Page images
PDF
EPUB

(Witness: Burch.)

The CHAIRMAN. I thought Mr. Roberts was the acting appointment clerk.

Mr. BURCH. Yes; but he has eight or ten clerks in his office.

The CHAIRMAN. In what way are the duties discharged by Mr. Pennybacker different from those discharged by Mr. Roberts?

Mr. BURCH. When the appointment clerk is absent, of course, he would take Mr. Roberts's place.

The CHAIRMAN. But that can not be a great length of time, because it is the appointment clerk's business to be there all the time. Mr. BURCH. Of course they are not there always.

The CHAIRMAN. He is not away days at a time, is he?

Mr. BURCH. He has been away three or four weeks broken down in health, just recently.

The CHAIRMAN. That, of course, is an exception, but ordinarily, if he is well, he is there substantially all the time.

Mr. BURCH. Yes; most of the time; certainly.

The CHAIRMAN. Is he not there all the time?

Mr. BURCH. He has thirty days' leave.

The CHAIRMAN. Oh, yes, they all have thirty days' leave.

Mr. BURCH. There are some nine or ten clerks in the office, and some of the clerks are more responsible than others.

The CHAIRMAN. What makes them more responsible? That is what I wanted to know, providing you can put it in concrete form.

Mr. BURCH. I don't know that I could explain it so you could understand it fully. The appointment clerk looks after the clerks and directs certain things to be done. Certain clerks make out appointments and keep track of them and see that they are made properly and recorded and kept in proper shape.

The CHAIRMAN. How many clerks does the appointment clerk have in his office?

Mr. BURCH. I think nine or ten.

The CHAIRMAN. Is there business enough in the office to keep nine or ten men continuously occupied?

Mr. BURCH. Yes, certainly. That is as busy an office as you will find anywhere.

The CHAIRMAN. How about the clerks of class 2; what do they do?

Mr. BURCH. Mr. Clark-he aids the property clerk, receives express, ships and sends out express and freight, and keeps track of it. The CHAIRMAN. What is the property clerk's name?

Mr. BURCH. C. B. Lower.

The CHAIRMAN. C. B. Lower, chief of the supply division. In other words, you call him property clerk, or chief of the supply division?

Mr. BURCH. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, I will ask what Miss Moore does, for instance. What I want to get at is the distinction between the duties that these men discharge for the purpose of getting an idea of the basis upon which there is a difference in compensation.

Mr. BURCH. She is our file clerk. After a clerk has been in the Department for several years and becomes proficient in his work and duties he is eligible for transfer. Each clerk has different duties to

23848-07-7

(Witness: Burch.)

perform, and those who are getting higher salaries and are supposed to do the work requiring greater proficiency and which will be of more value to the office

The CHAIRMAN. Do we understand from that that when a clerk has been there a number of years and becomes proficient that he succeeds in doing more work, or is qualified to do a higher grade of work, and is then assigned to that work?

Mr. BURCH. Both. He is qualified to do a higher grade of work, which is generally assigned to him, and if there are vacancies in salary they are promoted to higher positions.

The CHAIRMAN. As you understand it, a promotion or an increase in salary indicates a difference in the kind of work done, but not exactly so much the capacity to do that particular work, or is it that? Mr. BURCH. When they have been in the service a long time they frequently receive promotion and probably do not change the character of work done, but frequently the work is also changed.

The CHAIRMAN. Is that what you call promotion, or is it simply an increase in salary? They call them classes, because the classes are different mainly upon the basis that they have one salary attached to one class and one to another; but while a man is doing a certain amount of work and by long experience he can turn off more of that same kind of work, and therefore becomes very proficient in that particular class of work, then you promote him to a higher class, which gives him higher pay?

Mr. BURCH. Yes; because of efficiency-that is, long-service men are more proficient.

The CHAIRMAN. If the efficient men turn off more work they get better results, do they not?

Mr. FLOOD. Isn't that the case in all the Departments of the Government?

Mr. BURCH. Yes; long service entitles them to promotion when there is a vacancy for promotion. They are not made unless there is

a vacancy.

The CHAIRMAN. What kind of work do the clerks of class 1 do? Mr. BURCH. Similar work to the others, but probably in a lower degree.

