It will be seen by a reading of the annotation to the case of Lerner v. Rump Bros., 241 N. Y. 153, 140 N. E. 334, 41 A. L. R. 1122, and Walsh v. River Spinning Co., 41 R. I. 490, 103 A. 1025, 13 A. L. R. 956, that under the Workmen's Compensation Acts of other states heat exhaustion is generally held to be compensable, provided, of course, the other elements of compensability are present. That it is a physical injury or hurt is uniformly held.

More directly in point in the present case is the recent case of Burlington Mills Corporation v. Hagood, 13 S. E. 2d 291, decided by the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, February 24, 1941, where it was held that an "accidental injury" exists within the Workmen's Compensation Act where an employee in the course of his employment receives a sudden shock involving no physical impact but resulting in his disability. In the course of its opinion the court said:

The doctors thus, in effect, stated that traumatic neurosis was traceable to the shock or disturbing effect on the nerves of the patient, and that in turn, the irritation of the nerves caused functional disorders, and, that whether the disability resulted from nervous reaction or from auto-suggestion set in motion by memory of the accident, the result was the same to the injured person.

In Wasmuth-Endicott Co. v. Karst, 1922, 77 Ind. App. 279, 133 N. E. 609, 610, the court defines the word "injury" as follows:

"In common speech the word 'injury,' as applied to a personal injury to a human being, includes whatever lesion or change in any part of the system produces harm or pain or a lessened facility of the natural use of any bodily activity or capability."

[3] The Supreme Court of Michigan in Klein v. Len H. Darling Co., 1922, 217 Mich. 485, 187 N. W. 400, 403, said:

"An accident happened in which the deceased was an actor, and the shock to him was so acute and so depressed his vital forces as to kill him. We must not overlook man's nervous system and mental makeup and their intimate relation to his vital forces.

"This man died because his vital forces could not meet and withstand the acute depression occasioned by what he had done in the course of his employment. The injury to him was no less real and fatal in its consequences than a mortal wound. 'Accidents,' within the comprehension of the Workmen's Compensation Law, include all accidents actionable at law and all former nonactionable accidents, except in case of intentional and willful misconduct on the part of the employe."

[4] Although there is a conflict on the question, the majority of the reported cases take the view that there is an accidental or personal injury within the workmen's compensation acts where an employee, in the course of his employment, receives a sudden shock or fright, involving no physical impact, which results in his disability. 109 A. L. R. (1937) Annotation, page 892.

[9] The purpose of the Act is to provide compensation to a workman for the loss of his opportunity to engage in work, when his disability is occasioned by an injury suffered from an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment.

In the instant case, the disability of Mrs. Hagood was occasioned by an injury which may be fairly traced to a risk which arose out of and in the course of her employment. There was a direct causal relation between the electric flash and the irritated condition of her nervous system.

Traumatic neurosis is a definite ailment recognized by the medical profession. The condition produced by "shell shock" is not unknown to the average layman. We are not equipped to invade the field of psychiatry, and must depend on medical experts to advise us.

As a result of the accident and injury Mrs. Hagood was incapacitated for work. Her incapacity was as effectual as if it had been caused by visible lesion. In the present case it appears that following a protracted period of active combat flying Ensign Tootle was an occupant of an airpla

shot down in action at the battle of Midway on June 4, 1942, and he parachuted into the sea. Increasing manifestations of shock or derangement or exhaustion of his nervous system dated from that event and soon became so pronounced as temporarily to incapacitate him for flying. Resolving what doubt there may be in the matter in consonance with the basic purpose of the Executive regulations to permit the temporary continuance of flying pay where the incapacity to make flights is attributable to the hazards of flying, it is concluded, on the record presented, that the officer's incapacity during the period in question was due to an injury "while an occupant of an aircraft or as a result of jumping from * an aircraft" and, therefore, was "by reason of an aviation accident" within the definition contained in the Executive order.

Accordingly, you are advised that to the extent he otherwise may be entitled to flight pay over the period in question, Ensign Tootle is entitled to be credited with flight pay on the basis that he was incapacitated for flying by reason of an aviation accident occurring on June 4, 1942.

(B-34217)

TRANSPORTATION OF HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS OF CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES INCLUSION OF FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION OF PROPERTY TAX IN AMOUNTS REIMBURSED

Where a civilian employee, upon change of station, is required to pay the transportation expense incident to the transfer of his household goods and personal effects, rather than being permitted to effect shipment on Government bill of lading or purchase order, otherwise proper reimbursement authorized by section 6, Executive Order No. 8588, as amended, of transportation expense "actually and necessarily incurred" may include amounts expended by the employee for the property transportation tax imposed by section 620 of the Internal Revenue Act of 1942.

