1942: Civil Service

National-defense projects, plus the activities undertaken by the Federal Government when the United States was precipitated into the war in December 1941, increased civilian employment in the executive branch of the Government from 1,370,110 persons on June 30, 1941, to 2,207,754 on June 30, 1942. Most of the new employees were emergency workers, and were recruited through the procedures of the United States Civil Service Commission.

In performing the task of recruiting qualified workers and getting them on the job in Federal agencies by the time needed, the Commission, before the outbreak of the war, had already simplified its procedures as far as possible within existing authority. After Pearl Harbor it was seen that sweeping innovations, requiring authority the Commission did not then possess, must be made in recruiting, examining and placement procedures in order to get workers on the job more quickly.

Authority for further simplification was contained in two Executive orders issued in February 1942 — No. 9063 (Feb. 16) and No. 9067 (Feb. 20). Under this authority, the Commission issued its War Service Regulations, placing Federal personnel administration on a war basis. (Executive Order No. 9067 was concerned with expediting the transfer of personnel to war agencies; it was superseded by Executive Order No. 9243 of Sept. 12, 1942; a separate discussion of transfer regulations appears below.)

The regulations became effective Mar. 16, 1942. Salient provisions: (1) Appointments are known as 'war service appointments'; they are, unless otherwise specifically limited, for the duration of the war and not more than six months thereafter; war service appointees do not acquire classified (competitive) civil-service status. (2) Applicants are rated simply 'eligible' or 'ineligible' where the demand for employees exceeds the supply (numerical ratings being assigned only in those cases where the supply exceeds the demand). (3) If the number of applicants for a competitive examination exceeds the anticipated needs of the service, the Commission may limit the number of persons admitted to the examination accordingly. (4) Maximum age limits are abolished except where particular kinds of positions require such limits. (5) Appointment may be made through non-competitive examination whenever in the opinion of the Commission it is not practicable to make appointment through competitive examination.

Executive Order No. 9067, referred to above, authorized the Bureau of the Budget to classify Federal agencies according to the principle of priority, and empowered the Civil Service Commission to transfer employees from lower to higher priority groups. This procedure was incorporated into the War Service Regulations. Government employees no longer needed the consent of their agency in order to apply for examinations; their applications were regarded as applications for transfer. Consent of the employing agency was not required for transfer from an agency in a lower priority group to one in a higher priority group; in all other cases, however, such consent continued to be required.

The system was modified again by Executive Order No. 9243 of Sept. 12, 1942, giving the Chairman of the War Manpower Commission authority over the transfer of Government employees. This authority was delegated to the Civil Service Commission, which immediately inaugurated a positive transfer program having as its objective the placing of Federal employees in war-connected jobs in which they could utilize their highest skills to the greatest extent. Neither the consent of the employee nor that of the employing agency is now required; whether or not an employee should be transferred is a question for the Commission to decide. Both employees and employing agencies are allowed to appeal their respective cases, however, if either feels that the proposed transfer is unjust or unwise.

The War Manpower Commission, created by Executive Order No. 9139, Apr. 18, 1942, deals with the general problem of the mobilization of manpower. The Civil Service Commission is one of the Federal agencies represented on the War Manpower Commission. It carries out the directives issued by the Chairman of the War Manpower Commission concerning Federal civilian personnel.

Amendatory legislation (Jan. 24 and Mar. 7, 1942) effected far-reaching changes in the Civil Service Retirement Act. Retirement privileges were extended to virtually all officers and employees in the Federal civil service not subject to any other retirement system. Heretofore, the law had applied primarily to classified employees, and to a limited number of unclassified employees given retirement benefits by statute. The required employee contribution was increased from 3.5 to 5 per cent of basic salary.

The Classification Act of 1923 was amended by the Ramspeck-Mead Act of Aug. 1, 1941 to provide for periodic within-grade salary advancements for employees with sufficiently high efficiency ratings who have not received equivalent advances in salary during the period through change in status, transfer, etc.

1941: Civil Service

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.

