Grade IVb Salary Structure, 1932

The basic salary structure was first introduced for the Washington, D.C. workforce by the Classification Act of 1923, whose goal was to rationalize the pay and responsibilities of the federal civil service.  The Welch Act of 1930 extended the schedule to the rest of the federal civil service that was not otherwise coved by wage boards (mostly blue-collar workers).

The salary schedule is divided into a number of "services," or basic job groupings.  These are each in turn divided into "grades" of increasing responsibility and pay.  Finally, within each grade are up to seven "promotional" levels of increasing pay.  "Promotions," (raises, actually) were determined solely by employees' efficiency ratings as determined by their supervisors and confirmed by local department heads.

In the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the IVbs consisted of all office workers, management and staff (the CAF service), the scientists and engineers working in the Yards' laboratories (the P service), their helpers and the drafting pool (the SP service), and the Yard's police force (the CU service).

This salary structure remained in place until the Classification Act of 1949, which reduced the number of services to two, and is still the basis of today's federal pay schedule.

CAF = Clerical, Administrative, Fiscal Service
CU = Custodial (includes all mechanical positions in D.C.)
P = Professional/Scientific
SP = Sub-Professional/Sub-Scientific

CAF CU S SP a b c d e f g
- 1 - -   600 -  660   720   780 -  840
- - - 1 1020 1080 1140 1200 1260 1320 1380
- 2 - - 1080 1140 1200 1260 1320 1380 -
- 3 - - 1200 1260 1320 1380 1440 1500 -
1 - - 2 1260 1320 1380 1440 1500 1560 1620
- 4 - - 1320 1380 1440 1500 1560 1620 1680
2 - - 3 1440 1500 1560 1620 1680 1740 1800
- 5 - - 1500 1560 1620 1680 1740 1800 1860
3 - - 4 1620 1680 1740 1800 1860 1920 1980
- 6 - - 1680 1740 1800 1860 1920 1980 2040
4 - - 5 1800 1860 1920 1980 2040 2100 2160
- 7 - - 1860 1920 1980 2040 2100 2200 2300
5 8 1 6 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 2600
6 9 - 7 2300 2400 2500 2600 2700 2800 2900
7 10 2 8 2600 2700 2800 2900 3000 3100 3200
8 - - - 2900 3000 3100 3200 3300 3400 3500
9 - 3 - 3200 3300 3400 3500 3600 3700 3800
10 - - - 3500 3600 3700 3800 3900 4000 4100
11 - 4 - 3800 - 4000 4200 4400 - 4600
12 - 5 - 4600 - 4800 5000 5200 - 5400
13 - 6 - 5600 - 5800 6000 6200 - 6400
Source: Chart, enclosed in Order No. 52, "Efficiency Rating System for Group 4(b) Employees (per annum)," by Commandant Rear Adm. L.A. Bostwick, U.S. Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 17 March 1932; RG181; NA-NY.

For comparison, a mechanic in a maximum rating, at $.92/hour, on a 48-hour week schedule, earned $2296.22 annually.  The equivalent salaries above have been bolded.
 

John R  Stobo     ©    June 2004