HAZARDOUS DUTY PAY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP69-00011R000100050074-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 15, 2006
• Sequence Number: 74
• Publication Date: February 9, 1965
• Content Type: REPORT

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89TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session j
HAZARDOUS DUTY PAY
REPORT
No. 31
FEBIEUAaY 9, 1965.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
Mr. MURRAY, from!the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service,
submitted the following
REPORT
[To accompany ILR. 1535]
The Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, to whom was
referred the bill (H.R. 1535) to amend the Classification Act of 1949
to authorize the establishment of hazardous duty pay in certain cases,
having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amend-
ment and recommend that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this legislation is to correct an inequity and to close
a ga in existing law which discriminates against employees covered by
the Classification Act of 1949, as amended, with regard to hazardous
duty pay.
BACKGROUND
H.R. 1535 is identical to H.R. 2079 of the 87th Congress which
passed the House on the Consent Calendar on September 4, 1962, and
it is also identical to H.R. 1159 of the 88th Congress which pass;d the
House on the Consent Calendar on Appril 22, 1963. The administra-
tion recommends the enactment of H.R. 1535.
EXPLANATION
Existing law permits the payment to certain categories of Federal
employees of pay differentials or premium compensation for periods of
work which they are required to perform under unusually hazardous
conditions. These employees include a number employed by the
Public Health Service, certain military personnel, and wage board
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2 HAZARDOUS DUTY PAY
personnel of various departments and agencies. For example, wage
board employees of the Departments of the Army and the Air Force
are paid up to twice their basic hourly rate for work performed at
heights of 100 feet without the benefit of scaffolding or other adequate
safety measures.
Extra compensation may be provided Classification Act employees
through the regular position classification process when the unusual
physical hardship or hazard is inherent in the position, when it regu-
larly recurs, and when it is performed for a substantial part of the
working time. However, there does not now exist for Classification
Act employees any means of providing adequate compensation for
this purpose where the unusual hardship or hazard occurs at such
irregular or intermittent intervals that it does not constitute a regular
part of the job for position classification purposes. Yet it is only fair
and logical that the Government offer some additional remuneration
to the employee asked, in the course of performing assigned duties,
to take unusual risks not normally associated with his regular job and
for which premium compensation is not otherwise provided.
H.R. 1535 will correct this inequity. The proposal authorizes the
U.S. Civil Service Commission to establish a schedule of pay differen-
tials for Classification Act employees for irregular or intermittent
duty involving unusual physical hardship or hazard. The differentials
will be paid to the employees for any period in which they are sub-
jected to physical hardship or hazard not usually involved in carrying
out the duties of their positions.
The legislation limits the application of hazardous duty pay so that
the differential (1) shall not be applicable when the physical hardship
or hazard was taken into account in classifying the employee's position,
(2) shall not exceed 25 percent of the employee's basic compensation,
and (3) shall be paid only under standard regulations to be prescribed
by the Civil Service Commission. Coverage of the hazardous duty
principle is also limited by the requirement that the hardships and
hazards to which there is exposure be of an "unusual" nature.
In addition to correcting inequities in pay treatment among the
various groups of Federal employees, this legislation will serve as an
incentive to employees to accept such irregular or intermittent assign-
ments involving hazardous duties and it will afford a measure of
recognition and appreciation for the employees' willingness to perform
the regular duties of their positions under conditions of unusual
physical hardship or hazard.
Hearings were held on this legislation in both the 87th and 88th
Congresses. The measure was fully endorsed by the Chairman of the
Civil Service Commission and by representatives of employee organi-
zations. There was no adverse testimony received from any source.
The cost involved in this legislation would depend on the extent to
which classified workers are assigned to unusual hazardous or hardship
duty, the length of such assignments, and the basic pay rates of the
employees. It is estimated that the cost would be less than $100,000
annually.
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The favorable reports of the U.S. Civil Service Commission and
the Bureau of the Budget follow:
U.S. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION,
Washington, D.C., March 18, 1968.
Hon. Tom MunRAY,
Chairman, Committee on Post Office and Civil Service,
House of Representatives, Room 218, House Office Building.
DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in further response to the committee's
request of January 23, 1963, for the Civil Service Commission's views
with respect to H.R. 1159, a bill to amend the Classification Act of
1949 to authorize the establishment of hazardous duty pay in certain
cases.
