HHI
In the administration of a pay plan,
they are directly associated with the
conditions or factors which, according
to the policy adopted, will determine
eligibility for periodic or other increases
within the pay scale for a given class.
Intermediate rates are also used in
service personnel transactions, such as
transfers and promotions, when, in the
case of overlapping scales, it is desir
able to maintain the employee’s existing
rate or avoid an arbitrary reduction
that would be inconsistent with the na
ture of the transaction. Also, even
when pay scales do not overlap, they
may be so close together as to lead to
an inappropriately small increase when
the employee at the top rate of his class
is promoted to a higher class. If a policy
is adopted of accompanying each pro
motion by a substantial increase in
salary, an intermediate rate of the same
scale for the higher class may be used
for the purpose.
The maximum rate of pay scale is
the limit of value to the jurisdiction of
the work of a given class, taking into
account the pay of other classes of
positions in the service. Ordinarily,
therefore, it is the rate beyond which
no employee may be paid while accupy-
ing a position in the class, no matter
how well he may perform the duties of
that class or how long he may have
served. An employee who is receiving
the maximum rate for the kind of work
he is doing must accordingly look for
further advances to the machinery of
promotion to a higher class.
The fixing of definite maximums
combats a natural tendency to pay
more than a position is worth to a man
who should be given a better job. It
also induces alert employees to prepare
themselves for promotion to better po
sitions in which they will perform more
difficult duties or carry more exact
ing responsibilities.
The "spread” of a pay scale is the
difference in amount between the
minimum rate and the maximum rate
of the scale. The percentage of spread
is computed on the minimum rate as a
base.
In deciding what the spread of a
pay scale should be for a given class of
positions the broad guiding principle is
that it should fit the class. The spread
for any class should be sufficient to
permit adequate advancement to em
ployees who become highly proficient
in the work of the class concerned and
who are* not promoted to positions in
higher classes. This requires considera
tion of (a) the relative breadth or
narrowness of the classes established in
the position-classification plan; (b) the
degree to which the nature of the class
permits or restricts the development or
the individual effort of the employee
in the work of the class, i.e., the time
required for normal progress and for
opportunity to demonstrate outstand
ing performance; (c) the degree of
opportunity for promotion to higher
classes in the same or an associated line
of work, i.e., whether the class is a
stepping-stone to higher classes or one
which the employee is apt to make his
life’s work; and (d) the general level
of the class in the position-classifica
tion and pay plans.
Broad classes having a relatively wide
range of , difficulty and responsibility
ordinarily call for longer salary ranges
than narrow classes.
Some classes of positions have a
greater range for the development of
proficiency than do other classes. Those
permitting a large increase in the value
of the individual to the service as he
becomes experienced in the work of the
class call for wider spreads than do
classes in which the nature of the work
is of limited scope.
In state and local jurisdictions also,
limitations of opportunity for promo
tion or transfer out of a given class,
caused by the position structure of the
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