of the Police and Fire Departments of the Panama Canal whose rates of compensation are fixed by the Governor of the Panama Canal with reference to the rates of compensation for similar positions in the municipal government of the District of Columbia; (22) employees who serve without compensation or at nominal rates of compensation; (23) employees none or only part of whose compensation is paid from appropriated funds of the United States: Provided, That with respect to the Veterans' Canteen Service in the Veterans' Administration, the provisions of this paragraph shall be applicable only to those positions which are exempt from the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, pursuant to Public Law 636, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved August 7, 1946, as amended; (24) employees whose compensation is fixed under a cooperative agreement between the United States and (A) a State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or political subdivision thereof, or (B) a person or organization outside the service of the Federal Government; (25) student nurses, medical or dental interns, residents-in-training, student dietitians, student physical therapists, student occupational therapists, and other student employees, assigned or attached to a hospital, clinic, or laboratory primarily for training purposes, whose compensation is fixed under Public Law 330, Eightieth Congress, approved August 4, 1947, or section 14 (b) of Public Law 293, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved January 3, 1946, as amended by Public Law 722, Eightieth Congress, approved June 19, 1948; (26) inmates, patients, or beneficiaries receiving care or treatment or living in Government agencies or institutions; (27) experts or consultants, when employed temporarily or intermittently in accordance with section 15 of Public Law 600, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved August 2, 1946; (28) emergency or seasonal employees whose employment is of uncertain or purely temporary duration, or who are employed for brief periods at intervals; (29) persons employed on a fee, contract, or piece work basis; (30) persons who may lawfully perform their duties concurrently with their private profession, business, or other employment, and whose duties require only a portion of their time, where it is impracticable to ascertain or anticipate the proportion of time devoted to the service of the Federal Government; (31) positions for which rates of basic compensation are individually fixed, or expressly authorized to be fixed, by any other law, at or in excess of the maximum scheduled rate of the highest grade established by this Act; ★(32) postal employees of the Panama Canal whose rates of compensation are fixed by the Governor of the Panama Canal with reference to the rates of compensation for similar positions in the field service of the Post Office Department of the United States.1 SEC. 203. The Civil Service Commission, hereinafter referred to as the "Commission", is authorized and directed to determine finally the applicability of sections 201 and 202 to specific positions, officers, and employees. SEC. 204. (a) The classes of employees whose compensation is authorized by section 3 of the Legislative Pay Act of 1929, as amended (46 Stat. 38; 55 Stat. 615), to be fixed by the Architect of the Capitol without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, are authorized to be compensated without regard to this Act. (b) This Act shall not apply to any officer or employee of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol whose compensation is fixed by any other law. (c) Sections 202 and 203 shall not apply to the Office of the Architect of the Capitol. SEC. 205. Title X of this Act shall not apply to (1) the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, (2) the Library of Congress, (3) the Botanic Garden, (4) the Government Printing Office, (5) the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, and (6) the municipal government of the District of Columbia. TITLE III-BASIS FOR CLASSIFYING POSITIONS SEC. 301. For the purposes of this Act, the term (1) "position" means the work, consisting of the duties and responsibilities, assignable to an officer or employee; (2) "class" or "class of positions" includes all positions which are sufficiently similar, as to (A) kind or subject-matter of work, (B) level of difficulty and responsibility, and (C) the qualification requirements of the work, to warrant similar treatment in personnel and pay administration; and (3) "grade" includes all classes of positions which (although different with respect to kind or subject-matter of work) are sufficiently equivalent as to (A) level of difficulty and responsibility, and (B) level of qualification requirements of the work, to warrant the inclusion of such classes of positions within one range of rates of basic compensation, as specified in title VI. SEC. 302. (a) Each position shall be placed in its appropriate class. The basis for determining the class in which each position shall be placed shall be the duties and responsibilities of such position and the qualifications required by such duties and responsibilities. (b) Each class shall be placed in its appropriate grade. The basis for determining the grade in which each class shall be placed shall be the level of difficulty, responsibility, and qualification requirements of the work of such class. SEC. 303. No appropriated funds shall be used to pay the compensation of any officer or employee who places a supervisory position in a class and grade solely on the basis of the size of the group, section, bureau, or other organization unit or the number of subordinates supervised. Such factors may be given effect only to the extent warranted by the work load of the organization unit and then only in combination with other factors, such as the kind, difficulty, and complexity of work supervised, the degree and scope of responsibility delegated to the supervisor, and the kind, degree, and character of the supervision actually exercised. TITLE IV-PREPARATION AND PUBLICATION OF STANDARDS SEC. 401. (a) The Commission, after consultation with the departments, shall prepare standards for placing positions in their proper classes and grades. The As amended by the act of June 16, 1950 (Public Law 562, 81st Cong.). Commission is authorized to make such inquiries or investigations of the duties, responsibilities, and qualification requirements of positions as it deems necessary for this purpose. In such standards the Commission shall (1) define the various classes of positions that exist in the service in terms of duties, responsibilities, and qualification requirements; (2) establish the official class titles; and (3) set forth the grades in which such classes have been placed by the Commission. At the request of the Commission, the departments shall furnish information for and cooperate in the preparation of such standards. Such standards shall be published in such form as the Commission may determine. (b) The Commission shall keep such standards up to date. From time to time, after consultation with the departments to the extent deemed necessary by the Commission, it may revise, supplement, or abolish existing standards, or prepare new standards, so that, as nearly as may be practicable, positions existing at any given time within the service will be covered by current published standards. (c) The official class titles so established shall be used for personnel, budget, and fiscal purposes, but this requirement shall not prevent the use of organizational or other titles for internal administration, public convenience, law enforcement, or similar purposes. TITLE V-AUTHORITY AND PROCEDURE SEC. 501. (a) Notwithstanding section 502, the Commission shall have authority, which may be exercised at any time in its discretion, to (1) ascertain currently the facts as to the duties, responsibilities, and qualification requirements of any position; (2) place in an appropriate class and grade any newly created position or any position coming initially under this Act; (3) decide whether any position is in its appropriate class and grade; and (4) change any position from one class, or grade to another class or grade whenever the facts warrant. The Commission shall certify to the department concerned action taken by the Commission under paragraph (2) or (4). The department shall take action in accordance with such certificate, and such certificate shall be binding on all administrative, certifying, pay roll, disbursing, and accounting officers of the Gov ernment. (b) Any employee or employees (including any officer or officers) affected or any department may request at any time that the Commission exercise the authority granted to it under subsection (a) and the Commission shall act upon such request. SEC. 502. