pay grade

[ pey greyd ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the grade of a member of the armed services established according to a scale of increasing amounts of base pay and related to but not identical with official rank:
A soldier in my pay grade had very little money.
a grade on any pay or salary scale:
Advancement to a higher pay grade will depend on your job performance.

First recorded in 1880–85; originally a term in the U.S. armed forces

be above / be beyond one's pay grade, to be above one’s level of ability, skill, knowledge, or authority: It’s beyond this court’s pay grade to alter the doctrine.
To be honest, that subject is way above my pay grade.
It’s beyond this court’s pay grade to alter the doctrine.

My understanding is he is in quarters appropriate to his pay grade along with other personnel in full-duty status.

His answer: “I did not know; the answer was above my pay grade.”

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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