RATE OF WAGES FOR LABORERS AND MECHANICS

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been or is being paid a rate of wages less than the rate of wages required by the contract to be paid as aforesaid, the Government may, by written notice to the contractor, terminate his right to proceed with the work or such part of the work as to which there has been a failure to pay said required wages and to prosecute the work to completion by contract or otherwise, and the contractor and his sureties shall be liable to the Government for any excess costs occasioned the Government thereby. (49 Stat. 1012.)

"SEC. 3 (a) [Comptroller General authorized to furnish list of violators; no contract to be awarded for three years to contractors on list.]-The Comptroller General of the United States is hereby authorized and directed to pay directly to laborers and mechanics. from any accrued payments withheld under the terms of the contract any wages found to be due laborers and mechanics pursuant to this Act; and the Comptroller General of the United States is further authorized and is directed to distribute a list to all departments of the Government giving the names of persons or firms whom he has found to have disregarded their obligations to employees and subcontractors. No contract shall be awarded to the persons or firms appearing on this list or to any firm, corporation, partnership, or association in which such persons or firms have an interest until three years have elapsed from the date of publication of the list containing the names of such persons or firms. (49 Stat. 1012.)

"(b) [If withheld payment insufficient, laborers and mechanics have right of action against contractor.]-If the accrued payments withheld under the terms of the contract, as aforesaid, are insufficient to reimburse all the laborers and mechanics with respect to whom there has been a failure to pay the wages required pursuant to this Act, such laborers and mechanics shall have the right of action and/or of intervention against the contractor and his sureties conferred by law upon persons furnishing labor or materials, and in such proceedings it shall be no defense that such laborers and mechanics accepted or agreed to accept less than the required rate of wages or voluntarily made refunds.

"SEC. 4. This Act shall not be construed to supersede or impair any authority otherwise granted by Federal law to provide for the establishment of specific wage rates.

"SEC. 5. This Act shall take effect thirty days after its passage, but shall not affect any contract then existing or any contract that may thereafter be entered into pursuant to invitations for bids that are outstanding at the time of the passage of this Act.

"SEC. 6. In the event of a national emergency the President is authorized to suspend the provisions of this Act.

"SEC. 7. The funds appropriated and made available by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 (Public Resolution Numbered 11, Seventy-fourth Congress), are hereby made available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1936, to the Department of Labor for expenses of the administration of this Act."

NOTE

Comptroller General regulations, A-34106, dated February 28, 1936, together with blank form No. 1093 approved by the Comptroller General, "Schedule of Deductions from Payments to Contractor." (Act of August 30, 1935.)

SICK LEAVE REGULATIONS FOR GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

An act to standardize sick leave and extend it to all civilian employees. (Act of Mar. 14, 1936, 49 Stat. 1162.)

[SEC. 1. Sick leave.]-That after January 1, 1936, except as provided in section 4 hereof, all civilian officers and employees of the United States wherever stationed and of the government of the District of Columbia, other than teachers and librarians of the public schools of the District of Columbia and officers and members but not the civilian personnel of the police and fire departments of the District of Columbia and other than officers and employees of the Panama Canal and Panama Railroad on the Isthmus of Panama. shall be entitled to sick leave with pay regardless of their tenure, as described herein.

SEC. 2. On and after January 1, 1936, cumulative sick leave with pay, at the rate of one and one-quarter days per month, shall be granted to all civilian officers and employees, the total accumulation not to exceed ninety days. Temporary employees, except temporary employees engaged on construction work at hourly rates, shall be entitled to one and one-quarter days sick leave for each month of service: Provided, That all such employees shall furnish certificates satisfactory to the head of the appropriate department or independent establishment.

SEC. 3. Administrative officers may advance thirty days sick leave with pay beyond accrued sick leave in cases of serious disability or ailments and when required by the exigencies of the situation.

SEC. 4. Nothing in this Act shall affect the Postmaster General and officers and employees in or under the Post Office Department except those serving in the departmental service and in the Mail Equipment Shops of such Department.

SEC. 5. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the continuance of any existing leave differential now obtaining for the benefit of employees of the Federal Government stationed outside the continental limits of the United States.

SEC. 6. The employees of any corporation created under authority of an Act of Congress which is either wholly controlled or wholly owned by the United States Government, whether or not the employees thereof are paid from funds appropriated by Congress, shall be included within the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 7. The leave of absence herein provided for shall be administered under such regulations as the President may prescribe, so as to obtain, so far as practicable, uniformity in the application of this Act.

NOTE

Regulations under section 7 of this act were issued by the President July 9, 1936, and are printed in the Federal Register of July 11, 1936.

