Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-03-04
CONCESSIONS WON
IN LEAVE BILLS Up
FOR FINAL ACTION
Congress Expected to Put
Finishing Touch on Bills
by Friday.
EFFECTIVE DATES SET =.
FOR JANUARY |, 1886
Conferees Approve 90-Day Total
Sick Leave and Vacation
of 26 Days.
BY ]. A. O'LEARY.

BY j. a. " LEAh1.
The Senate and House are expected
to put the finishing touches on the
Government employees leave bills this
week by approving the compromise
agreement reached by the conferees
late yesterday.
This action will send the bills to
the White House for signature and
end more than year of congress
sional effort to improve leave condi-
tons in the Government service.
One of the main concessions gained
by the House group in conference was
to move the effective date of both
measures back to January l Of this
year instead of the Senate provision
to postpone their effectiveness until
next July.
80 Days Sick Leave.
The Senate made another conces-
sion to the House by allowing unused
sick leave to be accumulated up to q
bill allowed 100 days, and the Senate
had reduced it to 80 days.
In final form the annual leave bill
allows Is days leave, exclusive of Sun
days and holidays, but with the limit
on accumulation of this kind OF leave
left at 60 days, as in the Senate bill
The House originally had voted for
80 days annual leave. as it existed
prior to the economy act, and with a
limit of 100 days on accumulation oil
unused leave.
Only Is days of annual leave is al
lowed by the compromise, but it is
applied more uniformly. In addition
to accumulation of unused sick leave
up to 90 days. another provision au-
thorizes department heads to advance
80 days of sick leave beyond accrued
leave in cases of serious illness.
Hailed by Employees.
The conferees' action was hailed at
once by the Government employees
organizations Claude Babcock, pres
ident of the American Federation of
Government Employees, declared:
Terms of the conference report on
the leave bills are highly gratifying
to U.s."
Luther C. Steward, president of the
National Federation of Federal EN-
ployes. said:
The national federation believes
that the report should be accepted by
the House and Senate and the legis-
lation signed by the President"
In conference, the House members
did not succeed in restoring their
provision to allow additional annual
leave as compensation for overtime
work, but opened the way for further
consideration of the overtime prob
lem at the next session. This was
accomplished by having the conferees
write in substitute clause directing
department heads to keep record of
all overtime work performed from July
to December 81 of this year.
This report would be submitted to
the next Congress, not later than
January 81, 1887. and would give the
lawmakers an opportunity to gauge
the extent of the overtime problem
and chance to consider what allow
ance should be made for it.
When the Senate Civil Service Com
nittee several weeks ago eliminated
the leave allowance for overtime, 1t
indicated its willingness to study the
question separately later on.
1t developed today that, while an
nual leave has been fixed at 26 days
for permanent employees, temporary
employees who have worked an entire
year would be entitled to 80 days.
When the Senate changed the House
figure for annual leave from 80 to 26
days, it left unchanged another clause
In the House measure which provides
that temporary employees, except those
working at hourly rates on construc-
ton jobs, shall be entitled to leave at
the rate of ~ days for each month
Of service.
In the section of the annual leave
bill directing department heads to
meet in conference to draw up neces.
sary rules and regulations, the con-
ferees added a requirement that such
rules must be issued within three
months from the passage of the act
Covers Wide Field.
The two bills apply to nearly all
civilian Federal employees, wherever
stationed, and to District employees
except local school teachers and IL
brarians. In the postal service the
bills apply to departmental employees
and those in the mailbag equipment
shops The bills also apply to the
employees of corporations created by
Congress If they are either wholly
owned or controlled by the Govern
ment. This was amended in confer
ence to cover the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp.
The leave bills passed the House
at the last session, but were delayed
In the Senate until this year because
Senator Mcclellan, Democrat, of Ten
nessee, objected to some of the pro-
visions. The deadlock was broken
when the Senate committee recently
revised the measure.
The conferees who worked out the
agreement yesterday are Senators Blu
low, Democrat, of South Dakota; Nc
Kellar, Democrat, of Tennessee. and
White, Republican. of Maine; Repre-
sentatives Ramspeck. Democrat, of
Georgia; Sirovich, Democrat, of New
o~d Tab1horh pep,th1fron of