5 U.S.C. § 5101
Section 5101 · Purpose
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 80 court decisions — leading case United States v. Testan (1976)
Most recently applied in O'Farrell v. Dep't of Def. (February 2018)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
It is the purpose of this chapter to provide a plan for classification of positions whereby—
(1) in determining the rate of basic pay which an employee will receive—
(A) the principle of equal pay for substantially equal work will be followed; and
(B) variations in rates of basic pay paid to different employees will be in proportion to substantial differences in the difficulty, responsibility, and qualification requirements of the work performed and to the contributions of employees to efficiency and economy in the service; and
(2) individual positions will, in accordance with their duties, responsibilities, and qualification requirements, be so grouped and identified by classes and grades, as defined by section 5102 of this title, and the various classes will be so described in published standards, as provided by section 5105 of this title, that the resulting position-classification system can be used in all phases of personnel administration.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
The words “and for rates of basic compensation” are omitted as inapplicable to this chapter since the provisions of former chapter 21 relating to rates of basic compensation are carried into subchapter III of chapter 53. The word “officer” is omitted as included in “employee” is defined in section 5102.
Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface of the report.
References in Other Laws to Chapter 51 and Subchapter III of Chapter 53
References in laws to fix pay in accordance with this chapter and subchapter III of chapter 53 of this title considered to include authority under section 5376 of this title, if applicable, but not to include any authority under section 5304 of this title or section 529 [title III, §302] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out as a note under section 5304 of this title, see section 529 [title I, §101(c)(2)] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out in a References in Other Laws to GS–16, 17, or 18 Pay Rates; Regulations note under section 5376 of this title.
Cross References
Employment of reading assistants for blind employees without regard to the provisions of this chapter, see section 3102 of this title.
General authority for employment, see section 3101 of this title.