This bill would authorize the payment, subject to regulations to be
prescribed by the Commission, of pay differentials not to exceed 25
percent of basic compensation, to Classification Act employees per-
forming irregular or intermittent duties involving unusual physical
hardship or hazard. The differential would be paid only during the
period the employee is subjected to physical hardship or hazard not
usually involved in carrying out the duties of his position. It would
not apply where the classification of the employee's position takes into
account the degree of physical hardship or hazard involved.
The Commission favors enactment of H.R. 1159.
The question of whether or not Classification Act employees should
be paid additional or premium compensation for performing duties
involving unusual physical hardships and hazards has been a subject
of discussion for a long time. Such differentials are paid to some cate-
gories of military personnel and Public Health Service personnel,
among others. Hazard pay also is authorized under wage board
pay systems of some agencies. The conditions under which separate
hazard pay is authorized for wage board employees in the Army
and Air Force are very similar to those prescribed in the proposed
bill. That is, such premiums are paid for irregular or intermittent
performance of duties under unusually arduous or hazardous circum-
stances which have not been considered in the evaluation of the job.
The Department of the Navy authorizes a differential of 50 percent
for flying in connection with testing aircraft or apparatus or appli-
ances on aircraft. The Army-Air Force Wage Board has authorized
hazard differentials at twice the basic hourly rate for work performed
at a height of 100 feet and above under hazardous conditions caused
by the absence of scaffolding guards or other suitable protective
measures or facilities. Both the Department of the Navy and the
Army-Air Force Wage Board authorize premium payments for
a number of other hazardous situations. The Army-Air Force Wage
Board policy requires that hazard payments be made in increments
of 15 minutes with a 1-hour minimum payment for any day in which
the hazardous work is performed.
We believe that unusual physical hardships or hazards which are
inherent in a position, which regularly recur, and which are performed
for a substantial part of the working time are best compensated for
through the regular position classification process. However, there
does not now exist a means for providing such compensation where
regularly assigned duties are performed under unusually hazardous
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conditions at such irregular or intermittent intervals that these con-
ditions cannot be taken into consideration for position classification
purposes. Yet it seems logical that the Government offer some addi-
tional remuneration to the employee asked to take unusual risks not
normally associated with his occupation and for which added com-
pensation is not otherwise provided.
The proposed legislation would fill this void. At the same time it
would avoid many of the problems normally associated with hazard
pay proposals by restricting coverage to the most deserving cases,
and by limiting payments to periods of actual exposure not taken
into consideration in the classification of the position. This would
preclude the possibility of double payment through both job classifi-
cation and separate premium pay which otherwise might occur.
Since the premium would be paid only on an irregular basis, it would
not lose its identity as a separate payment, thus forestalling problems
often associated with moving employees from premium compensation
positions to regular rate positions.
We would visualize assignments such as those requiring irregular or
intermittent participation in hurricane weather flights, participation
in test flights of aircraft during their developmental period or after
modification, participation in trial runs of newly built submarines or
in submerged voyages of an exploratory nature such as those under the
polar icefields, and performance of work at extreme heights under
adverse conditions, as among those meeting the criteria of unusual
physical hardship or hazard. We recognize that in most regularly
recurring hazardous work situations safety training and precautions
have been developed which so greatly reduce the possibility of acci-
dent that the degree of hazard becomes negligible. The examples
cited above, however, go beyond such conditions. They take into
consideration, for example, such matters as the need to deliberately
operate equipment such as newly developed or modified aircraft
beyond its known design capabilities or safe operating limits, and
exposure to elements or_conditions over which little or no control
can be exercised. Normally, few accidents occur in these hazardous
situations; nevertheless, such assignments always are accompanied
by the undeniable awareness of the inherent danger of the activity
and the knowledge that an accident, should it occur, would almost
eertainly.be fatal.
The total cost of premium payments under this bill probably would
be relatively low. Nevertheless, in individual situations they would
.serve as inducements to attract personnel for special tasks involving
unusual hardships or hazards. The differential would not eliminate
all pay inequities among Classification Act and wage-board employees
working under similar conditions of hardship or hazard; however, it
would largely reduce the amount of the difference which normally
favors the wage-board employee. The monetary payment represented
by the premium would, of course, be of immediate benefit to the em-
ployee. The Government can expect to benefit, too, however, as a
result of improved employee morale, which undoubtedly would attend
this formal recognition of the performance of unusually hazardous
work.
