5 U.S.C. § 5101: Purpose

Summary

Set up a plan to sort jobs into classes and grades and to set basic pay fairly. Pay for similar work must be equal, and pay differences must match real differences in how hard the work is, how much responsibility and skill it needs, and how much an employee helps the agency run well and save money. Jobs must be grouped by their duties, responsibilities, and required qualifications, and those groups must be described in published standards so the system can be used for all personnel work.

Title 5, §5101

Government Organization and Employees, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

It is the purpose of this chapter to provide a plan for classification of positions whereby—

(1)in determining the rate of basic pay which an employee will receive—

(A)the principle of equal pay for substantially equal work will be followed; and

(B)variations in rates of basic pay paid to different employees will be in proportion to substantial differences in the difficulty, responsibility, and qualification requirements of the work performed and to the contributions of employees to efficiency and economy in the service; and

(2)individual positions will, in accordance with their duties, responsibilities, and qualification requirements, be so grouped and identified by classes and grades, as defined by section 5102 of this title, and the various classes will be so described in published standards, as provided by section 5105 of this title, that the resulting position-classification system can be used in all phases of personnel administration.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large 5 U.S.C. 1071.Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 782, § 101, 63 Stat. 954. The words “and for rates of basic compensation” are omitted as inapplicable to this chapter since the provisions of former chapter 21 relating to rates of basic compensation are carried into subchapter III of chapter 53. The word “officer” is omitted as included in “employee” is defined in section 5102. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface of the report.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Occupational Series for Digital Career Fields Pub. L. 117–81, div. A, title XI, § 1118, Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 1956, provided that: “Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 27, 2021], the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall, pursuant to chapter 51 of title 5, United States Code, establish or update one or more occupational series covering Federal Government positions in the fields of software development, software engineering, data science, and data management.” References in Other Laws to Chapter 51 and Subchapter III of Chapter 53References in laws to fix pay in accordance with this chapter and subchapter III of chapter 53 of this title considered to include authority under section 5376 of this title, if applicable, but not to include any authority under section 5304 of this title or section 529 [title III, § 302] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out as a note under section 5304 of this title, see section 529 [title I, § 101(c)(2)] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out in a References in Other Laws to GS–16, 17, or 18 Pay Rates;

Regulations

note under section 5376 of this title.

§5101 Purpose