The Washington herald., 1920-03-13
Sweeping Reformation Urged
In Government Employme1

in salary schedules, dissatisfaction,
inefficiency and waste
The positions held by employees
are divided into LOO classes, those
in each class engaged in substanti-
| ally the lame kind of work and re-
quiring the same qualifications.
The commission points out that it
| would have abolished many of these
| classifications had 1t been author
lied to do so.
Guards Agninst Inequakfies.
To guard against future ipequali-
ties in the system, the commission
recommends that the Civil Service
Commission be authorized to study
all phases of the wage problem and
TO recommend to Congress changes
in wage elassifications. Wages in
government service, the commits
sion urges, should never become
static. but should be changed to
meet fluctuations IN the cost Of hv-
ing. Heads of departments, 1t de-
scribes as the real leaders Of the
Civil Service of the country, and as
serts in many cases they are gross
ly underpaid- 1t was impossible for
the Reelassihcation Commission to
rate their salaries up to what IL
considered an adequate figure. II is
stated.
The Civil Service Commission is
described as a Cinderella among
government establishments" and
recommendations are made that the
powers of the Civil Service Com
mission be greatly enlarged. Sal
| aries of Civil Service Commission
ers. says the report should be in
creased at once to at least $500 a
year, and the commission should be
| charged with the duty of setting up
efficiency standards for all depart
ments-
Would Increase Morale.
As a means of encouraging ambI-
tious employees and promoting the
| morale of the service, examinations
| for promotion at stated intervals
are urged. Congress is asked to lose
no time in removing "impenetrable
/ barriers" which. it Is alleged. have
been set up against promotion from
department TO department.
Thousands OF superannuates,"
says the report, -encumber the pay
rolls. Some are brought to their
duties in wheeled chairs, and one
employe frankly told the comtnis-
sion he had no duties because he
| was blind. To remedy this deplor-
! able condition we cannot too
strongly urge the passage of an ac-
tuarily sound retirement law"
I'VE are confident" concludes the
! report. that il our recommenda-
tions are adopted Congress will not
only have laid the foundation for a
thoroughgoing reformation of the
Civil Service system in the great
central departments at Washington.
1t will also give the government of
the United States a modern employ
ment policy comparable to the best
| that is to be found in the industrial
! world"
Special acknowledgment mt is made
of the work OF DR.. Charles A.
Beard, director of the New York
bureau of municipal research, and
f. o. Griffenhagen, of Arthur
Young and Co., Chicago, for aid
given the commission in research
work.
Sick Leave Diminished.
1t has frequently been charged
that the present thirty days sick
1 leave given government employees is
abused, and for this reason Il has
been cut to ten days in the re-
classification bill. Full compensa-
tion is granted during such . period
of absence. Leave Is made accumu-
lative and retroactive for six years
from the time of the passage of the
bill.
For the comfort and welfare of
employees, especially women. many
recomme ndations are made. The
most important Of these are the es-
ltablishment of rest and relief rooms
in all departments. establishment OF
| a visiting nurse system for check
ing up on sick employees. regular in
vestigation Of working conditions,
and a campaign of health education.
Throughout the recommendations
! the poorer paid employees, such as
teachers, fremen, policemen, and
guards, are recommended for the
largest increases. District teachers
are given special section of the
bill. with the recommendation that
they remain under the jurisdiction
0f the Rnard NJ Eduraftou and l.