Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-28
Bill, Up in House, Instructs
Personnel Board to Consult
Department Heads.
CLAUSE BANS DRASTIC
RAISES OR REDUCTIONS
Brookhart Plans to Ask Abolish.
ment of Classification Body
and Transfer Duties.

The redrafted Government salary re-
lief bill, which Chairman Lehlbach Of
the House civil service committee was
authorized by that committee to pre-
pare and introduce. was submitted to
the House today.
1t carries the provision of the first
Lehlbach bill specifically stating that
the Personnel Classification Board
shall have sole Jurisdiction to determine
finally the grade or subdivision thereof,
to which all positions subject to the
compensation schedules of the classi-
hcation act and amendments thereto
shall be allocated. mad it shall have
authority to ascertain currently the
facts as to the duties and responsible
ties of any such position and to review
and change the ALLEGATION thereof when
ever in its opinion the facts warrant"
Hearings Are Provided.
The original Lehlback proposal Is
modified, however, by q clause provid-
ing that the personnel classification
board must consult heads of depart.
ments and grant hearings to the people
affected before such alIocations are
made. The new bill provides ''that such
review and change shall be made only
after consultation with the heads of the
departments concerned, and after Afford
ing all 1ncumbents of the positions
a1ected an opportunity to be heard, of
which hearing permanent record shall
be made and kept. including all testi-
mony taken"
preparing bill to abolish the Personnel
Classification Board and transfer itS
duties to the Civil Service Commission.
The provision would be a part of the
Dill creating board Of appeals with
which Government employees could list
complaints.
The proposal to abolish the classic
cation board has been put forward hv
members OF Congress q number Of times
IN recent years. but such legislation has
never been enacted.
Undecided on Time.
Senator Brookhart has not decided
definitely whether he win introduce his
board Of appeal measure at this session.
put said today he would include In that
Dill q provision to turn over to the
commission the work Of the board. The
board OF appeals, which Senator Brook
hart would establish, would be inde.
pendent Of the commission and all other
existing agencies and would be for the
purpose of passing upon any questions
raised by employees as to individual
cases.
The new Lehlbach bill does not in
clude the original provision demanding
survey of high-pai6 employees, but
implies this by including safety clause
for grade of the professional and
scientific service and grade IL of the
clerical administrative and fiscal service
that II reductions are made they shall
not be lower than the salaries being
received when the WEIGH act went into
effect.
The clause in the new bill provides
that in the case of an incumbent OF
any position which was allocated to
grade 4 of the professional and scien-
tif1c service or grade IL of the clerical
administrative and fiscal service OF the
original schedules of June 30, 1928, and
which shall be allocated by the board
to either OF the two grades similarly
designated in the amended schedules,
reduction IN compensation below the
rate he was receiving on June so, 1928,
shall not be made"
There Is still another provision that
in all cases other than those covered
by this saving clause whenever the
board shall change the ALLEGATION Of
a position the compensation Of the
incumbent OF that position shall be
fixed initially at the rate in the grade
to which the position Is allocated which
Is nearest the rate Of compensation he
Is then receiving.
Fixes Minimum Reduction.
The new Iehlbach bill carries q
clause safeguarding against drastic
raises or reductions and fixed the max
lmum reduction at 5000.
The section providing that field eni-
ployes' salaries adjusted under the
Welch act by the department heads
shall be readjuSted under this act bring
ing the salaries in the field service M
to par with salaries for similar posi-
tions in Washington. The new bill pro-
videS as follows:
THE heads of departments and in
dependent establishments, who were au-
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