1940: Civil Service

The year 1940 in the Federal civil service is noteworthy for the speeding up of the processes of recruitment and training of personnel to meet the needs of the national defense program. Executive orders and internal changes of policies and procedures have been the means of increasing the tempo of the handling of personnel matters without decrease in quality of service rendered.

Among the changes in Federal civil service rules are the following:

(1) Removal of time limits formerly placed on reinstatements of employees, provided the reinstatements are to a national defense agency.

(2) Introduction of a system whereby personnel actions for all national defense agencies are completed within twenty-four hours.

(3) Broadening of retirement provisions to permit persons who have been or who may be retired from the War and Navy Departments on account of age to be reemployed or retained in those agencies during the period of the emergency.

(4) Reinforcement of a policy prohibiting discrimination because of race in employment in classified civil service positions.

The Advisory Commission to the Council on National Defense was augmented by the appointment of an expert in Federal personnel matters, Mr. William H. McReynolds, Liaison Officer for Personnel Management, one of President Roosevelt's six administrative assistants. The function of this Commission is to coordinate rearmament with industry, agriculture, transportation, labor, and finance. The Civil Service Commission is directly represented on the National Defense Commission by an employee assigned to the staff of the representative of labor.

A legislative enactment of far-reaching importance was the Ramspeck Bill (H.R. 960) which was signed by the President on Nov. 26, 1940. This Act gives to the President the authority to issue an executive order bringing under civil service between 100,000 and 125,000 positions previously outside the civil service. The present holders of these positions must pass non-competitive examinations and be recommended by their agency heads before they themselves acquire civil service status. The Act also empowers the President, after proper study, to extend to the field service the salary scales prevailing in the departmental service. The salaries of the three civil service commissioners are raised from $8,500 to $10,000.

The first general revision of the civil service rules since 1938 was made in an executive order dated Nov. 7, 1940. Among other provisions was one authorizing the Commission to make use of state and local civil service registers for Federal appointments, provided the examination standards and requirements were comparable. Another provision was the reduction of the probationary period for Federal workers from a year to six months; however, the Commission is authorized to require longer probations for particular positions.

Sick and annual leave provisions were broadened by Public No. 419 to permit such leave to be charged only on days when employees would normally work and receive pay. Thus employees absent on account of illness on Sundays, Saturday afternoons not occurring within a duty period, and holidays, no longer have these days charged against sick leave.

An amendment to the original Hatch Act of Aug. 2, 1939, was approved on July 19, 1940. This amendment makes it unlawful for persons in state positions or activities financed in whole or in part by Federal grants or loans to use their official authority to interfere with or to influence elections. These employees are also forbidden to take active part in political campaigns, aside from voting, nor may they coerce any other such employee to contribute anything of value to any political cause.

Definite progress was made in 1940 toward the coordination and consolidation of the work of Federal agencies. Two major Reorganization Plans submitted by the President and approved by the Congress went into effect on July 1, 1939, and Reorganization Plan No. III was set forth in an executive order issued on April 2, 1940. This order established the Fiscal Service of the Treasury Department, placing it under an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury selected according to civil service rules. Thus for the first time in the history of this country an Assistant Secretary of an executive department will be named in accordance with civil service laws. The position pays $10,000 a year.

Throughout the year work was carried on by the Committee on Civil Service Improvement, named by the President in January, 1939, to study and report on the best methods of applying the merit system to the professional, scientific, and certain administrative and technical positions in the Federal service. Justice Stanley Reed, of the U. S. Supreme Court, is chairman of the Committee of seven. Among the positions being studied are those for which the Civil Service Commission has felt competitive examinations impracticable.

At the Civil Service Commission work proceeded on the project for which funds finally became available in 1939, a project advocated by the original Council of Personnel Administration. This is a complete punch-card record of all civil service employees. For the first time these employees will have their personal history records assembled in one central place, so coded that appointment officers can locate, almost instantly, all those having a desired characteristic or qualification.