The CHAIRMAN. That is to say, less efficient; they are not capable of accomplishing so much.

Mr. BURCH. It might not be less efficient. If they had opportunity for promotion they might fill a position in a higher grade if there was an opening for them.

The CHAIRMAN. Is the service so arranged that men receiving $1,000 succeed in accomplishing as much as those receiving $1,600? Mr. BURCH. It so happens in some instances.

The CHAIRMAN. Perhaps it might be put the other way, the men getting $1,600 do not do so much as those receiving $1,000.

Mr. BURCH. It frequently happens that a man who has only been on the roll a short time may be just as efficient to fill a vacancy as a man who receives $1,400.

The CHAIRMAN. Are these men promoted on the basis of the records that they have made?

Mr. BURCH. They are.

The CHAIRMAN. What sort of records do you keep?

(Witnesses: Burch, Zappone.)

Mr. BURCH. We keep efficiency records.

The CHAIRMAN. Explain in a general way just what an efficiency record is.

Mr. BURCH. An efficiency record is kept by the chiefs of divisions mostly, and they report to the chief of the bureau, and then they make up the records from those reports.

The CHAIRMAN. Take the case of one clerk whom you happen to know about and give us an illustration of the efficiency record in connection with the discharge of his duties, so that we can take that as a sample case and get an idea of the basis upon which these promotions are made.

Mr. BURCH. Well, I think Mr. Zappone has a blank with him and had better answer the question.

Mr. ZAPPONE. I have no blank with me, but remember its contents. The first item is the quality of the work performed by an employee, rated on a scale of 100 per cent.

The CHAIRMAN. What are the elements?

Mr. ZAPPONE. I have given the first. The next is the quantity of work performed by the employee. The next is the attendance, the next is his deportment, then the number of days he has been absent sick, and the number of days that he has been absent on annual leave.

Then there is a separate paragraph asking whether that employee is capable of doing work of a higher intellectual quality or character than that to which assigned. Then in the next and final paragraph the chief of bureau or division is asked to make recommendations in a general way as to his ability and his value to the Department, and as to whether or not he is worthy of promotion, together with any other remarks the chief of the bureau or division may desire to make. These efficiency reports are filed in the office of the appointment clerk, and the board of promotion review-created some years ago by the Secretary, and composed of the chief clerk of the Department, the appointment clerk, and the chief of the bureau or independent division in which the vacancy occurs-consults them and makes its recommendation to the Secretary on the ratings therein given and on the quality and quantity of the work turned out by the employee finally selected. When a man is first appointed to a position in the Department it is nearly always to a low grade and it is some time before he becomes experienced in his work. In the work of the Department he naturally, as time elapses, becomes more proficient and therefore more eligible for promotion, so when a vacancy occurs above him he is logically one of the persons eligible for consideration and selection. We seldom ask for a certification from the Civil Service Commission to fill any vacancy except one at the bottom of the list. This puts the new men in the low-grade positions at the bottom of the ladder until vacancies occur, and results in a progressing salary for the employee as he becomes experienced in the work, more efficient, and therefore more valuable to the Department.

The CHAIRMAN. How often are these records made up?

Mr. ZAPPONE. Every six months.

The CHAIRMAN. Do they keep daily tab on the men?

Mr. ZAPPONE. Yes, sir; each chief of bureau or independent division is supposed to know thoroughly the work of the employees un

(Witnesses: Zappone, Moore.)

der him, and a daily record is kept of their sick and annual leaves, and of their efficiency by general observation.

The CHAIRMAN. The men who have charge of these various employees keep right along, every day, a record of their work on these lines that you have suggested?

Mr. ZAPPONE. A daily mental record. They don't keep it in writing.

The CHAIRMAN. When do they reduce the record to writing?
Mr. ZAPPONE. Every six months.

The CHAIRMAN. So that a man does not really get the mathematical result of the work he does, but at the end of six months the heads of the bureaus who have charge over them simply sit down, and on the basis of their recollection, extending over that period of time, make these records relative to the efficiency of the men?

Mr. ZAPPONE. Yes, sir; both as to quality and quantity of work done and as to general ability.

