In the United States, the
civil serviceThe term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
was established in 1872. The Federal Civil Service is defined as "all appointive positions in the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of the Government of the United States, except positions in the uniformed services." . In the early 19th century, government jobs were held at the pleasure of the president—a person could be fired at any time. The
spoils systemIn the politics of the United States, a spoil system is a practice where a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its voters as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party—as opposed to a system of awarding offices on the...
meant that jobs were used to support the political parties. This was changed in slow stages by the
Pendleton Civil Service Reform ActThe Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of United States is a federal law established in 1883 that stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit. The act provided selection of government employees competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation...
of 1883 and subsequent laws. By 1909, almost two-thirds of the U.S. federal work force was appointed based on merit, that is, qualifications measured by tests. Certain senior civil service positions, including some heads of diplomatic missions and executive agencies are filled by political appointees. Under the
Hatch Act of 1939The Hatch Act of 1939 is a United States federal law whose main provision is to prohibit federal employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the President and the Vice President, from engaging in partisan political activity...
, civil servants are not allowed to engage in political activities while performing their duties.
The U.S. civil service includes the
Competitive serviceThe competitive service is a part of the United States federal government civil service. Applicants for jobs in the competitive civil service must compete with other applicants in open competition under the merit system administered by the Office of Personnel Management.According to U.S...
and the
Excepted serviceMost civilian positions in the federal government of the United States are part of the competitive service, where applicants must compete with other applicants in open competition under the merit system administered by the Office of Personnel Management. However, some agencies are excluded from...
. The majority of civil service appointments in the U.S. are made under the Competitive Service, but certain categories in the
Diplomatic ServiceDiplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
, the
FBIThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, and other National Security positions are made under the
Excepted ServiceMost civilian positions in the federal government of the United States are part of the competitive service, where applicants must compete with other applicants in open competition under the merit system administered by the Office of Personnel Management. However, some agencies are excluded from...
. (U.S. Code Title V)
U.S. state and local government entities often have competitive civil service systems that are modeled on the national system, in varying degrees.
Federal agencies
Employees in the civil services work under one of the
independent agenciesIndependent agencies of the United States federal government are those agencies that exist outside of the federal executive departments...
or one of the 15
executive departmentsThe United States federal executive departments are among the oldest primary units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States—the Departments of State, War, and the Treasury all being established within a few weeks of each other in 1789.Federal executive...
.
In addition to departments, there are a number of staff organizations grouped into the Executive Office of the President. These include the
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
staff, the
National Security CouncilThe White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
, the Office of Management and Budget, the
Council of Economic AdvisersThe Council of Economic Advisers is an agency within the Executive Office of the President that advises the President of the United States on economic policy...
, the
Office of the U.S. Trade RepresentativeThe Office of the United States Trade Representative is the United States government agency responsible for developing and recommending United States trade policy to the president of the United States, conducting trade negotiations at bilateral and multilateral levels, and coordinating trade...
, the
Office of National Drug Control PolicyThe White House Office of National Drug Control Policy , a former cabinet level component of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, was established in 1989 by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988...
and the
Office of Science and Technology PolicyThe Office of Science and Technology Policy is an office in the Executive Office of the President , established by Congress on May 11, 1976, with a broad mandate to advise the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.The director of this office is...
.
There are also
independent agenciesIndependent agencies of the United States federal government are those agencies that exist outside of the federal executive departments...
such as the
United States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
, the
National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
(NASA), the
Central Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA), the
Environmental Protection AgencyThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
(EPA), and the
United States Agency for International DevelopmentThe United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...
(USAID). In addition, there are
government-owned corporationA government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government...
s such as the
Federal Deposit Insurance CorporationThe Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a United States government corporation created by the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933. It provides deposit insurance, which guarantees the safety of deposits in member banks, currently up to $250,000 per depositor per bank. , the FDIC insures deposits at...
(FDIC) and the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.
As of January 2009, the Federal Government, excluding the Postal Service and soldiers, employed about 2.0 million civilian workers. The Federal Government is the nation’s single largest employer. Although most federal agencies are based in the
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
region, only about 16% (or about 288,000) of the federal government workforce is employed in this region.
There are over 1,300 federal government agencies.
