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About The Oregon state employee. (Salem, Oregon.) 1944-195? | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1945)
4 The Federal Employees Pay Act of 1945 Excerpts from a review by Ismar Baruch in Pziblic Personnel Review (O ctober) Effective Ju ly 1, 1945, the Congress of the United States, through the pro visions of the Federal Employees Pay A ct of 1945, made comprehensive changes in existing pay policies affect ing, white-collar employees who are subject to the general position-classifi cation and pay policies expressed in the Classification A ct of 1923, as amended. The new law, among other things, (a) raises the level of the basic-rate schedules of the Classification A ct, (b) fixes 40 hours as the length of the basic workweek, (c ) required overtime pay at true time and one-half rates for work in excess of 40 hours in any one workweek, (d ) liberalizes the granting of merit pay-increases, (e) introduces some flexibility in the fixing of mini mum or hiring rates, ( f ) provides a pay differential for those whose regular work is at night, and (g ) establishes a postwar policy of premium pay for holi day work. Basic Rate Schedules^ The problem of revising basic rate schedules for white-collar or salaried officers and employees in the public service, who are engaged. in a great variety of clerical, supervisory, admin istrative, technical, professional, and scientific occupations, is in broad out line essentially the same in all govern ments— national, state, and local. T ra ditionally, such schedules are established legislatively and are. not quickly respon sive to changes in economic conditions. Historically, too, they are conservative in level and do not permit effective re cruiting in competition with private in dustry from the standpoint of the fi nancial inducements that can be o f fered. According to the national cost-of-liv ing index of the Bureau of Labor Sta tistics, the cost o f living had risen at lease 26 per cent since January, 1941, the base date for application of the Little Steel formula of the National W ar Labor Board. Other workers, both in the federal government and in indus try, had enjoyed basic wage increases up to the 15 per cent limit established by that formula, to compensate, at least in part, for this considerable in crease in living expenses. The Federal Employees Pay A ct o f 1945 was de signed to establish a reasonable rela tionship between the statutory pay schedules of the Classification A ct and the changes that had taken place in economic conditions and in the pre vailing wage schedules o f government employees in crafts, trades, and labor occupations. The device for determining the new basic rates assured a continuous slid ing percentage scale of increases, grad ually diminishing from 20 per cent in the lowest brackets to 8.9 per cent at the highest point. U p to and including the existing rate o f $1,200 a year, the increase was 20 per cent; at 2,400, 15 per cent; at $4,000, 13 per cent; at $5,000, 12 per cent; at $7,000, 10 per cent; and at $9,000, 8.9 per cent. The over-all average increase above prior rates was about 15.9 per cent. Forty-H our Basic Workweek A regular 40 -hour basic workweek had been established by Congress in 1934 for prevailing rate crafts and trades, and in 1935 for many employees of the Postal Service. N ot until the passage of emergency or war legislation in 1940-43, was a similar policy recog nized for salaried employees under the Classification A ct, and this policy was temporary in character. The laws had definite expiration dates. The Federal Employees Pay A ct ol 1945 makes this policy permanent. It requires heads of agencies to establish a (Continued on Page 16)
