An Act to amend the act of June 19, 1948, relating to the workweek of the Fire Department of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.
PL 87-399 (S.1292), enacted 10/05/1961

830 
PUBLIC LAW 87-399-OCT. 5, 1961 
[75 S T AT. 
October 5, 1961 
[S. 1292] 
Public Law 87-399 
AN ACT 
To amend the Act of June 19,1948, relating to the workweek of the Fire Depart-
ment of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes. 
D. C. F i r e D e 
partment. 
62 Stat. 498 
Workweek. 
Holidays 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That subsection ^a) 
of section 2 of the Act entitled "An Act to amend the Act entitled 
'An Act to classify the officers and members of the Fire Department 
of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes', approved 
June 20, 1906, and for other purposes", approved June 19, 1948, as 
amended (sec. 4-404a(a), D.C. Code, 1951 el.), is amended to read 
as follows: 
"(a) The Commissioners of the District of Columbia are author-
ized and directed to establish a workweek for officers and members of 
the firefighting division of the Fire Department of the District of 
Columbia which will result in an average workweek of fifty-six hours 
in any complete work cycle: Provided^ That no workweek shall exceed 
seventy-two hours. 
"(b) The firefighting division shall operate under a two-shift sys-
tem and all hours of duty of any shift shall be consecutive. 
"(c) The Commissioners of the District of Columbia are further 
authorized and directed to establish a workweek for officers and mem-
bers of the Fire Department, other than those in the firefighting divi-
sion, of forty hours, and the hours of work in such workweek shall be 
performed on consecutive days in such workweek. 
" (d) The days off duty to which each officer or member of the Fire 
Department is entitled shall be in addition to his annual leave and sick 
leave allowed by law. 
In the case of any shift of the Fire Department 
beginning on one day and extending without a break in continuity into 
the next day, or in the case of two shifts beginning on the same day, 
the Commissioners are authorized to designate the shift which shall be 
the workday, and the entire shift so designated shall be considered 
the workday for all pay and leave purposes. 
"(e) If a holiday shall fall on any day off of any officer or member 
of the Fire Department, he shall be excused from dut^ on such other 
day as is designated by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, 
and if he is required to be on duty in lieu of such day off, he shall 
receive compensation for such duty at the rate provided by law for 
duty performed on a holiday. 
When any shift of the Fire Depart-
ment begins on the day before a holiday and extends without a break 
in continuity into the holiday, or begins on a holiday and extends 
without a break in continuity into the next day, the Commissioners of 
the District of Columbia are authorized to designate either of such 
shifts as the holiday workday, and the entire shift so designated shall 
be considered as the holiday workday for all pay and leave purposes. 
As used in this subsection the word 'holiday' shall have the same 
meaning as such word has in the Act of October 24, 1951 (65 Stat. 
607), as amended (sec. 4-808, D.C. Code, 1951 ed.), and as supple-
code 1- mentedby the Act of January 11,1957 (71 Stat. 3; Public Law^ 85-1)." 
SEC. 2. Section 2 of such Act approved June 19, 1948 (62 Stat. 499; 
sec. 4-404a(b), D.C. Code 1951 ed.), is further amended by redesignat-
ing subsection (b) as subsection (f) and by amending the first sentence 
of subsection (f) as so redesignated to read as follows: "Notwith-
standing the provisions of the preceding subsection, whenever the 
Commissioners declare that an emergency exists of such a character 
as to necessitate the continuous service of all or some of the officers 
and members of the Fire Department, the granting of days off shall 
be suspended during the continuation of such emergency." 
D. c. 
1210. 
59 Stat. 491. 
Emergency situa-
tions. 
75 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 87-899-OCT. 5, 1961 
831 
SEC. 3. Subsection (e) of the first section of the Act entitled "An 
Act to provide a five-day week for officers and members of the Metro-
politan Police force, the United States Park Police force, and the 
White House Police force", approved August 15,1950 (64 Stat. 447), 
as amended (sec. 4-904, D.C. Code, 1951 ed.), is amended (a) by insert-
ing "the Fire Department of the District of Columbia," after "Metro-
politan Police force,"; (b^ by striking "Major and Superintendent 
of Police," and inserting in lieu thereof "Chief of Police, the Fire 
Chief,"; and (c) by striking therefrom "section 5 of the Act entitled 
'An Act to fix the salaries of officers and members of the Metropolitan 
Police force and the Fire Department of the District of Columbia', 
approved July 1, 1930, as amended", and inserting in lieu thereof 
"such section". 
