80TH CONGRESS 2d Session

SENATE

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REPORT No. 1589

CREDITING, IN CERTAIN CASES, MILITARY SERVICE AND TRAINING PREPARATORY THERETO PERFORMED BY EMPLOYEES OF THE POSTAL SERVICE

JUNE 10 (legislative day, JUNE 1), 1948.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. LANGER, from the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, submitted the following

REPORT

To accompany S. 2730)

The Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2730) to credit, in certain cases, military service and training preparatory thereto performed by employees of the postal service, having considered the same, report favorably thereon and recommend that the bill, as amended, do pass.

GENERAL STATEMENT

S. 2730 is designed to correct an inequality. During World War II the United States Signal Corps was in dire need of special technicians. In their recruiting campaigns a number of postal employees voluntarily enlisted. Those letter carriers and other postal employees who did enlist in the Signal Corps were given military leave of absence by the Post Office Department. However, upon acquiring military leave, they were then placed as civil employees of the War Department, for the purpose of participating in the Signal Corps training program, and, as a result, through no fault of their own, carried on the rolls as War Department civilian employees, prior to taking up actual military service.

Upon passing the various intelligence tests, these men thereupon were relieved of their status as civilian employees of the War Department and were given absolute military designation. Among these men, who served in all parts of the world, many discharged their military obligations with distinction.

Upon returning from military duty, these postal employees were reinstated immediately in the postal system, in keeping with existing rules and regulations of the Postmaster General, granting these em

ployees full credit for all time served in the military, dating from time of their separation from the postal field service.

Having been placed in the proper salary grades, thus utilizing both the War Department and Signal Corps service as a basis for computation, the Comptroller General took exception to such placement and ruled that credit could not be given for time served as a civil employee of the War Department. The result was that these veterans had been required to make refunds, ranging from $100 to $1,000, through no fault of their own or of the Post Office Department. The committee believes that, though the Comptroller General has acted in full compliance with the provisions of law, there is a necessity for amending the law in order to allow for a decision in keeping with the original intent of the Congress.

The committee desires to see proper recognition granted for all time spent in military service and recommends this bill to bring the proper relief. The committee finds that not more than 100 persons would be affected by the legislation and, therefore, the bill cannot prove to be costly.

The following communication has been received from the General Accounting Office, over the signature of the Comptroller General, providing a clear discussion of the background of a typical case to which S. 2730 would apply:

I have your letter of April 10, 1948, requesting to be advised concerning the action taken by the General Accounting Office in the matter of the salary adjustment of Mr. William J. Nickolson, an employee of the postal service, upon his reemployment after military service, which you state you are informed was presented to this Office by the Post Office Department.

I have to advise that no formal decision in the matter was rendered by this Office. Rather, the adjustment in Mr. Nickolson's rate of compensation resulted from an informal exception taken by the Postal Accounts Division of this Office, based upon the express provisions of section 25 of the Postal Employees Pay Act of 1945 (Public Law 134; 59 Stat. 435, 461), which reads as follows:

"SEC. 25. Allowable service under the provisions of this Act shall be only such continuous active service as has been rendered and shall not include previous periods or terms of employment: Provided, however, That in the case of employees who have been separated or shall hereinafter be separated from the field service of the Post Office Department for military duty, the periods or terms of such service immediately preceding entry into the military service as well as the time engaged in military service shall be construed as allowable service and pro rata credit shall be given for the time engaged in military service for each year of such service." The information furnished this Office discloses that Mr. Nickolson was appointed a regular carrier at $1,800 per annum on June 16, 1941, and, effective July 1, 1942, he was promoted to $2,000 per annum. Effective December 15, 1942, Mr. Nickolson was transferred to the War Department, United States Signal Corps, as a civilian employee. It further appears that Mr Nickolson served in such civilian capacity until August 26, 1943, the date of his entry into the military service. On February 18, 1946, he returned to the postal service, and his salary rate administratively was adjusted so as to give him credit for his military service. The salary so fixed was questioned by this Office in the audit of accounts upon the ground that credit for military service was not authorized under the provisions of section 25, supra, since Mr. Nickolson had not entered the military service from the postal service. Upon the basis of that audit exception, his salary administratively was adjusted to eliminate the military service credit.