We do not think it feasible to establish such a program and have it
operating satisfactorily within a period of 90 days after enactment as
required by the bill. Accordingly, we recommend that consideration
be given to amending section 2 of the bill to read as follows:
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HAZARDOUS DUTY PAY 5
"SEC. 2. The amendment made by the first section of this Act shall
become effective on the first day of the first pay period which begins
more than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act."
The Bureau of the Budget advises that from the standpoint of the
administration's program there is no objection to the submission of
this report.
By direction of the Commission.
Sincerely yours,
(Signed) JOHN W. MACY, Jr., Chairman.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT,
BUREAU OF THE BUDGET,
Washington, D.C., March 19, 1963.
HOD. TOM MURRAY,
Chairman, Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, House of Repre-
sentatives, 219-215 Old House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to the committee's
requests for views of the Bureau of the Budget concerning H.R. 1159
and H.R. 2478, similar bills, to amend the Classification Act of 1949
to authorize the establishment of hazardous duty pay in certain cases.
Both bills would require the Civil Service Commission to establish
schedules of pay differentials (not to exceed 25 percent of basic
compensation) to be paid to an employee subject to the Classification
Act for any period in which he is subjected to physical hardship or
hazard not usually involved in carrying out the duties of his position,
H.R. 1159 with the added requirement that the hazard or hardship
itself be of an "unusual" nature. Under both bills such differential
is not to be payable to any employee whose position classification
has taken account of the degree of physical hardship or hazard involved
in his position.
The Chairman of the Civil Service Commission in his reports on
these bills states that he is opposed to H.R. 2478 in view of its much
broader coverage. The Chairman points out that, unlike H.R. 1159,
which is restricted to "unusual" hardship or hazard, H.R. 2478 would
apply to any hazard or hardship not regularly encountered, with con-
sequent greater cost and difficulty of administration.
The Bureau of the Budget concurs in the views expressed by the
Civil Service Commission and accordingly would not object to enact-_
ment of H.R. 1159, but for reasons stated above cannot support the
provisions of H.R. 2478 and recommends against its favorable con-
sideration by the committee.
Sincerely yours, PHILLIP S. HUGHES,
Assistant Director for Legislative Reference.
U.S. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION,
Washington, D. C., February 1, 1965.
Hon. TOM MURRAY,
Chairman, Committee on Post Office and Civil Service,
House of Representatives,
Room 213, Cannon House Office Building.
DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in further response to the Committee's
request of January 11, 1965, for the Civil Service Commi-scion's
views with respect to H.R. 1535, a bill to amend the Classification
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Act of 1949 to authorize the establishment of hazardous duty pay in
certain cases.
The bill would authorize the payment, subject to regulations to be
prescribed by the Commission, of pay differentials not to exceed 25
percent of basic compensation, to Classification Act employees
performing irregular or intermittent duties involving unusual physical
hardship or hazard. The differential would be paid only during the
period the employee is subjected to physical hardship or hazard not
usually involved in carrying out the duties of his position. It would
not apply where the classification of the employee's position takes
into account the degree of physical hardship or hazard involved.
The Commission favors enactment of H.R. 1535 but recommends
a clarifying amendment as described later in this report.
The question of whether or not Classification Act employees should
be paid additional or premium compensation for performing duties
involving unusual physical hardships and hazards has been a subject
of discussion for a long time. Such differentials are paid to some
categories of military personnel and Public Health Service personnel,
among others. Hazard pay also is authorized under wage board pay
systems of some agencies. The conditions under which separate
hazard pay is authorized for wage board employees in the Army and
Air Force are very similar to those prescribed in the proposed bill.
That is, such premiums are paid for irregular or intermittent per-
formance of duties under unusually arduous or hazardous circum-
stances which have not been considered in the evaluation of the job.
The Department of the Navy authorizes a differential of 50 percent
for flying in connection with testing aircraft or apparatus or appliances
on aircraft. The Army-Air Force Wage Board has authorized hazard
differentials at twice the basic hourly rate for work performed at a
height of 100 feet and above under hazardous conditions caused by
the absence of scaffolding guards or other suitable protective measures
or facilities. Both the Department of the Navy and the Army-Air
Force Wage Board authorize premium payments for a number of
other hazardous situations. The Army-Air Force Wage Board
pclicy requires that hazard payments be made in increments of 15
minutes with a 1-hour minimum payment for any day in which the
hazardous work is performed.
