Dwight D. Eisenhower photo

Statement by the President on Proposed Improvements in the Federal Personnel Program.

February 24, 1954

I HAVE been long convinced that a program combining the best practices of progressive private employers with the special demands of public service would greatly benefit our Federal career system and its employees, and would improve the efficiency of its administration.

In keeping with this conviction, I recently designated a subcommittee of the Cabinet to carry on studies with other special groups to determine how best to adjust pay inequities and provide other necessary elements of a well-rounded personnel program. Many of the elements of such a program have since been recommended to me and approved by the Cabinet. As approved by me, these elements are:

I. Reclassification, job evaluation and a new pay scale for the Postal Field Service as recommended by the Postmaster General.

2. Readjustment of inequities in the Classification Act pay scale.

3. A program of contributory Group Life Insurance, on a voluntary basis, for all Federal employees.

4. A program of contributory Medical Care and Hospitalization Insurance open to all Federal employees on a voluntary basis.

5. Unemployment insurance, according to recommendations made in my Budget Message.

6. Improvement of governmental pension plans which will be based on recommendations of the Committee on Retirement Policy for Federal Personnel.

7. Continuing study of the wage board pay system and the extension of that system to certain jobs now under the C.P.C. schedule of the Classification Act.

8. Repeal of the "Whitten Amendment" in order to remove certain restrictions on Federal appointments and promotions established during the Korean emergency.

9. Additional improvements in Federal personnel administration, including:

(a) Longevity pay increases in grades above GS- 10;

(b) Increase in the number of positions in the three highest grades under the Classification Act;

(c) Revision of overtime pay and premium pay provisions;

(d) Development of a stronger incentive awards program; and

(e) Substitution of a "Rule of Five" for the present "Rule of Three" in selecting eligibles from the Civil Service lists.

Recommendations covering much of this program have already been sent to the Congress and are scheduled for early action. The contributory life insurance and medical care and hospitalization insurance programs will be presently submitted to the Congress for later consideration and analysis.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Statement by the President on Proposed Improvements in the Federal Personnel Program. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/233533

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