Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-01
NEW POLICY DENIES
FEDERAL PAY RAISES
President Announces Other
Departments Will Follow
Wilbur Plan.
Continued From First Page.)

uation. Briefly, those developments
were:
! At the opening of the session the
budget message, outlining requests Tor
appropriations for the fiscal year begin
ming this July, recommended that Con-
gress begin three-year program OF in
creasing the, salaries of Federal EN-
! ployes who are receiving below the
average OF their respective grades under
the Redistribution law. This would
have required q total of $14, 44O. 900 to
be done completely, or about $4,000 900
for the next IL months if spread over
! a three-year period.
The House Appropriations Committee
did not write these increases into the
various departmental appropriation bills.
On the contrary, there was brought for.
ward early in the session the So-called
Wood amendment, which said there
should be no increases within grades
during the coming years This would
nave prohibited the departments from
following the customary rule OF using
money left by deaths and designations
to grant step-up promotions to lower
paid workers In. the same grade.
Senate Opposite to House.
The Senate, championing the cause
OF the lower paid employees, took q d.
rectly opposite position from that OF
the House 1t struck out the Wood
amendment, which was a ban on any
increases within grades, and added to
each bill the sums that had been
recommended by the budget to begin
a systematic increasing Of the under
average cases.
After long battle in. conference, the
Senate finally agreed 10 postpone the
beginning of the three-year program OF
increases in under average salaries, but
both the Senate and House finally eli
minated the Wood amendment. The
killing of this amendment left depart
ment heads free to make increases with
in grades to whatever extent funds
might be available through deaths,
designations and separations from the
service. The announcement today, how
ever, indicates the policy will be TO
avoid using these lapsed balances to
move up other employees.
Statements In Debate.
In the debates at the last session Of
Congress. it was declared in the Senate
that even though the Senate increases
had been left out for the time being,
the removal of the restrictive Wood
amendment would leave the Depart
lapsed balances in the course Of the
year that would be applied to increasing
| the pay of workers whose salaries were
below the average of their grades.
Definite estimates had not been made
today as to how many would be affected
throughout the service or the extent OF
the saving in Government expenditures
! that probably will result from the policy
just announced.
lfnf yNn NJ NJ
ment Official that there are two kinds
OF promotions that oe1lr under the
normal procedure wl.gn an employe
dies or leaves the SERVE. namely. the
moving of one emplo. G from lower
grade to the grade n which the va
csncy occurred and the advancement
of several otherA to higher step with
in the same grade.
As an illustration, it was pointed out,
If an employe in Grade OF the cler-
ical service dies or leaves, an employc
is brought up from the next lowest
grade ard placed at one of the lower
| salary steps OF Grade 3, while others
who were already in Grade 9 1T the
| lower salary steps have a chance 10
move up step in that grade.
Possible Course Of Action.
One possible course of action when
vacancies occur would De TO transfer
the one employe from Grade 8 to the
bottom of Grade 9 without making the
1 other step-ups within the grade In
which the vacancy occurred.
| The Wood amendment which Con-
gress refused to adopt, sought only to
prohibit increases from one salary step
| TO another within a grade.
In recommending that Congress begin
systematic adjustment OF underaVer-
age salaries, the budget Of last Deem
| Der pointed out that during the eight
years the classification act has been in
operation there has developed a wide
| difference among the several depart
mertS and establishments as to the re-
lationShip which the average of existing
] salaries bears to the average of the
compensation rates provided by law for
| the various grades.
| Friends of the Government employees
4 in the Senate, in seeking to have APP
| propriated for the coming year the $4,-
| Oo0,O 900 needed to begin a three-year
program Of adjusting these underaver-
age cases, argued that these would not
/ be new salary INCREASES. but the proyid-
ing OF sufficient funds TO carry out
gradually the intent Of the original
classification law. The Senate, in the
desire to complete the appropriation bills
az the session drew to close, agreed to
leave out these additional funds, but
with the Wood amendment also elm
mated to make possible the use Of
iapsed balances for salary adjustments.
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