Pay systems
The pay system of the United States government civil service has evolved into a complex set of pay systems that include principally the General Schedule (GS) for white-collar employees, Federal Wage System (FWS) for blue-collar employees, Senior Executive System (SES) for Executive-level employees and more than twelve alternate pay systems that are referred to as alternate or experimental pay systems such as the first experimental system China Lake Demonstration Project. The current system began as the classification act of 1923 and was refined into law with the Classification Act of 1949. These acts that provide the foundation of the current system have been amended through executive orders and through published amendments in the Federal Register that sets for approved changes in the regulatory structure of the federal pay system. The common goal among all pay systems is to achieve the goal of paying equitable salaries to all involved workers regardless of system, group or classification. This is referred to as pay equity or (“equal pay for equal work”).
The General Schedule (GS) includes white collar workers at levels 1 through 15, most professional, technical, administrative, and clerical positions in the federal civil service. The Federal Wage System or Wage Grade (WG) schedule includes most federal blue-collar workers. , 71% of federal civilian employees were paid under the GS; the remaining 29% were paid under other systems such as the
Federal Wage SystemThe Federal Wage System in the United States was developed to make the pay of federal blue-collar workers comparable to prevailing private sector rates in each local wage area...
for federal blue-collar civilian employees, the
Senior Executive ServiceThe Senior Executive Service is a paygrade in the civil service of the United States federal government, somewhat analogous to the ranks of general or admiral in the U.S. armed forces...
/Senior Level and the
Executive ScheduleExecutive Schedule refers to the highest-ranked appointed positions in the executive branch of the U.S. government. The President of the United States, an elected official, appoints incumbents to these positions, most of them with the advice and consent of the Senate. They include members of the...
for high-ranking federal employees, and the pay schedules for the
United States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
and the
Foreign ServiceThe United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
. In addition, some federal agencies—such as the
United States Securities and Exchange CommissionThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is a federal agency which holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States...
, the
Federal Reserve SystemThe Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907...
, and the
Federal Deposit Insurance CorporationThe Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a United States government corporation created by the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933. It provides deposit insurance, which guarantees the safety of deposits in member banks, currently up to $250,000 per depositor per bank. , the FDIC insures deposits at...
—have their own unique pay schedules.
All federal employees in the GS system receive a base pay that is adjusted for locality. Locality pay varies, but is at least 10% of base salary in all parts of the United States. The following salary ranges represent the lowest and highest possible amounts a person can earn, without earning over-time pay or receiving a merit-based bonus. Actual salary ranges differ (for instance a GS-9, step 1 in rural
ArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
may start at $46,625 versus $55,015 in
San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
), but all salaries lie within the parameters of the following ranges (effective January, 2009):
19% of federal employees earned salaries of $100,000 or more in 2009. The average federal worker's pay was $71,208 compared with $40,331 in the private sector. In 2010, there were 82,034 workers, 3.9% of the federal workforce, making more than $150,000 annually, compared to 7,240 in 2005.
| Pay grade |
GS-1 |
GS-2 |
GS-3 |
GS-4 |
GS-5 |
GS-6 |
GS-7 |
GS-8 |
GS-9 |
GS-10 |
GS-11 |
GS-12 |
GS-13 |
GS-14 |
GS-15 |
| Lowest step (1) |
$ 17,803 |
$ 20,017 |
$ 21,840 |
$ 24,518 |
$ 27,531 |
$ 30,577 |
$ 33,979 |
$ 37,631 |
$ 41,563 |
$ 45,771 |
$ 50,287 |
$ 60,274 |
$ 71,674 |
$ 84,697 |
$ 99,628 |
| Highest step (10) |
$ 22,269 |
$ 25,191 |
$ 28,392 |
$ 31,871 |
$ 35,657 |
$ 39,748 |
$ 44,176 |
$ 48,917 |
$ 54,028 |
$ 59,505 |
$ 65,371 |
$ 78,355 |
$ 93,175 |
$ 110,104 |
$ 129,517 |
Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2011.
Basic pay rates for
Senior Executive ServiceThe Senior Executive Service is a paygrade in the civil service of the United States federal government, somewhat analogous to the ranks of general or admiral in the U.S. armed forces...
, i.e. those above GS-15, ranged from $140,000 to $190,000, excluding cost of living adjustments.