The National Register of Scientific and Specialized Personnel is another Federal effort to know and evaluate our man power. This latter list will contain on punch cards pertinent information concerning the education and experience of half a million persons in the sciences and professions in the United States.

The Research Division of the Commission pioneered in developing written examinations for professional positions above the P-1 grade. An aim in the improved examination is to prevent giving advantage to the applicant recently graduated from college. The Research Division also pioneered in a technique for rating written reports according to a point scale.

The year 1940 was definitely one of expansion for both Federal and state civil service jurisdictions. In a census taken this year there were found to be 1,099 Federal, state, and local civil service jurisdictions in the United States. This includes 869 cities and 17 states. In addition, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines operate to some extent under civil service. Hawaii's civil service commission completed its first year of existence on June 30, 1940.

1939: Civil Service

Fundamental to any improvement in working conditions in government is the extension of the merit system. During the year 1939 progress in this respect continued in all levels of government. The United States Civil Service Commission examined more than 600,000 applicants, and more than 50,000 new appointments were made.

The Reorganization Act which went into effect in July 1939, brought about a number of changes in and consolidations of various bureaus and agencies, all of which were designed to produce greater efficiency at less expense. The transfer of personnel resulted in bringing additional employees under the merit system; the United States Employment Service, for example, was consolidated with the Social Security Board and its employees thus became eligible for classification.

The Reorganization Act also authorized the appointment of six administrative assistants to the President. William H. McReynolds was appointed as liaison officer of the White House in charge of personnel management. With the cooperation of Mr. McReynolds and the various departments and agencies, the Civil Service Commission is working to establish definite procedures for assisting departments in fulfilling their personnel needs more efficiently than has been in the past.

Improved methods of selection play a large part in the functioning of the merit system. To this end the Commission devotes special effort to recruiting the best-qualified persons available. Of special interest to college students is the movement to recruit professional assistants from recent college graduates and seniors. An examination with 22 optional subjects for junior professional assistant was announced in 1939; over 40,000 persons applied, and approximately 9,400 were placed on the registers of those eligible for appointment. Another examination of this kind, with 28 options, was to be held early in 1940; others will probably be held yearly.

Among recently improved personnel policies should be mentioned the system of transferring employees from one department to another, or from one bureau to another. The Research Division of the Civil Service Commission demonstrated its punch-card method for locating present employees qualified for appointment to higher-grade positions, using chemists for the trial program. It is expected that this system will soon be in operation in all Federal departments. Besides improvement in morale as a result of the greater number of promotions which would result from the use of this system, an obvious advantage of the system would be its usefulness in determining the need for holding examinations, since the punch cards would show demand for and turnover in certain classes of employees.

The following rule was put into effect early in 1939:

'Employees in any positions in the classified service who are qualified to enter any open competitive examination shall, upon earning a passing mark therein, be placed also upon a separate list of eligible government employees, which list may be certified separately in accordance with the civil-service rules to fill vacancies occurring in the positions for which the examination is held. Age limitations may be waived for employees otherwise eligible to compete in such examinations. Employees eligible to compete in any such examination shall be granted leave of absence for the time required to take such examinations.'

This is a means of giving to persons already in the Government service additional opportunities to be considered for openings in the service. This policy does not mean that they will necessarily be appointed. It is the privilege of the appointing officer to choose someone from the outside register if he wishes.

Improvement in techniques of examination methods continued during 1939, both in oral and in written examinations. An Oral Examining Section of six specially trained and instructed examiners was set up, and improved methods of conducting oral interviews were put into effect. New types of written examinations, particularly this prepared by the Research Division for selection of personnel directors, were devised.

The importance of selecting capable executives for Government service is readily apparent. Construction of a new type of test to be used in the selection of junior executives was begun, and a preliminary trial of the material prepared was carried out with the co-operation of an industrial firm.

The necessity of in-service training of employees was implied in the Executive Orders of 1938, which directed that training of employees for the particular work of their agencies be provided. Within the limitations of their budgets, many Federal bureaus and departments are conducting effective training programs. The Civil Service Commission, for example, is endeavoring to improve its own operations through a series of conferences on administrative management in which all of its employees are participating.

