A system in which a post or promotion is awarded on the basis of competence rather than other criteria such as political affiliation or length of service.
in contrast to Britain, the United States never imposed the merit system across the entire civil service
Example sentencesExamples
The federal merit system was thoroughly overhauled by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
We're doing this all on a merit system.
This endeavor is linked to the university merit system.
The state merit system law forbids political affiliation from being a factor in hiring or firing rank-and-file state workers.
Other schools already have merit systems in place that reward good work.
There is a complex merit system based on behavior, performance at school, attitude, all sorts of things.
The company claimed it used a 'merit system' to determine the sackings.
In the long run, everyone benefits from a merit system based on equal treatment.
The proportion of U.S. federal civil servants under the merit system peaked at 88 percent in 1929.
In some states, merit systems have been replaced by longevity-based salary schedules.