Evening star., 1935-11-20
Proposes Amendment to Act
to Simplify Work of
Collecting Data.
COMPENSATION BOARD
TO STUDY PLAN MONDAY
Prettyman Asked to Develop
Draft for Presentation to
Congress in January.
BACKGROUND

AdDdnclng INTO neU tegtStuttDe
fields, sponsors OF unemployment
compensation latp for the District
of Columbia conceded complicated
formula TOR computing benefits.
Roughly, benefciaries were to re-
ceiue 40 per cent of weekly earn
ings averaged oUer two years or
SIS, whicheuer is found to be loUer.
District officials charged NTH dd-
nlinistering program enUisioned a
pOnderous system of records, eTten-
size investigation. checking OF re-
ports: debated means OF simplify
ing system.
Prompt amendment of the District
unemployment compensation act. to
place benefit payments to the jobless
on a flat-rate system, was proposed
today by Commissioner George E. Allen
as a means of avoiding development
and maintenance of huge card index
system of data on the wages. class of
employment and other conditions OF
Washington workers.
Allen requested Corporation Counsel
Prettyman to begin at once study OF
an amendment of the law which would
achieve this result. with view to ask
ing the Compensation Board to urge
Congress to approve it promptly when
it convenes January 3.
The subject will come up for con-
sideration Monday afternoon at a
meeting of the board. Members Of the
board in addition to Commissioner
Allen are Commissioners Melvin c.
Hazen and Dan I. Sultan, and Daniel
]. Callahan, representative OF en-
ployers, and John Locher, representa-
tive Of employees.
Detail" Work Astounds Allen.
Allen was staggered" yesterday
when he learned that the present pro-
visions of the act apparently mean the
District must maintain an enormous
card index of all of the persons now
employed in the District, so that the
file will contain necessary data for the
computation of benefits which may be
due those workers If they become un-
employed after January 2. 1888. when
jobless insurance payments are to
commence.
Haste is needed in the matter. Com
missioner Allen emphasized, because
employers must begin in January to
file monthly statements as to their
pay rolls It is estimated there are
some $4,000 employers in Washington
subject to the act. Since benefit pay
ments to the unemployed workers start
in two years it was estimated "a card
index reports would be required on
each employers pay roll return, max
ing a total of 100000 index cards.
officials interpret the act to mean
the average weekly wage of each en-
ploye must be computed over the two
year period and that the benefits due
workers who become unemployed would
be figured at 40 per cent of their
average weekly wage or a maximum of
SIS a week. whichever figured out
to be the lesser.
Would Simplify System.
Allen declares that since the maxi
mum which may be paid weekly is
only SIS, it would be infinitely simpler
to avoid the complex card index COM
putations and the resulting mathe-
matical calculations and to set up a
fiat sum to be paid to the unemployed.
Consulting with Corporation Coun-
sci Prettyman, he learned of plans to
install an automatic punch card ma
chine which would be capable of Sort
ing out cards to identify those in GER
tain work classif1cations, the number
of weeks worked and other data.
Prettyman agreed with Allen as to his
objections, but said the law apparently
required maintenance of such a sys-
TEN. Allen countered with the pro-
posal that employers merely be re-
quired to file their monthly pay rolls,
together with the employers contribu-
tions.
One objection Allen has to the pres
ent contemplated program is that the
Government would have on file index
cards revealing the name, address,
wages and other information regard
ing all workers here. The law does
not forbid publication of these facts,
although it forbids public use Of the
employers pay roll, Allen said.