Evening star., 1947-05-18
Guide for
eterar,s
By Mai. Thomos M. Mol

i -
tInis y tne second column szgiaininx e
srned b civil service.1
Last week ! staggered along for
900 words trying to explain how
retention preference IN civil service
Jobs works. It looks sure that there
are going to be plenty Of "reductionS
IN force" IN government employs
|ment.
II two veterans are ID the same
main group They're both war-serv-
Ice employees, or both permanent
employees and IN the same subgroup
tthey both have efficiency ratings
|of good" or better, well say)-but
wait. let's take an example.
Joe and Sam are both war-service
appointees. They're waiting for ex-
aminationS so they can be qualified
to be placed on the register for per.
manent johs.
But In the meantime the Govern-
ment agency they work for has to
cut 1000 employees from its payroll
in order to get along on the money.
Congress has allowed 1t. They are
doing exactly the same kind Of work.
The cutback Of 1000 employees Is
going to mean one of them will lose
his job. Which one? :. s
Well. since they're in the same
main group and same subgroup the
retention credits" Of each must be
computed to figure which one stays
and which goes.
Retention credits are based on
two things: Number Of years Of Gov
ernment service and efficiency rat
ing.
Sam started his Government
service In May, 1889, left in 1912 to
join the Navy and returned In 1916
to his present job. Since service In
the armed forces counts toward to-
tai Government service, Sans total
service Is eight years. His efficiency
rating Is good"
Joe didn't 60 to work for the Gov.
ernment until May, 1945, after two
years in the Marines. He was dis
charged for malaria. So he has only
four years OF. total Government
service, two in the Marines and two
under civil service. His efficiency
rating is excellent"
Retention credits. as I was saying,
are figured In length of Government
service and eflciency rating. One
point is given for an efficiency rat
ing Of good" three points for a
rating Of very good" and Ave for q
rating Of excellent
s Sans total is eight ffor length Of
service) plus one (for his good"
efficiency rating), a total Of nine.
And Joe's Is four plus five, or nine,
too. Looks like tie.
Who's going to stay in the Job?
I called civil service expert to get
the answer. why, Joe would prob
ably keep his job In that setup," he
said. Hes disabled veteran, with
that malaria, and would probably
get the break"
= w OSSs WAN Al0o OAlly 1Oul yCd&o
OF seniority, gets retention prefer
ence over Sam, with eight years
seniority.
But listen: II Joe were nom
veteran and had, say, IL years
seniority, he'd lose his job and Sam
would be kept. That's because Sam,
as q veteran, would automatically
get retention preference over any
in the same main group,
regardless of seniority.
So it seems the ex-service world
definitely gets the breaks in this
deal. @sssss'''tss y y
One more thing. Absolute reten-
lion preference goes to any veteran
who has unemployment rights un-
der the Selective Service Act during
his first year Of unemployment.
Except In very rare cases, he can't
be fred.
Maj. Nial and his staff are,
equipped to dns,oer any question
from World War II peternn.
Send your questions to him In
care OF this newspaper and In
close self-addressed, stamped
envelope.