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this title, each department shall place each position under its jurisdiction and to which this Act applies in its appropriate class and grade in conformance with standards published by the Commission or, if no published standards directly apply, consistently with published standards. A department may, whenever the facts warrant, change any position which it has placed in a class or grade under this subsection from such class or grade to another class or grade. Such actions of the departments shall be the basis for the payment of compensation and for personnel transactions until changed by certificate of the Commission. (b) The Commission shall, from time to time, review such number of positions in each department as will enable the Commission to determine whether such department is placing positions in classes and grades in conformance with or consistently with published standards. SEC. 503. Whenever the Commission finds under section 502 (b) that a position to which this Act applies is not placed in its proper class and grade in conformance with published standards or that positions for which no standards have been published are not placed in classes and grades consistently with published standards, it shall, after consultation with appropriate officers or employees of the department concerned, place each such position in its appropriate class and grade and shall certify such action to the department. The department shall take action in accordance with such certificate, and such certificate shall be binding on all administrative, certifying, pay roll, disbursing, and accounting officers of the Government. SEC. 504. (a) Whenever the Commission finds that any department is not placing positions in classes and grades in conformance with or consistently with published standards, it may revoke or suspend in whole or in part the authority granted to the department under section 502 and require that prior approval of the Commission be secured before an action placing a position in a class and grade becomes effective for pay roll and other personnel purposes. Such revocations or suspensions may be limited, in the discretion of the Commission, to (1) the departmental or field service, or any part thereof; (2) any geographic area; (3) any organization unit or group of organization units; (4) certain types of classification actions; (5) classes in particular occupational groups or grades; or (6) classes for which standards have not been published. (b) After all or part of the authority of the department has been revoked or suspended, the Commission may at any time restore such authority to the extent that it is satisfied that subsequent actions placing positions in classes and grades will be taken in conformance with or consistently with published standards. At SEC. 505. (a) No position shall be placed in Grade 16 or 17 of the General Schedule except by action of, or after prior approval by, the Commission. any one time there shall not be more than three hundred positions in Grade 16 of the General Schedule and not more than seventy-five positions in Grade 17 of the General Schedule. (b) No position shall be placed in or removed from Grade 18 of the General Schedule except by the President upon recommendation of the Commission. There shall not be more than twenty-five positions in such grade at any one time. SEC. 506. The Commission may (1) prescribe the form in which each department shall record the duties and responsibilities of positions to which this Act applies and the places where such records shall be maintained, (2) examine these or any other pertinent records to the department, and (3) interview any officers or employees of the department who have knowledge of the duties and responsibilities of such positions and information as to the reasons for placing a position in any class or grade. TITLE VI-BASIC COMPENSATION SCHEDULES SEC. 601. There are hereby established the following basic compensation schedules for positions to which this Act applies: (1) A "General Schedule", the symbol for which shall be "GS", in lieu of the professional and scientific service, the clerical, administrative, and fiscal service, and the subprofessional service specified in section 13 of the Classification Act of 1923, as amended; and (2) A "Crafts, Protective, and Custodial Schedule", the symbol for which shall be "CPC", in lieu of the crafts, protective, and custodial service specified in such section. SEC. 602. (a) The General Schedule shall be divided into eighteen grades of difficulty and responsibility of work, as follows: GENERAL SCHEDULE Grade GS-1 includes all classes of positions the duties of which are to perform, under immediate supervision, with little or no latitude for the exercise of independent judgment, (1) the simplest routine work in office, business, or fiscal operations, or (2) elementary work of a subordinate technical character in a professional, scientific, or technical field. Grade GS-2 includes all classes of positions the duties of which are (1) to perform, under immediate supervision, with limited latitude for the exercise of independent judgment, routine work in office, business, or fiscal operations, or comparable subordinate technical work of limited scope in a professional, scientific, or technical field, requiring some training or experience; or (2) to perform other work of equal importance, difficulty, and responsibility, and requiring comparable qualifications. Grade GS-3 includes all classes of positions the duties of which are (1) to perform, under immediate or general supervision, somewhat difficult and responsible work in office, business, or fiscal operations, or comparable subordinate technical work of limited scope in a professional, scientific, or technical field, requiring in either case (A) some training or experience, (B) working knowledge of a special subject matter, or (C) to some extent the exercise of independent judgment in accordance with well-established policies, procedures, and techniques; or (2) to perform other work of equal importance, difficulty, and responsibility, and requiring comparable qualifications. Grade GS-4 includes all classes of positions the duties of which are (1) to perform, under immediate or general supervision, moderately difficult and responsible work in office, business, or fiscal operations, or comparable subordinate technical work in a professional, scientific, or technical field, requiring in either case (A) a moderate amount of training and minor supervisory or other experience, (B) good working knowledge of a special subject matter or a limited field of office, laboratory, |