Another development in the Federal Civil Service during 1939 was that of heavier responsibility being placed upon the Investigations Division of the Civil Service Commission. This was necessitated partly because of revisions in the Civil Service rules requiring that, whenever practicable, character and fitness investigations of applicants be made.

1938: Civil Service

A number of stumbling blocks in the way of converting Government service into an effective career service were removed during the course of 1938. Acts of Congress, executive orders of President Roosevelt, and the activities of the Civil Service Commission and the Council of Personnel Administration combined to bring about these advancements.

Under the Postmaster Act which was passed by Congress and approved by the President on June 25, 1938, the classified civil service was extended to include, 14,800 postmasters of the first, second, and third class; No person holding a postmastership at the present time can be reappointed at the expiration of his present term unless he passes a noncompetitive examination prepared and held by the Civil Service Commission. Future appointments to vacancies must be made through competitive examinations.

By his executive orders of June 24, 1938, President Roosevelt made a number of provisions for improving personnel administration in the Federal service. Among these provisions were the following:

(1) The establishment of competitive promotion procedures throughout the service which will make fair provision for employees to compete for higher-grade positions.

(2) Training of employees for the particular work of the agency or department in which they are employed.

(3) The establishment in each department and in a number of agencies of procedures for handling employee grievances.

(4) The extension of competitive classified status to a large number of formerly exempt positions, including some high professional and administrative posts.

(5) Measures to expedite the establishment of registers of eligibles for certain high professional positions and to provide for keeping these registers up to date.

(6) Changing the length of the probationary period served by new appointees from six months to a year, and requiring periodic reports to the Civil Service Commission on their work during that time.

During the year 1938 a new system of oral examination was developed by the Civil Service Commission. New types of examinations were perfected and new examination techniques and methods were developed by the Research Division of the Commission and put into effect.

The Commission's Examining Division examined a total of 408,928 persons during the year. New appointments to departmental and field positions totaled 34,501.

The Classification Division of the Commission continued its work of reclassifying thousands of positions in the departmental service in order to allocate the duties and responsibilities of these positions to proper grades and to achieve better balance between the requirements of the positions and the compensation paid.

The Civil Service Act requires that the record and character as well as the mentality and physical fitness of Government service applicants be examined. Experience has proved that investigations profoundly affect the caliber of personnel brought into the service. It is apparent that the Division of Investigation is meeting increasingly heavy responsibility for certification of character of applicants as a result of the extension of the merit system.

Firm steps have been taken toward the development of uniform requirements for civil service positions for Federal, state, and municipal jurisdictions. Such uniform requirements would enable universities and schools to place greater emphasis on training for the public service and would make possible the joint use of registers of eligibles by Federal, state, and municipal civil service commissions. Since the adoption of such requirements would go far toward establishing a sound public career service, it is hoped that the project initiated by the Commission's Research Division will receive widespread support by states and municipalities.

A number of significant advances in the improvement of personnel administration were made under the sponsorship of the Council of Personnel Administration. The Council is an organization established for the purpose of developing in the Federal Government a more effective system of employment and personnel management, and for coordinating the activities of the Civil Service Commission and the various departments and agencies.

A plan for insuring fuller utilization of the probationary period as a means of eliminating nonqualified personnel and at the same time helping probational employees to overcome their weaknesses and strengthen their good points was devised by the Council and tried out for three months. The executive order of June 24 established this as permanent policy.

The Council also sponsored a series of conferences between Government and industrial leaders at which were discussed phases of personnel administration applicable to both Government and industry.

Machinery for developing an improved system of transfer and promotion throughout the service was set in motion. Pertinent information concerning each employee in the classified Federal Service is to be recorded on punch-cards and filed in the Certification Division of the Civil Service Commission. This system, by providing a method for quickly locating persons available to fill particular positions, and insuring that qualified personnel now in the service will have consideration for vacancies, promises to furnish the groundwork for the effective career system long desired by those genuinely interested in the improvement of Federal personnel administration.