We believe that unusual physical hardships or hazards which are
inherent in a position, which regularly recur, and which are performed
for a substantial part of the working time, are best compensated for
through the regular position classification process. However, there
does not now exist a means for providing such compensation where
regularly assigned duties are performed under unusually hazardous
conditions at such irregular or intermittent intervals that these
conditions cannot be taken into consideration for position classification
purposes. Yet it seems logical that the Government offer some addi-
tional remunertion to the employee asked to take) unusual risks not
normally associated with his occupation and for which added com-
pensation is not otherwise provided.
H.R. 1535, as we propose that it be amended, would fill this void.
At the same time it would avoid many of the problems normally asso-
ciated with hazard pay proposals by restricting coverage to the most
deserving cases and by limiting payments to periods of exposure not
taken into consideration in the classification of the position. This
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HAZARDOUS DUTY PAY 7
would preclude the possibility of double payment through both job
classification and separate premium pay which otherwise might occur.
Since the premium would be paid only on an irregular basis, it would
not lose its identity as a separate payment, thus forestalling problems
often associated with moving employees from premium compensation
positions to regular rate positions.
We would visualize assignments such as those requiring irregular or
intermittent participation in hurricane weather flights, participation
in test flights of aircraft during their developmental period or after
modification, participation in trial runs of newly built submarines or
in submerged voyages of an exploratory nature such as those under the
polar icefields, and performance of work at extreme heights under
adverse conditions, as among those meeting the criteria of unusual
physical hardship or hazard. We recognize that in most regularly
recurring hazardous work situations safety training and precautions
have been developed which so greatly reduce the possibility of accident
that the degree of hazard becomes negligible. The examples cited
above, however, go beyond such conditions. They take into considera-
tion, for example, such matters as the need to deliberately operate
equipment such as newly developed or modified aircraft beyond its
known design capabilities or safe operating limits, and exposure to
elements or conditions over which little or no control can be exercised.
Normally, few accidents occur in these hazardous situations; never-
theless, such assignments always are accompanied by the undeniable
awareness of the inherent danger of the activity and the knowledge
that an accident, should it occur, would almost certainly be fatal.
The total cost of premium payments under this bill probably would
be relatively low. Nevertheless, in individual situations they would
serve as inducements to attract personnel for special tasks involving
unusual hardships or hazards. The differential would not. eliminate
all pay inequities among Classification Act and wage board employees
working under similar conditions of hardship or hazard; however, it
would Largely reduce the amount of the difference which normally
favors the wage board employee. The monetary payment represented
by the premium would, of course, be of immediate benefit to the em-
ployee. The Government could expect to benefit, too, however, as a
result of improved employee morale, which undoubtedly would attend
this formal recognition of the performance of unusually hazardous
work.
Questions have been raised both during earlier hearings on similar
bills, and informally to the Commission by a number of agencies,
concerning the authority of the Commission to establish by regulation
minimum periods, extending beyond the actual period of each ex-
posure, during which the differentials would be paid. The fact that
these questions have been raised indicates the desirability of clarifying
this point. Accordingly, we recommend that the bill be amended to
delete the word "and". at the end of paragraph (2) of section 1 (line
10, p. 2) ; to renumber paragraph (3) of section 1 (line 11, p. 2) as
paragraph (4); and to insert a new paragraph (3) as follows:
"(3) Shall be paid for such minimum periods as the Commission
may determine to be appropriate; and".
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8 HAZARDOUS DUTY PAY
The Bureau of the Budget advises that from the standpoint of the
administration's program there is no objection to the submission of
this report.
By direction of the Commission.