SEC. 4. The first section of the Act entitled "An Act to provide for 
Holiday pay. 
granting to officers and members of the Metropolitan Police force, the 
Fire Department of the District of Columbia, and the White House 
and United States Park Police forces additional compensation for 
working on holidays", approved October 24, 1951 (65 Stat. 607), as 
amended (sec. 4-807, D.C. Code, 1951 ed.), is amended to read as 
follows: 
"That under regulations promulgated by the Commissioners of the 
District of Columbia each officer and member of the Metropolitan 
Police force and of the Fire Department of the District of Columbia 
when he may be required to work on any holiday, shall be compensated 
for such duty, excluding periods when he is in a leave status, in lieu 
of his regular rate of basic compensation for such work, at the rate of 
twice such regular rate of basic compensation: Provided^ That for 
the purpose of this Act, each such officer or member who works eight 
hours or less on any holiday shall be compensated for such duty in 
addition to his regular rate of basic compensation for such work, at 
the rate of one-eighth of his daily rate of basic compensation for each 
hour so worked, computed to the nearest hour, counting thirty minutes 
or more as a full hour: Provided further^ That the total compensation 
to be paid any such officer or member for duty performed on a holiday 
shall not exceed an amount equal to twice the daily rate of pay to 
which such officer or member shall be entitled for performing one 
regular tour of duty on a day other than a holiday: And 
provided 
further^ That no such officer or member shall be entitled to additional 
compensation for such holiday work for any day for which he is 
entitled to receive additional compensation under the provisions of 
subsection (e) of the first section of the Act approved August 15, 
1950 (64 Stat. 447), as amended (sec. 4-904, D.C. Code, 1951 ed.). 
es stat. 27. 
So much of the compensation for such holiday work as is in excess 
of the regular pay for such day shall not be considered as salary for 
the purpose of computing deductions for life insurance or for com-
puting annuity payments under the provisions of the Policemen and 
Firemen's Retirement and Disability Act (39 Stat. 718, 71 Stat. 
391; sec. 4-521, et seq., D.C. Code, 1951 ed.), nor shall such excess 
compensation be subject to deduction as provided in such Act. 
Appropriations for personal services for the Metropolitan Police 
force, the Fire Department of the District of Columbia, the White 
House Police force, and the United States Park Police force shall 
be available for payment of the additional compensation authorized 
by this Act." 
SEC. 5. Clause (D) of subsection (b) of section 405 of the District 
^computation of 
of Columbia Police and Firemen's Salary Act of 1953, as amended ^^^' 
(67 Stat. 76; D.C. Code, sec. 4-821), is amended to read as follows: 
72 stat. 378. 
832 
PUBLIC LAW 87-400-OCT. 5, 1961 
[75 ST A T . 
Recording annual 
and sick leave. 
Effective date. 
"(D) In the case of the Metropolitan Police force, except 
with respect to computation of holiday pay, a biweekly rate 
shall be divided by the number of hours constituting the 
biweekly tour of duty in order to derive an hourly rate. 
"(E) In the case of the firefightin^ division of the Fire 
Department of the District of Columbia, except with respect 
to computation of holiday pay, the weekly or biweekly rate 
shall be divided by 56 or 112, as the case may be, to derive 
an hourly rate. 
"(F) In the case of officers and members of divisions of 
the Fire Department of the District of Columbia other than 
the firefighting division, except with respect to computation 
of holiday pay, a biweekly rate shall be divided by the number 
of hours constituting the biweekly tour of duty in order to 
derive an hourly rate." 
SEC. 6. (a) For the purpose of recording annual and sick leave oil 
an hourly basis for officers and members of the firefighting division of 
the Fire Department of the District of Columbia, the workday of any 
workweek shall be considered to be twelve hours. 
(b) For the purposes of recording on an hourly basis annual and 
sick leave taken by officers and menibers of the firefighting division, 
the following formula shall be used: 
(1) During the day shift of ten hours, one and two-tenths 
hours of leave shall be charged for each hour taken. 
(2) During the night shift 
of fourteen 
hours, twelve-
fourteenths of an hour of leave shall be charged for each hour 
taken, calculated to the nearest fractional tenth. 
SEC. 7. This Act shall take effect on the first day of the first full 
pay period which begins at least sixty days after the date of approval 
of this Act. 
Approved October 5, 1961. 
Octobers, 1961 
[H. R. 9053] 
Public Law 87-400 
AN ACT 
To amend title II of tlie National Defense Education Act of 1958 with resipect 
to the periods for which loans under that title are made. 
National defense 
education l o a n s ; 
terms. 
72 Stat. 1584. 
20 u s e 425. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United /States of America in Congress assemJbled^ That (a) section 
205(a) of the National Defense Education Act of 1958 is amended 
by striking out "fiscal year" and inserting in lieu thereof "academic 
year or its equivalent, as determined under regulations of the 
Commissioner,'. 
(b) The amendment made by subsection (a) of this section shall 
not apply with respect to any academic year or equivalent period^ as 
determined under regulations of the Commissioner of Education, 
which began before July 1,1961. 
Approved October 5, 1961.