As a result of the rapid expansion of agencies concerned with national defense, the number of civilians employed in the executive branch of the Federal Government increased from 1,119,641 on Dec. 31, 1940, to 1,512,428 on Oct. 31, 1941. A large proportion of the new employees were obtained through the recruiting activities of the United States Civil Service Commission. The Commission obtained publicity for its examinations not only through newspapers, trade journals, and other publications, but also through the radio and the motion picture industry; it secured the active aid of other Governmental organizations such as the Social Security Board, the Railroad Retirement Board, and the Post Office Department: and it sent representatives to colleges, to meetings of trade and labor organizations, and to other promising sources of supply of qualified persons. This intensive recruiting program was supplemented by the development in various Government agencies of additional facilities for training workers.
Changes and developments in the Commission's internal organization and procedures enabled it to complete action on requests for personnel more quickly. Much authority was delegated to the various offices and boards comprising the Commission's nationwide organization, and they were thus empowered to take immediate action on many personnel problems. For the more critical types of work the Commission has announced continuously open examinations for which persons interested in Government employment may file applications at any time. If found eligible, they are often certified to appointing officers within a few hours after the receipt of their applications.
Provision has been made for transferring persons already employed by the Government to the positions in which their services can be most effectively utilized for defense purposes. The Commission maintains a record of the qualifications of Federal civil-service employees which can be used to determine whether any of these employees possess the specialized qualifications needed for a particular job. An Executive order of Dec. 12, 1941, provides special reemployment rights for employees who are released for national defense work by the employing agency at the Commission's request and are later discharged without prejudice from the positions to which they are transferred.
A bill containing a plan for periodic adjustments in the pay of those Federal employees whose salaries are fixed in accordance with the Classification Act of 1923 became law on Aug. 1, 1941. This plan was later made applicable by Executive order to approximately 50,000 employees of Federal emergency agencies in the District of Columbia not included under the terms of the act.
A number of measures were taken to safeguard the civil-service rights of persons who enter the armed forces. Among them were: an Executive order directing the restoration to civil-service registers, at the expiration of service, of eligibles who enter the military or naval forces; Executive orders and legislation safeguarding the rights of Federal employees who enter the military or naval forces to acquire a civil-service status upon restoration to their civilian positions; an Executive order permitting the time spent by such employees in the armed forces to be credited toward periodic salary adjustments upon their restoration to their civilian positions; and an act authorizing the payment of accrued annual leave to Federal employees who are ordered to active military or naval duty.
The President's order of April 23, 1941, extended the provisions of the Civil Service Act to approximately 182,000 positions, effective Jan. 1, 1942. After the latter date, incumbents of these positions may acquire a classified civil-service status upon meeting the requirements of the order and of the Ramspeck Act of Nov. 26, 1940, under authority of which it was issued. Later orders made provision for the transfer or promotion of these incumbents without loss of their rights to acquire a classified status.
The order of April 23, 1941, also established a Board of Legal Examiners within the Commission to promote and administer a plan for a career system for Government lawyers which had been devised by the President's Committee for Civil Service Improvement. The Committee's report, submitted on Feb. 24, 1941, recommended that practically all positions in the Federal executive civil service be made subject to the Civil Service Act.
The progress of the movement for the selection of public personnel through the merit system was not confined to the Federal Government. While New Mexico repealed its civil-service law, Indiana, Kansas, and Vermont enacted merit-system legislation applying to their state governments, and a number of local governments took similar action. The New York State legislature passed a bill providing for the mandatory extension of the merit system to employees of cities and counties throughout the state.
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