Evening star., 1940-02-08

great official desire to push into
effect the experience rating system
for employers or classes OF employ
ing units, under which those show
ing stable employment and therefore
having good risk" record could be
given pay roll tax differentials.
While the present act sets up rather
detailed specifications in this regard,
and states that necessary standards
for the plan shall" be adopted by
the d. U. c. Board prior to jan
uary l, 1941, the pending new meas
ure merely directs the board to study
operation of the act with a view
to determining the advisability" of
establishing rating system and di-
rects the board to submit recon-
by next January /.
The laws of 80 States now provide
for rating systems, and such plans
have been adopted for use by five
States.
"Blankets-in" Employees.
3. That the new measure carries
a section to blanket" into the civil
service automatically, without ex-
animation, all employees of the D. U.
c. Board who have been there more
than one year, and to provide that
any individual, not yet so employed
for one year, shall be retained by the
board so long as such an indivi-
dual'S services are satisfactory to
it" and thereafter automatically
may be covered into civil service
without examination.
Testifying at the January hear
ings, it was recalled, an official of
the Social Security Board objected
to this feature. District and Fed
eral officials have been negotiating
over the issue for some weeks in view
of last years amendment of the
Federal social security law, which
laid down certain definite require
ments as to application of the merit
system. The Federal board has in
sisted as minimum requirement
that present employees of local agen-
cies be given non-competive quail
flying" examinations and that these
must merely attain passing"
grade.
4. That the bill once again pro-
poses that the record of the D. U. C.
Board should be virtually wiped
clean of exceptions, disallowances
and suspensions made by the Dis
trict auditor or the controller gen.
eral of the United States. Such
provision was included in last years
proposed bill and drew fire from
some quarters, on the ground that
further efforts should be made by
John A Marshall. director of the
board, and his staff. to correct. ad-
just or give satisfactory reasons for
alleged errors in handling benefit
claims.
Donovan Listed Mistakes.
Last June 8, reports filed with the
District Commissioners by District
Auditor Daniel j. Donovan held that
for the first several months of the
fiscal year 1899 there had been a
rather lengthy list of mistakes in
of benefit payments, in
one month amounting to as much
as IL per cent of the benefit pay roll.
In reply, while admitting that many
had been made, due to the
mass Of details to be handled, Di-
rector Marshall insisted that in
many instances the District auditor
had taken exceptions without due
cause.
The language of the proposed
paragraph reads:
"The controller general of the
United States and the District audi
tor are hereby authorized and di-
rected to allow credit for all excep-
tions, disallowances and suspensions
in the accounts of the District Un-
Compensation Board
at the effective date of
this act; provided, that such ex-
ceptions, disalloWances and suspen-
slons were caused by the payment
OF benefits based upon temporary or
inaccurate reports which have since
been replaced by permanent and ac-
curate records, or caused by erro-
neous determination of claims re-
sultlng from the administrative i'm
practicabllity of computing certain
claims due to the cumbersome pro-
visions of the act, or caused by the
unforeseeable mass of claims in a
new field of governmental opera
ton requiring immediate calculation
to carry out the whole intent of the
act"
Employment Not Defined.
One of the principal faults found
in the pending draft by Washington
business interests is that the bill
fails to give any clear definition of
what is partial employment, or what
is full employment. Certain key Of
ficials, who asked that they be not
identified, agreed that this was one
of the apparent weaknesses of the
draft as recommended by the D. u.
c. Board. These officials suggested
the need of Qualification"
The bill provides that every eligi-
BILE person who is partially unem-
ployed in any week shall be paid
with respect to such week a partial
benefit. 1t states this shall be an
amount equal to the difference be-
tween his weekly benefit amount
(aS defined and stated in the act)
and his earnings for such week"
Then the bill adds: For the pur-
poses of this subsection, the term
earnings shall include only that
part of an individuals remunera-
ton in excess of the individuals
weekly benefit amount"
1t was suggested that the objec-
tive was to give some extra benefit
to a person who lost his regular
job but found a part-time job in an
effort to get back to regular work.
1t appeared the plan was to permit
TRAVEL.
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