Comptroller General Warren to the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, May 15, 1943:

I have your letter of April 30, 1943, as follows:

Section 620 of the Revenue Act of 1942, Public Law 753, 77th Congress, approved October 21, 1942, adds to the Internal Revenue Code a new section, No. 3475, effective December 1, 1942, which imposes a tax of three per centum upon amounts paid for the transportation of property within the United States and exempts amounts paid by or to the United States or any agency or instrumentality of the United States for the transportation of property.

Employees of the Veterans Administration upon the occasion of shipment of personal property in connection with transfer between official stations under the provisions of Executive Order No. 8588 as amended by Executive Order No. 9122 have been required to arrange and pay for their own local hauling to and from rail freight stations and in some instances to arrange and pay for cross country hauling by van. Reimbursement claims submitted by employees in such cases are supported by the carrier's paid bill for transportation, with the Federal property tax indicated thereon as a separate item. Information furnished by Mr. D. S. Bliss, Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue in a letter dated March 13,

1943, copy enclosed, is to the effect that no exemption from payment of tax on transportation of property may be obtained by employees who ship property at the ultimate expense of the United States. Your decision is therefore requested as to whether employees properly may be reimbursed from the Salaries and Expenses appropriation for this Administration, within the limitations prescribed in the cited Executive Orders, for amounts expended by them for Federal transportation tax included in charges for transportation of personal property which is authorized to be shipped by the employees upon change of official station at the expense of the United States.

In this connection it may be stated that as suggested in your decision dated November 30, 1942 (B-29349) action is being taken with a view to making authorized shipments of personal property of employees between official stations of this Administration an administrative responsibility through use of purchase order and bill of lading. The anticipated adoption of this procedure will of course eliminate the question of Federal tax on amounts paid for transportation except where, by reason of the particular facts or circumstances involved in individual cases, it might not be feasible for the Administration to assume responsibility for shipment.

The governing regulations issued under the act of October 10, 1940, 54 Stat. 1105, direct that:

Shipment shall be made on Government bill of lading or purchase order whenever possible; otherwise reimbursement shall be made to the employee for transportation expenses actually and necessarily incurred within the limitations prescribed by these regulations. (Section 6 of Executive Order No. 8588 as amended April 6, 1942, by Executive Order No. 9122.)

*

*

Since by the terms of the taxing statute referred to in your submission the tax imposed is required to be paid by the person making the payment subject to the tax-the employee in this instance-it would seem obvious that the tax thus paid is a part of the transportation expenses "actually and necessarily incurred" by the employee.

Accordingly, this office will not question otherwise proper payments representing reimbursement to transferred civilian employees of amounts expended by them for Federal transportation tax in connection with the transportation of their household goods and personal effects, such payments to be made from the appropriation for salaries and expenses of the Veterans' Administration, act of June 27, 1942, 56 Stat. 420, Public Law 630, which is specifically made available for expenses incurred in the "transfer of household goods and effects as provided by the Act of October 10, 1940, and regulations promulgated thereunder."

(B-34459)

COMPENSATION-PART TIME EMPLOYEES

The basic annual salary of a part time employee, as defined in the regulations issued pursuant to the War Overtime Pay Act of 1943, on which is to be computed the 15 percent additional compensation authorized by section 3 (c) of said act, should be computed by dividing the number of hours the part time employee works per week by the number of hours in the administrative workweek currently in effect for full time employees of the same class, and multiplying the quotient by the basic annual salary rate for full time service established by the Classification Act. Rules stated in

540712m-43- -68

22 Comp. Gen. 738, id. 827, with respect to additional compensation under the act of December 22, 1942, for part time employees, need not be regarded as remaining in effect beyond April 30, 1943-the expiration date of that act.

In the case of part time employees employed on a per annum salary rate basis to work a designated number of hours per week with differing lengths of work days during the week, the basic compensation, on which is to be based the 15 percent additional compensation authorized for such employees by section 3 (c) of the War Overtime Pay Act of 1943, for 15-day semimonthly pay periods (including any such pay period during which the employee is in a pay status for only a portion of the period) should be computed by the following formula: Hours actually worked during the pay period divided by the hours that should have been worked, times 15/360, times the part time annual salary rate. 22 Comp. Gen. 889, amplified. Comptroller General Warren to the Secretary of War, May 17, 1943:

I have your letter of May 12, 1943, as follows:

Section 3 (c) of the War Overtime Pay Act of 1943 (Public Law 49-78th Congress), approved May 7, 1943, provides for payment of additional compensation to part-time employees in the following manner;

"(c) Any officer or employee to whom this Act applies and whose hours of duty are less than full time, or whose compensation is based upon other than a time period basis shall be paid, in lieu of overtime compensation or additional compensation under the foregoing provisions of this Act, additional compensation at a rate of 15 per centum of so much of their earned basic compensation as is not in excess of a rate of $2,900 per annum."