VACATIONS FOR GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

An act to provide for vacations to Government employees, and for other purposes. (Act of Mar. 14, 1936, 49 Stat. 1161)

[SEC. 1. Annual leave regulations.]-That with the exception of teachers and librarians of the public schools of the District of Columbia and officers and employees of the Panama Canal and Panama Railroad on the Isthmus of Panama, and except as provided in section 4 hereof, all civilian officers and employees of the United States wherever stationed and of the government of the District of Columbia, regardless of their tenure, in addition to any accrued leave, shall be entitled to twenty-six days' annual leave with pay each calendar year, exclusive of Sundays and holidays: Provided, That the part unused in any year shall be accumulated for succeeding years until it totals not exceeding sixty days. This Act shall not affect any sick leave to which the employees are now or may hereafter be entitled. Temporary employees, except temporary employees engaged on construction work at hourly rates, shall be entitled to two and one-half days leave for each month of service. The annual leave herein authorized shall be granted at such times as the heads of the various departments and independent establishments may prescribe. This Act becomes effective January 1, 1936.

SEC. 2. Each head of a department or independent establishment shall issue general public regulations, not inconsistent with law, setting forth the hours of duty per day and per week for each group of employees. Before issuing such regulations, which shall be issued within three months from the date of approval of this Act, the heads of departments and independent establishments shall meet and consult among themselves and make such regulations as nearly uniform as possible so that all employees, temporary or permanent, in all departments and independent establishments shall receive like treatment as nearly as may be practicable: Provided, That heads of departments and independent establishments may appoint a subcommittee to draft such regulations.

SEC. 3. Each head of a department or independent establishment shall keep a record of all work performed, in excess of the work required by departmental regulations issued in conformance with section 2 hereof, for the period commencing July 1, 1936 and ending December 31, 1936, and shall report same to the Civil Service Commission at the end of each month. The Civil Service Commission shall make a report of such record to the Congress on or before January 31, 1937.

SEC. 4. Nothing in this Act shall affect the Postmaster General and officers and employees in or under the Post Office Department: Provided, That officers and employees in the departmental service and

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in the Mail Equipment Shops of the Post Office Department shall be included within the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 5. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the continuance of any existing leave differential now obtaining for the benefit of employees of the Federal Government stationed outside the continental limits of the United States.

SEC. 6. The employees of any corporation created under authority of an Act of Congress which is either wholly controlled or wholly owned by the United States Government, whether or not the employees thereof are paid from funds appropriated by Congress, shall be included within the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 7. The leave of absence herein provided for shall be administered under such regulations as the President may prescribe, so as to obtain, so far as practicable, uniformity in the application of

this Act.

NOTE

Regulations by the President under section 7 of this act were issued July 9, 1936, and printed in Federal Register of July 11, 1936.

RELIEF TO WATER USERS

An act to create a commission and to extend further relief to water users on United States reclamation projects. (Act of Apr. 14, 1936, 49 Stat. 1206)

[SEC. 1. Investigating committee of three members authorized-Report to be made to the 75th Cong.]-That there is hereby created a commission to be composed of three members, all of whom shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, two from the personnel of the Department of the Interior, and one who shall be a landowner and water user under a United States reclamation project. The commission is authorized and directed to investigate the financial and economic condition of the various United States reclamation projects, with particular reference to the ability of each such project. to make payments of water-right charges without undue burden on the water users, district, association, or other reclamation organization liable for such charges. Such investigation shall include an examination and consideration of any statement filed with the commission, or the Department of the Interior, by any such district, association, or other reclamation organization, or the water users thereof, and, where requested by any such district, association, or other reclamation organization, said commission shall proceed to such project and hold hearings, the proceedings of which shall be reduced to writing and filed with its report. Said commission, after having made careful investigation and study of the financial and economic condition of the various United States reclamation projects and their probable present and future ability to meet such waterright charges, shall report to the Congress, at the beginning of the Seventy-fifth Congress, with its recommendations as to the best, most feasible, and practicable comprehensive permanent plan for such water-right payments, with due consideration for the development and carrying on of the reclamation program of the United States, and having particularly in mind the probable ability of such water users, districts, associations, and other reclamation organizations to meet such water-right charges regularly and faithfully from year to year, during periods of prosperity and good prices for agricultural products as well as during periods of decline in agricultural income and unsatisfactory conditions of agriculture.

SEC. 2. [Authorization for appropriation of $5,000 for expense of Commission.]-There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $5,000, which shall be available for expenditure, as the Secretary of the Interior may direct, for expense and all necessary disbursements, including salaries, in carrying out the provisions of this Act. The commission is authorized to appoint and fix the compensation of such employees as may be necessary for carrying out its functions