Our study was not designed to permit us to approximate the number of positions that appeared to be overgraded, undergraded, or aptly graded for the portion of the federal workforce to which the results of our study are generalizable; identify the causes of any overgrading or undergrading resulting from either (1) our use of the primary rather than the occupation-specific classification standards, (2) the agencies’ application of classification standards to individual positions, or (3) management decisions regarding the work incumbents were actually assigned versus their job descriptions; determine whether any difference on the basis of gender or minority status was inherent in the design of FES, as a product either of the factors that constitute FES or the allocation of weight or the point range assigned to each factor; or calculate what pay adjustments, if any, should be made. This study should not be referred to as a “pay equity” study because we examined only the relationship between job content and GS grades assigned through the use of FES and whether that relationship varied with the proportion of women or minorities in occupations. Furthermore, private sector wages may have resulted in overgrading positions in computer-related occupations. Explanations are somewhat less evident regarding occupations with high female representation, which appear more likely to be undergraded. OPM has also established a new oversight office, which, among other things, is planning various governmentwide policy studies. The odds ratios shown in table II.5 indicate pronounced differences in overgrading and undergrading between occupations with high minority representation and those with medium representation but only slight differences between those occupations with medium representation and those with low representation. D = Difference between actual GS grade and questionnaire grade (overgraded, aptly, or undergraded). F = Female representation (high, medium, or low). Also, the likelihood of a position being overgraded, rather than aptly graded increased as the incumbents’ GS grades increased. Independent of that, occupations with high minority representation were 2.18 times more likely to be overgraded than occupations with low or medium minority representation. Minorities, Gender, and Work. Development of a Framework for a Factor-ranking Benchmark System for Job Evaluation. Women and the Workplace. 7-97. U.S. Office of Personnel Management. 8-10. 4-9. The Factor Evaluation System of Position Classification Introduction. 6-13.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the relationship between job content and General Schedule (GS) grades assigned using the Factor Evaluation System (FES), focusing on whether the relationship varied on the basis of the proportion of women and minorities in various occupations.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) the difference between actual GS grades and the grades based on job content under FES was directly related to female and minority representation in nonsupervisory positions reviewed; (2) the likelihood of a position being overgraded increased as the incumbents' GS grades increased, but there was no correlation between undergrading and GS grades; (3) occupations with high female representation were more likely to be undergraded than those occupations with medium or low female representation; (4) occupations with high minority representation were more likely to be overgraded than those occupations with medium or low minority representation; (5) classification experts believed that FES did not place sufficient value on the physical demands and working conditions of certain specialist occupations with high minority representation, which caused them to be overgraded on a strict FES basis; (6) private sector wage levels may have resulted in overgraded positions in computer-related occupations; (7) the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) needs to monitor its development of a new federal job classification system to ensure that disparities are identified and addressed; and (8) OPM has established a new oversight office which will conduct a governmentwide classification study.