In its regulations issued pursuant to Section 9 of the Act (Departmental Circular No. 424, dated May 8, 1943), the Civil Service Commission has defined part-time employees, who will be paid under the above provision, as follows: "Part-time employees are employees who are regularly required to work a specified minimum number of hours per week administratively fixed in advance at less than the administrative work-week for similar employees in the same department or agency. Such employees shall be considered part-time employees if they are required to work a specified minimum number of hours per week notwithstanding the fact that they do not work the same number of hours each

day."

The Commission also defines full-time employees as follows:

"Full-time employees are employees who are regularly required to work, as a minimum, the number of hours in the administrative work-week specified for employees in their respective groups."

In your decision of February 2, 1943 (22 Comp. Gen. 738), it was held that "the earned basic compensation of regular part-time employees and the ten percentum additional compensation was legally fixed and is to be computed in line with prior decisions of this office . on the work-week in effect on the date of approval of Joint Resolution No. 170-December 22, 1942." In view of the enactment of the War Overtime Pay Act of 1943, and the Civil Service Commission's regulations quoted above, your decision is requested as to whether the annual salary of part-time employees as defined above may be determined by the following formula:

X

Hours of Part-time employee basic annual salary as established by
Hours of Full-time employee the Classification Act of 1923, as

amended.

In your decision to the Secretary of State, dated March 12, 1943, (B-32961), you adopted the rule, "to pay them for actual hours worked on a per annum basis for the period employed [semi-monthly pay periods or a fraction thereof] proportionately to the hours they should have worked [during the same periods]". This general rule is recognized as equitable to both the employee and the government and the Department wishes to continue its application under the War Overtime Pay Act of 1943. In view of the fact the Department has parttime employees who do not work the same number of hours each day but do work a standard number of hours each week, as is permitted under the Civil

Service Commission's definition of part-time employees quoted above, your approval is requested of the use of the following formula for computing the pay of such employees for each pay period:

Operation of the formula suggested above may be illustrated by the following example. A part-time employee in a CAF-2 position having a weekly tour of duty of 36 hours (whereas full-time employees of the same class work 48 hours) distributed over eight hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and four hours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, works all assigned hours during the pay period May 1 to 15. Since this tour of duty requires a total of 76 hours service during the pay period, the employee's salary will be computed as follows:

$45+15% of $45=$51.75, total salary May 1 to 15.

If the same employee were in non-pay status from Saturday, May 1, through Tuesday, May 4, for any cause, the computation would be as follows:

$33.15+15% of $33.15-$38.12, total salary May 1 to 15.

The above formula would be applied in all cases and all periods of non-pay status within the pay period would be accounted for on the same basis. This would apply whether the non-pay status was due to absence from duty on a work day, appointment after the beginning of the pay period, or separation during a pay period.

The formula presented above follows the rule previously adopted, that is, payment for actual hours worked on a per annum basis proportionately to the hours that should have been worked. Further, close analysis of the formula will reveal that it contains all of the elements necessary to pay part-time employees on an annual basis with proportionate credit for Sundays and holidays falling within the pay period. The first fraction of the formula represents the desired proportion between the hours worked and those that should have been worked, and the second assures that compensation for each day in the pay period (15) will be computed in proportion to the total days for which compensation is authorized on an annual basis (360) as required by the Act of June 30, 1906 (5 U. S. C. 84).

Your early consideration of the questions presented herein will be appreciated in order that certifying officers may release payrolls for the first period under the new legislation with the least possible delay.

The rule stated in the decision of February 2, 1943, 22 Comp. Gen. 738, to which you refer, and, also, in decision of February 24, 1943, 22 Comp. Gen. 827, for computing the earned basic compensation and the percentage increase of part time employees under joint resolution of December 22, 1942, 56 Stat. 1068, authorizing increases in compensation for Federal officers and employees over the period from December 1, 1942, through April 30, 1943, was as follows (quoting from the syllabus of the decision of February 24, 1943):

The "basic compensation" of part time employees, on which is to be computed the 10 percent additional compensation authorized for such employees by the act of December 22, 1942, is to be regarded as the compensation legally fixed for the position on December 22, 1942, computed in the proportion that the number of hours part time employees work per week bears to the number of hours in the workweek in effect on that date for full time employees, notwithstanding a subsa quent increase in the hours of work for full time employees and irrespecti