Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-19
TREASURY TO ABIDE
|. BY TEACHER RULE
ON HALF HOLIDAY
Four Hours Off Annual Leave,
Instead of Full Day, May
Be D. C. Plan Also.
DISTRICT SITUATION
HARDER TO ADJUST
No Regulations for Charging
Hourly Leave-Work to
l PM. Saturday.

The Treasury Department today
planned to adjust its regulations with
the half-holiday ruling Of Solicitor
General Thatcher, but the District of
Columbia government found itself in a
peculiar situation, due to the fact that
it has no regulations for charging
hourly leave.
Solicitor General Thatcher decided
yesterday that four hours off duty on
Saturday morning should be charged
only as four hours off annual leave.
Both the Treasury Department and the
District had been charging these four
hours as a full days leave. other
departments had been charging only
four hours. The District government
probably will charge half day now.
No Change in Sick Leave.
There was no change in sick leave
caused by the Thatcher decision, as he
decided that four hours of duty on
Saturday constituted a full days sick
leave, a practice which had been gen.
orally in effect throughout all Gov
eminent departments and establish
ments.
This Treasury Departments employees,
who constitute the largest Government
group III JLllS CITY Will, IkleEelOEet llIlQ
themselves, beginning next Saturday.
charged with only four hours off annual
leave should they take Saturday morn
ing off duty, und-r the new regulations
to be issued Immediately.
In the District government, however,
it was explained, there is no clerical set
up for charging this hourly leave. and
the District government officials are
averse to setting up what they feel will
be an extensive. and expensive new ma
chinery to charge of Saturday morning
leave by the hour.
Half Day Charge Likely.
It was indicated, therefore, in the alb
sence of an official copy of the Thatcher
ruling, that the District employees prob
ably would b. charged half days an
nual leave for taking of Saturday
morning.
AS seven hours constitutes a full days
work for the Government, it would
appear on the face of this system, there
fore, that the District employees being
charged only a half day. or the
equivalent of three and one-half hours,
would thereby gain half an hours leave
on the transaction, over other Govern
ment employees in other departments
where they will be charged four hours
annual leave.
But the District of Columbia, owing
to the different Saturday schedule
which it had been operating before the
new Saturday half-holiday law went
into effect. finds the situation still moro
complicated.
The District Building used to close
at o'clock on Saturday afternoons in
the Winter with time off for luncheon
! and at 1890 on Saturday in the Sum-
mer.
Under the new Saturday half-holiday
law. and the Thatcher ruling, the Dis
trict Building people must now work on
| Saturday afternoons until l o'clock ali
| the year round with no lunch period
This means that their net result is to
gain only 1l2 hours In the Winter, as
compared to the 3la hours gained by
Federal employees, and to lose one-halt
! hour in the Summer time, over what
they used to have when they quit work
at 1890.