Sincerely yours,
JOHN W. MACY, Jr., Chairman.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL AS REPORTED
In compliance with clause 3 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, as re-
ported, are shown as follows (new matter is printed in italic, existing
law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman) :
TITLE VIII OF THE CLASSIFICATION ACT OF 1949
TITLE VIII-GENERAL COMPENSATION RULES
SEC. 801. All new appointments shall be made at the minimum
rate of the appropriate grade, except that in accordance with regu-
lations prescribed by the Commission which provide for such con-
siderations as the candidate's existing salary, unusually high or
unique qualifications, or a special need of the Government for his
services, the head of any department may, with the approval of the
Commission in each specific case, appoint individuals to positions in
grade 13 and above of the General Schedule at such rate or rates
above the minimum rate of the appropriate grade as the Commission
may authorize for this purpose. The approval of the Commission
in each specific case shall not be required with respect to appoint-
ments made by the Librarian of Congress.
SEC. 802. (a) The rate of basic compensation to be received by any
officer or employee to whom this Act applies shall be governed by regu-
lations issued by the Commission in conformity with this Act when-
(1) he is transferred from a position in the legislative, judicial,
or executive branch to which this Act does not apply;
(2) he is transferred from any position in the legislative, judi-
cial, or executive branch to which this Act applies to another such
position;
(3) he is demoted to a position in a lower grade;
(4) he is reinstated, reappointed, or reemployed in any position
subject to this Act following service in any position in the legis-
lative, judicial, or executive branch;
(5) his type of appointment is changed;
(6) his employment status is otherwise changed; or
(7) his position is changed from one grade to another grade.
(b) Any officer or employee who is promoted or transferred to a
position in a higher grade shall receive basic compensation at the
lowest rate of such higher grade which exceeds his existing rate of
basic compensation by not less than two step-increases of the grade
from which he is promoted or transferred. If, in the case of any
officer or employee so promoted or transferred who is receiving basic
compensation at a rate in excess of the maximum rate for his grade
under any provision of law, there is no rate in such higher grade
which is at least two step-increases above his existing rate of basic
compensation, he shall receive (1) the maximum rate of such higher
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HAZARDOUS DUTY PAY 9
grade, or (2) his existing rate of basic compensation, if such existing
rate is the higher. In case any such officer or employee so promoted
or transferred is receiving basic compensation at a rate saved to him
under section 507 of this Act upon reduction in grade, such officer
or employee shall receive (A) basic compensation at a rate two steps
above the rate which he would be receiving if such section 507 were
not applicable in his case, or (B) his existing rate of basic compen-
sation, if such existing rate is the higher.
(c) Any employee in the legislative branch whose compensation is
disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of
Representatives, and who has completed two or more years of service
as such an employee, and any Member of the Senate or House of Rep-
resentatives who has completed two or more years of service as such a
Member, may upon appointment to a position subject to the Classifica-
tion Act of 1949 have his initial rate of compensation fixed at the
minimum rate of the appropriate grade, or at any step of such grade
that does not exceed the highest previous rate of compensation received
by him during such service in the legislative branch.
(d) The Commission may issue regulations governing the retention
of the rate of basic compensation of an employee who together with
his position is brought under this Act. If any such employee so
entitled to receive a retained rate under regulations issued pursuant to
this subsection is later demoted to a position under this Act, his rate
of basic compensation shall be determined in accordance with section
507 of this Act, except that service in the position which was brought
under the Act shall, for purposes of section 507, be considered as
service under this Act.
SEc. 803. Each employee in a position under this Act, who regularly
has responsibility for supervision (including supervision over the
technical aspects of the work concerned) over employees whose
compensation is fixed and adjusted from time to time by wage boards
or similar administrative authorities as nearly as is consistent with
the public interest in accordance with prevailing rates, may, in
accordance with regulations issued by the Commission, be paid at one
of the scheduled rates for his grade which is above the highest rate
of basic compensation being paid to any such prevailing-rate employee
regularly supervised, or at the maximum rate for his grade, as
provided for in such regulations.
SEc. 804. The Commission shall establish a schedule or schedules
of pay differentials for irregular or intermittent duty involving unusual
physical hardship or hazard. The appropriate differential shall be paid
to any officer or employee to whom this Act applies for any period in
which such o?icer or employee is subjected to physical hardship or hazard
not usually involved in carrying out the duties of his position. Such
pay differential-
(1) shall not be applicable with respect to any officer or employee
in any position the classification of which takes into account the
degree of physical hardship or hazard involved in the performance
of the duties thereof;
(2) shall not exceed an amount equal to 25 per centum of the rate
of basic compensation applicable with respect to such officer or
em loyee;
(~3) shall be paid under regulations which shall be prescribed by
the Commission.
0
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