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Title 5 — Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-73not60

§5106 Basis for Classifying Positions

Title 5 › Part III— EMPLOYEES › Subpart D— Pay and Allowances › Chapter 51— CLASSIFICATION › § 5106

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

Put each job into the class that fits what the job does and the skills it needs, and give each class a grade that matches how hard the work is, how much responsibility it has, and what qualifications are required. Government money cannot be used to place a supervisory job in a class or grade only because the unit is large or has many subordinates; those things count only if the workload supports them and only 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 3, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60