Title 5 — Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-73
§5106 Basis for classifying positions
Title 5 › Part PART III— - EMPLOYEES › Subpart Subpart D— - Pay and Allowances › Chapter CHAPTER 51— - CLASSIFICATION › § 5106
Summary
Put each job into the proper class and give that class a grade based on the job’s duties, how hard the work is, the responsibility involved, and the qualifications needed. Do not use government funds to classify a supervisor just because the unit is large or has many subordinates; size or head count matter only if they affect workload and are weighed with other job factors.
Full Legal Text
Title 5, §5106
Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Each position shall be placed in its appropriate class. The basis for determining the appropriate class is the duties and responsibilities of the position and the qualifications required by the duties and responsibilities.
(b)Each class shall be placed in its appropriate grade. The basis for determining the appropriate grade is the level of difficulty, responsibility, and qualification requirements of the work of the class.
(c)Appropriated funds may not be used to pay an employee who places a supervisory position in a class and grade solely on the basis of the size of the organization unit or the number of subordinates supervised. These 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 exercised.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large (a), (b)5 U.S.C. 1092.Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 782, § 302, 63 Stat. 957. (c)5 U.S.C. 1093.Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 782, § 303, 63 Stat. 957. In subsection (c), the prohibition is restated in positive form. The words “to pay” are substituted for the words “to pay the compensation of”. The words “the group, section, bureau” are omitted as included in the words “the organization unit”. The word “actually” in the phrase “of the supervision exercised” is omitted as unnecessary. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
5 U.S.C. § 5106
Title 5 — Government Organization and Employees
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73