The CHAIRMAN. That does not really result in an absolute record. How can a man carry in his head the efficiency of half a dozen or fifteen or twenty clerks?

Mr. ZAPPONE. I would rather you would put that question to Professor Moore, as he has come in personal contact with that work more than I have.

The CHAIRMAN. We will do that when we get to the professor. That is the way it is done, however?

Mr. ZAPPONE. Yes, sir. You can see how difficult it would be to keep a daily record of the efficiency of each person. Years ago we did have a daily work report'in which a man stated over his signature the amount of work performed by him each day and the character of it. But this gave rise to much criticism, not only from the employees, but from the public generally, so it was dispensed with.

Mr. FLOOD. Do not these chiefs make a memorandum oftener than once in six months?

Mr. ZAPPONE. Possibly they do, but I think as a general rule it is a mental note made by the chief of division or his chief clerk in examining the work of each employee, in comparing it with the quantity and quality of the work turned out by other employees, and in distributing new work.

Mr. SAMUEL. Would it operate against a man if he takes his sick leave?

Mr. ZAPPONE. That is taken into consideration, and his marking is correspondingly reduced.

Mr. FLOOD. They do not reduce him for taking a leave which the Government allows him, do they?

Mr. ZAPPONE. His rating is only affected by sick leave.
Mr. FLOOD. In taking thirty days' leave?

Mr. ZAPPONE. If he takes a sick leave in addition to annual leave it reduces his attendance marking of 100 to possibly 98 or 95. His annual leave does not count against him.

Mr. SAMUEL. If a man does not take an annual leave he does not get credit for it, does he?

Professor MOORE. No; his rating is not increased.

The CHAIRMAN. Are these records of efficiency open to inspection of the men themselves?

(Witnesses: Zappone, Burch.)

Mr. ZAPPONE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Explain to us, as briefly as you can, what these clerks of class 1 do-the nature of their duties, the kind of work they perform.

Mr. BURCH. As I said before, many do the same kind of work as those receiving higher salaries and are competent to do it if there is a place for them.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, please look at the list and pick out the name of some man whom you happen to personally know.

Mr. BURCH. I know all of them.

The CHAIRMAN. I will take one at random. Tell me what Thomas J. Ray does, the kind of work he performs at the Department, and what sort of service he renders, so that we can get an idea of what he does for the Government for that sum of money.

Mr. BURCH. He handles the mail of the Department, and has been there for about forty years. I think he is the oldest man in the Department now, the oldest having died a short time ago. He brings the mail at half past 8 in the morning, and he is constantly going between the Department and the post-office after the regular mail and the registered matter. He is on duty Sundays and holidays; never takes any leave of absence. I do not think he has been absent from the Department over fifteen days in thirty years.

The CHAIRMAN. Does he do all of that kind of work for the office? Mr. BURCH. Altogether; handles the mail.

The CHAIRMAN. He is able to do everything of that kind that the Department needs?

Mr. BURCH. No.

The CHAIRMAN. Does he have helpers?

Mr. BURCH. He handles all the personal mail, the letter mail, but we have mail wagons that carry 2 tons at a time, and we have to have two men who go with that besides Mr. Ray.

The CHAIRMAN. That is printed matter?

Mr. BURCH. Yes, sir; we send out tons of it.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Ray handles the letter and personal mail?

Mr. BURCH. Yes, sir; and he has been for some thirty-odd years. The CHAIRMAN. Has he had any increase in his salary?

Mr. BURCH. Not since I have been there.

The CHAIRMAN. I suppose that happens to be a peculiar place where efficiency does not increase very much with age, because there is just so much mail to handle anyway?

Mr. BURCH. I will say that he could not be more efficient than he is. The CHAIRMAN. That is, he could not do any more, and you could not tolerate him if he did less?

What about these clerks that receive $1,000 and under? They are not in a numbered class. Do they come under the general classification that you gave?

Mr. BURCH. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Let me pick one out at random. Do you know them all personally?

Mr. BURCH. I think so.

The CHAIRMAN. What sort of work, for instance, does Mr. Hines do?

Mr. BURCH. He is our postmaster and distributes the mail.

« PreviousContinue »