Employment by Agency
Federal Government executive branch civilian employment,
except U.S. Postal Service, January 2007
(Employment in thousands)
|
United States |
Washington, DC area |
| Total |
1,774 |
284 |
| |
|
|
| Executive departments |
1,593 |
234 |
| DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
, total |
623 |
65 |
| ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
|
223 |
19 |
| NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
|
168 |
24 |
| Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
|
152 |
6 |
| Other |
80 |
16 |
| Veterans AffairsThe United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...
|
239 |
7 |
| Homeland SecurityThe United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
|
149 |
20 |
| TreasuryThe Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
|
109 |
14 |
| JusticeThe United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
|
105 |
23 |
| AgricultureThe United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
|
92 |
11 |
| InteriorThe United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...
|
66 |
7 |
| Health and Human ServicesThe United States Department of Health and Human Services is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America"...
|
60 |
28 |
| TransportationThe United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
|
53 |
9 |
| CommerceThe United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. It was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903...
|
39 |
21 |
| LaborThe United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
|
16 |
6 |
| EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
|
15 |
5 |
| StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
|
14 |
12 |
| Housing and Urban DevelopmentThe United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
|
10 |
3 |
| EducationThe United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
|
4 |
3 |
| |
|
|
| Independent agencies |
179 |
48 |
| Social Security AdministrationThe United States Social Security Administration is an independent agency of the United States federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits...
|
62 |
2 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
18 |
4 |
| Environmental Protection Agency |
18 |
5 |
| Tennessee Valley AuthorityThe Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
|
12 |
0 |
| General Services AdministrationThe General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
|
12 |
4 |
| Small Business AdministrationThe Small Business Administration is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses...
|
6 |
1 |
| Office of Personnel ManagementThe United States Office of Personnel Management is an independent agency of the United States government that manages the civil service of the federal government. The current Director is John Berry.-History:...
|
5 |
2 |
| Other |
45 |
30 |
SOURCE: U.S. Office of Personnel Management
US Civil Service Commission
Public support in the United States for civil service reform strengthened following the assassination of President
James GarfieldJames Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive...
. The
United States Civil Service Commission was created by the
Pendleton Civil Service Reform ActThe Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of United States is a federal law established in 1883 that stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit. The act provided selection of government employees competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation...
, which was passed into law on January 16, 1883. The commission was created to administer the
civil serviceThe term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
of the United States federal government. The law required federal government employees to be selected through competitive exams and basis of merit; it also prevented elected officials and political appointees from firing civil servants, removing civil servants from the influences of political patronage and partisan behavior. However, the law did not apply to state and municipal governments.
Effective January 1, 1978, the commission was renamed the
Office of Personnel ManagementThe United States Office of Personnel Management is an independent agency of the United States government that manages the civil service of the federal government. The current Director is John Berry.-History:...
under the provisions of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1978
(43 F.R. 36037, 92 Stat. 3783) and the
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, , reformed the civil service of the United States federal government.The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 abolished the U.S...
.
The United States Civil service exams have since been abolished for many positions, since statistics show that they do not accurately allow hiring of minorities according to the affirmative action guidelines.
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
This act abolished the United States Civil Service Commission and created the U.S.
Office of Personnel ManagementThe United States Office of Personnel Management is an independent agency of the United States government that manages the civil service of the federal government. The current Director is John Berry.-History:...
(OPM), the
Federal Labor Relations AuthorityThe Federal Labor Relations Authority is an independent agency of the United States government that governs labor relations between the federal government and its employees....
(FLRA) and the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). OPM primarily provides management guidance to the various agencies of the executive branch and issues regulations that control federal human resources. FLRA oversees the rights of federal employees to form collective bargaining units (unions) and to engage in collective bargaining with agencies. MSPB conducts studies of the federal civil service and mainly hears the appeals of federal employees who are disciplined or otherwise separated from their positions. This act was an effort to replace incompetent officials.
Civil servants in literature
Humorous novel of 1970s federal employees in Washington, DC Novel about the wife of a federal judge A State Department employee's son reconstructs a childhood in a fictional Middle Eastern country A novel of life in the Secret Service A novel of a diplomat's son in Cambodia A novel about a public health contractor in San Francisco A novel of the Forest Service (
NYT review)
External links
The source of this article is
wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the
GFDL.
