The Washington times., 1920-06-13
DELAYS
PENSION LAW
Confusion Over Terms Of Retire
ment BM Which Compeis
Executive Haste.
~ Da- @ EDEx Reed.
ChaAraAa sf the yoiat Csaferesee
n RofirrAeaa.

:; sa RseareHest.
The aAmiaistra1ioa of the new civil
seryioe rstireaent act h In some con
fusion owning to two provisions Of
the iew which require undue haste
anAAx tho ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 9.
which reoeires the executive head OF
each 'Separtneut branch, or inde-
pendent Office Of the Government TO
notify sseh employees a. viii be re-
tired on August n of this year under
the act. and section 7. which al
lows the employe eligible for retire
ment to nle with the Commissioner
of Pensions an application for an an
nuity within thirty days after the
notification
Interest and action. OF course, at
this time center in section g. and ex-
ecutive officers are circulating no
tices Of the provisions OF the act
among their employees generally and
tabylatfng the records of those above
the retirement age In order to give
them Individual notice by the end OF
the thirty days and to ascertain such
as wish TO remain In the service on
certificate In order that certificates
may be prepared within the next pc
riod Of thirty days for those whose
continuance would be advantageous
to the public service.
Reduces PereentsGe.
On the basis of the bill as originally
drawn, with ages of sixty. stxty-two
and sixty-five, the joint conference on
retirely estimated that SO per cent Of
those eligible for retirement would be
retained on certificate; but the ages
in the bill as enacted added two years
TO the railway postal clerks. three
years TO mechanics, city and rural
-
ana fve years to all other employees.
so that the percentage OF those eligi-
I've for retir ement to be retained on
certificate, under the aSes of sixty
two, sixty-hve and seventy years, as
provided In the act, will probably be
mach less than 50 per cent.
II is probable that the departments
will issue certificates only in very
special cases. where IL is specifically
indicated that the retirement of the
empioye will operate to the injury Of
the service.
This retirement act 10 composed Of
Seventeen sections and is as explicit
and exact. As any statute could well
be. but the ninety days allowed be-
fore 1t becomes effective will not be
any too long to ind out where each
,superannuated civil service peg fits
into the shelf on which we shall all
some day be placed.
The act itself states In general
terms the intention of the Congress
toward the civil employees. and the
administration is so logically distrib-
uted among the heads Of departments.
the Civil Service Commission and the
Bureau OF Pensions as to insure just
and equitable administration.
Terms - Retirement.
section 1 allows ninety days for
J. eiarAtion and notification. 1t re-
q tires fifteen years of service for re-
tirement and specifies those who shall
be automatically included under its
provisions. giving the President the
discretion to include other employees
upon the Recommendation Of the Civil
Service Commission.
Although there have been no offi-
cial announcements on the subject 1t
10 thought that those who have reach
ed the retirement ages but who have
served less thah fifteen years, will not
be automatically separated from the
service until the fifteen years are UP,
but there Is nothing in the act to
prevent their discharge as in the case
of any other employees on account OF
lack Of work or funds, or for any OF
the usual causes of discharge.
Section 2 ststes the amount Of an
naity and limits II to $720 maximum
and $50 minimum. defining the term
basic salary. pay or compensation.
the average OF which for the last ten
years OF servcie 10 the basis Of the
annuity.
The average salary on which annui.
ties are computed will exclude all
bonuses. allowances. overtime pay, or
compensation given in addition to the
h.oA NJ nOaition
Section s provides that beginning
the frst day of the third month next
following the passage of the act and
monthly thereafter there shall be de-
Quoted and withheld from the basic
salary. pay, or compensation of each
employe to whom this act applies a
sum equal to IN per centum OF each
employees basic salary pay, or com
pensation. rhsse contributions go
into a .'civil service retirement and
disability fund" and are to be invest
the United States and are to be sup
plemented by this interest and bx~do-
nations. gifts. legacies. bequests, or
otherwise.
Section IL provides for the return
of all contributions. upon application
therefor, to an enploye leaving the
service at 4 per cent compounded on
June 30 of each year. 1t also pro-
viles that upon reinstat ement the
refund shall be paid back again. The
section also provides that in case an
annuiant dies without having re-
ceived An amount equal to the total
deductions with interest the excess
shall be paid to his or her legal rep
resentative, and that the total con-
tribution with interest shall be paid
to the estate of an employe dying be-
fore retirement.
And so we have q retirement law
and very proud are we OF II. We be-
Iieve that IL is the hrst step toward
making our civil service the very
best In the world. and thar Ave years
hence we shan see even more clearly
than now what a great piece OF legis-
lation IL IL.