Memorandum Upon Signing Order Providing for Administration of the Federal Salary Reform Act.
[Released January 7, 1963. Dated January 2, 1963]
The Secretary of State
The Postmaster General
The Administrator of Veterans Affairs
The Chairman, United States Civil Service
Commission:
I have today signed an Executive Order providing for administration of the Federal Salary Reform Act of 1962. As contemplated by the Act, this Order provides for an annual review of the comparability of Federal salary rates with those paid for the same level of work in private enterprise.
This Administration has vigorously espoused the principle of comparability of Federal salary rates with those of private enterprise. In the Federal Salary Reform Act of 1962, the Congress has adopted this principle. Substantial progress has already been made, but continuing efforts will be necessary to fully achieve and maintain this objective.
The payment by the Federal Government of salary rates comparable to those paid for the same levels of work in private enterprise imposes upon the Executive Branch a duty to assure that positions in the Federal service are properly classified in accordance with applicable standards and procedures, and that the incumbents of those positions possess the necessary qualifications. I shall expect each of you, as the officers primarily responsible for the administration of the four major statutory salary systems dealt with in the 1962 Act, to devote personal attention to these points.
Your first reports on the operation of the salary systems in your agencies will form the basis for a report which the Director of the Bureau of the Budget and the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission will submit to me not later than December 31, 1963. Your reports should outline the actions which you have taken to assure that the systems are so administered that the grading of positions and the qualifications of incumbents are in strict accordance with the law and the applicable regulations.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
Note: The President referred to Executive Order 11073, "Providing for Federal Salary Administration," signed on January 2 (28 F.R. 203; 3 CFR, 1963 Supp.).
A White House release of January 7 stated that the order directs all Federal agency heads to make maximum use of the Federal Salary Reform Act of 1962 to maintain and improve the quality and productivity of the Federal work force while ensuring fair treatment of employees in pay matters. The release noted that the act, for the first time in history, gives the President authority to establish policies in the Federal pay area. The four major statutory salary systems to which the Executive order applies are: the Classified Civil Service, the Postal Field Service, the Foreign Service, and the medical-dental-nursing services of the Veterans Administration.
John F. Kennedy, Memorandum Upon Signing Order Providing for Administration of the Federal Salary Reform Act. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/236256