Aside from the matter of crediting military service for initial adjustment of salaries upon reemployment, there also is for consideration the fact that automatic promotions from grade to grade in the postal service are required to be based upon 1 year's satisfactory service in the lower grade in the postal service. Unlike the provisions of section 7 (b) (4) of the Classification Act of 1923, as amended by the Federal Employees Pay Act of 1945 (59 Stat. 299), which specifically authorize credit for service under war transfers as well as military service, the above-quoted section 25 of the Postal Employees Pay Act

of 1945 makes no provision for applying war transfer service rendered-either in private industry or in another Government agency-outside the postal service toward grade-to-grade advancement. On the contrary, said section 25 specifically limits credit for military service to those who enter military service from the postal service. As indicated above, Mr. Nickolson did not enter military service while an employee of the postal service, but rather, entered such service while a civilian employee of the War Department. Accordingly, upon the reported facts as set forth above, he was not entitled to credit for military service in fixing his initial salary rate upon reemployment in the postal service. Consequently, it appears that the action taken in adjusting his salary so as to eliminate military service credit was in accordance with the applicable statutory provisions.

Also, you request to be advised as to the applicability to Mr. Nickolson's case of the provisions of Public Law 458. approved March 25, 1948, which reads as follows:

"That if an employee in the field postal service was promoted, after September 15, 1940, and before January 1, 1948, to the position of special clerk or to any other position not then in an automatic grade, and the promotion was unauthorized by law only because the employee was then absent on military furlough, the promotion is hereby ratified.

"SEC. 2. Such an employee is hereby relieved of all liability to refund to the United States any amounts paid to him as a result of the promotion; and in the audit and settlement of the accounts of any postmaster, or of any other designated disbursing officer of the Post Office Department or postal service, the amounts paid as a result of the promotion shall be considered to have been authorized. Any amounts heretofore credited to the employee or refunded by him to the United States on account of any overpayment made as a result of the promotion shall be repaid out of any money available for the payment of salaries of employees in the service in which he is employed."

It will be noted that the statutory provisions quoted above specifically refer to situations where administrative promotions to positions then outside the automatic grades were effected while the employees concerned still were in military service. However, in Mr. Nickolson's case there is for consideration, not the validation of an administrative error in effecting a "paper" promotion from one grade to another while he was in the service as contemplated by the above statutory provision, but, rather, the erroneous administrative action in crediting him with war transfer and military service upon his reemployment after military service. Hence, it does not appear that any benefit under Public Law 458, supra, would accrue to Mr. Nickolson. However, in that connection, your attention is invited to my report of today to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget respecting proposed legislation to authorized credit for war transfer and military service under conditions similar to those appearing in Mr. Nickolson's case. copy of that report is enclosed for your information.

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The Post Office Department presents its own recommendation of the need for the legislation and proposes that an amendment be included. The committee has accepted the amendment in its entirety and has included it in the present bill. The amendment would be the new section 1, as follows:

That section 25 of the Act entitled "An Act to reclassify the salaries of postmasters, officers, and employees of the postal service; to establish uniform procedures for computing compensation; and for other purposes," approved July 6, 1945 (U. S. C., 1946 edition, title 39, sec. 875), is hereby amended by adding to the last sentence "Provided, That in the case of employees who have been separated from the field service of the Post Office Department to transfer under warservice regulations to private industry or another department or independent establishment or agency of the Federal Government, the periods or terms of such service immediately preceding such transfer as well as the time engaged in military service shall be construed as allowable service and pro rata credit shall be given for the time engaged in military service."

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S. Repts., 80 -2, vol. 4- -51

80TH CONGRESS 2d Session

SENATE

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REPORT No. 1590

AMENDING THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT WITH RESPECT TO VENEREAL DISEASE RAPID-TREATMENT CENTERS

JUNE 10 (legislative day, JUNE 1), 1948.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. SMITH, from the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, submitted the following

REPORT

To accompany H. R. 39341

The Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 3934) to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to venereal discase rapid-treatment centers, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon, with amendments, and recommend that the bill, as amended, do pass. The amendments made by the committee are as follows:

On page 2, line 2, after the word "to", strike out the following: establish, operate, and", and insert in lieu thereof "operate and". On page 3, line 4, after the quotation marks, insert the following: The Service shall, as soon as practicable after the enactment of the Venereal Disease Rapid Treatment Center Act, cease to operate or maintain, pursuant to the first sentence of this subsection, facilities for the diagnosis, treatment, support, or clothing of persons afflicted with venereal diseases. In no event shall the Service operate or maintain such facilities pursuant to such sentence after June 30.

1949.

PURPOSES OF THE BILL

The primary purpose of the bill is to make part of the Public Health Service Act, which is the basic law governing the Public Health Service, the authority of the Service to operate, and make grants to the States and localities for the operation of, venereal disease rapidtreatment centers. This authority is now given the Public Health Service by language in its annual appropriations. The bill would also authorize other Federal agencies to transfer to the Service real and personal property loaned by such agencies to the Service for use in the rapid-treatment-center program.