Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-10
NAVY WILL SEEK
RULING Of M'CARL
ON HALF-HOL|DAY
Conflict Over Charging Work
erS' Time From Leave Is
Cause for Query.
MELLON DOCKS ABSENT
EMPLOYEES FULL DAY
Commerce Department Takes Only
Four Hours OFF Of
Credits

Inc Navy Department is preparing
to ask Controller General j. r. McCarI
for an opinion as to whether a Gov
eminent employe. failing to report for
WORK on saturday, is to be charged with
a iulI days leave or just with four
t tiouIs. Inc question arises in view of
It was learned today, Navy Department
onclals hope to transmit the oficiai
query before the end Of the week
IN circular letter TO all naval and
MdFlIle corps activities concerned. Act
ing Secretary Of the Navy Ernest lee
Janncke today informed the service
tnat no employe can work more than
TOUT hours on Saturday without the
written authority Of the chief of 4
bureau. the head of an office or board.
OF commandant or commanding officer,
% 'he case may be, issued In advance.
Time to Be Repaid,
Further, the time accruing to an
employe because of having been author
lzed to work more than four hours on
a saturday shall be taken of, and not
later than the Friday Immediately fol-
lowing the Saturday upon which he is
LequIreo 10 work, and the day it shall
be taken shall be fixed in advance. /" Mr.
Jahncke said.
Under no circumstances shall the
Time accrutng to an employee required
70 WORK more than four hours. on Satllr-
Gays De permitted to accumulate" the
Acting Secretary asserted in the circu-
lar letter
Navy Department officials explained
That under the old executive order
Wnich controlled the granting of Sat-
uroay nan holidays during the Summer
GOnGT0llaT
the held service, under the cognizance
OF the Navy Department, in which most
OF the employees are per diem workers.
II man failed to report for work on
saturday, he would be charged with a
1ull day. The half holidays under that
order were from the first Saturday in
June to the last Saturday in September.
Applies to Navy Yards.
Under the law of August 90, 1916.
the naval authorities said that this
statute applied only to navy yards and
arSenals and permitted 80 DAYS leave
IN addition to any legal holidays which
might be granted. The new SATURDAY.
half holiday has now been made legal
by the action Of Congress in directing
that four hours shall constitute days
work.
In the executive departments. where
the workers are mostly on an annual
pay basis, the ruling was, under the
previous arrangement, that only four
hours were charged up as leave when
Government employe absented him.
self on Saturday. This ruling, they
said, was made by the controller gen.
eral.
If an employee now works more than
four hours on Saturday he is given
time on at some other period of the
4 ftSn T. H.
and this is to be done without any less
OF pay. The Department of Commerce,
it was learned, is charging employees
only hour for hour.
Hour-fOr- Hour Charge.
That is, if they take off Saturday
morning, four hours or less, they are
charged only with four hours or less
of leave.
The Treasury Department, on the other
hand, has decided to charge employees
taking OF Saturday morning with an
entire days work. That is, under the
treasury regulation, if an employee takes
OF Saturday morning and fails to work
the four hours from to l o'clock. he
Is charged with whole days leave
whether it be annual, sick or extended
leave.
The Treasury is understood to have
01oou TO ASsu1dtion on the law OF Con-
greSS which says that four hours con-
stitute a days work on Saturdays. If
four hours do constitute a full days
work, the Treasury has decided that
absence of four hours on a Saturday
should constitute full days leave.
The proposition may get to McCari
through query from one of the Gov
departments, or the controller
general himself might decide to take
up the matter on his own initiative. to
bring about uniformity of regulations.