78TH CONGRESS 2d Session } HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES REPORT No. 2025 AMENDMENT OF THE CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT ACT DECEMBER 6, 1944.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. RAMSPECK, from the Committee on the Civil Service, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1481] The Committee on the Civil Service, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1481) to amend further the Civil Service Retirement Act, approved May 29, 1930, as amended, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. GENERAL STATEMENT The purpose of this bill is to permit persons who have received lump-sum benefits under the Employees' Compensation Act of September 7, 1916, to receive annuities under the Civil Service Retirement Act. Existing law prohibits the receipt of employees' disability compensation and civil-service retirement annuity by the same person for the same period of time (sec. 7 of the Employees' Compensation Act of September 7, 1916, and sec. 6, Civil Service Retirement Act of May 29, 1930). The Comptroller General has held that a former civilian employee of the Government who received a lump-sum award of disability compensation on the basis of life expectancy under the terms of the Employees' Compensation Act is prohibited from receiving disability retirement annuity under the terms of the Civil Service Retirement Act (13 Comp. Gen. 260). An employee who has received a lump-sum settlement under the Employees' Compensation Act may reenter the Federal service and make regular contributions to the retirement fund, but existing law prevents him from becoming an annuitant either for age or disability. Under this bill the right of a person entitled to annuity would not be affected because such person had received a lump-sum award under the Employees' Compensation Act. This bill has passed the Senate. It has the approval of the Civil Service Commission and the Employees' Compensation Commission. A letter attached from the Civil Service Commission indicates it has the approval of the Bureau of the Budget. Hon. ROBERT RAMSPECK, UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, Chairman, Committee on the Civil Service, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. RAMSPECK: The Commission desires to invite attention to a matter which arises frequently in the administration of the civil-service retirement law and which this office feels warrants correction. Section 7 of the Employees' Compensation Act of September 7, 1916, and section 6, Civil Service Retirement Act of May 29, 1930, as amended, prohibit the receipt of employees' disability compensation and civil-service retirement annuity by the same person for the same period of time. The first-mentioned statute specifically states that "as long as the employee is in receipt of compensation under this act, or if he has been paid a lump sum in commutation of installment payments, until the expiration of the period during which such installment payments would have continued, he shall not receive from the United States any salary, pay, or remuneration whatsoever except in return for services actually performed, and except pensions for service in the Army or Navy of the United States." No such exception to this bar is made regarding retirement annuity. In his decision of April 4, 1934 (13 Comp. Gen. 260), the Comptroller General of the United States held: "A former civilian employee of the Government who received a lump-sum award of disability compensation on the basis of life expectancy under the terms of the Employees' Compensation Act is prohibited from receiving disability retirement annuity under the terms of the Civil Service Retirement Act." The Commission feels that this works a hardship and an injustice in cases of this nature and should be the subject of corrective legislation. An employee who has received a lump-sum settlement under the Employees' Compensation Act at one time may reenter the Federal service and during the continuance of his employment make the regular contributions to the retirement fund. However, he may not, under existing law, ever become an annuitant either for age or for disability unrelated to that on account of which he received a lump-sum payment under the Employees' Compensation Act. The Employees' Compensation Commission was contacted on this subject and expressed concurrence with the views of this Commission and joins in recommending_corrective legislation. A draft of a proposed amendment to the Civil Service Retirement Act which will accomplish the desired purpose, prepared jointly by this Commission and members of the legal staff of the Employees' Compensation Commission, is submitted herewith. Under this draft the right of a person entitled to annuity would not be affected because the person had received a lump-sum award under the Employees' Compensation Act, except where the annuity is payable on account of the same disability for which the lump-sum award of compensation was paid. Where the cause for retirement and the basis upon which an award of compensation for disability (paid in a lump sum) are the same, the annuitant would be required to refund that part of the lump-sum award which represents the compensation he has received for any period extended beyond the date the annuity becomes effective. Such refund should be returned to the compensation fund from which the payment was derived. refund in one of three ways: (1) By refunding the amount directly to the ComUnder this proposal an annuitant may accomplish the mission (in which event his annuity would commence on the date retirement is effective), (2) by authorizing deduction of the amount of the refund from accrued and accruing annuity payments (thus postponing the date the person would receive annuity payments until the amount to be refunded has accrued and been paid to the Commission), or (3) by authorizing deduction of the amount to be refunded the Commission from the annuity on a pro rata basis, the deduction to be made against accrued and accruing payments of annuity in such manner as made against accrued and accruing payments of annuity in such manner as the Employees' Compensation Commission may determine. In a draft submitted by the Employees' Compensation Commission, the determination to be made in clause (3) above would be by the Civil Service Commission. However, inasmuch as the refund is to be made to the appropriation of the Employees' Compensation Commission and the indebtedness would be owed to that Commission, it is believed that it should make the determination of the manner in which the refund would be paid. The Commission, therefore, recommends that this proposal be enacted into law. The Bureau of the Budget advises that if the draft of bill is revised to eliminate the words "where such annuity is payable on account of the same disability for which compensation under such section of such act of September 7, 1916, has been paid," there would be no objection to the submission of the proposed legislation to the Congress for its consideration. With kind regards, I am Very sincerely yours, HARRY B. MITCHELL, President. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with paragraph 2a of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, changes made by the bill, as introduced, in existing law are shown as follows (new matter proposed to be inserted is printed in italics): SECTION 6 OF THE CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT ACT SEC. 6. Any employee to whom this Act applies who shall have served for a total period of not less than five years, and who, before becoming eligible for retirement under the conditions defined in the preceding sections hereof, becomes totally disabled for useful and efficient service in the grade or class of position occupied by the employee, by reason of disease or injury not due to vicious habits, intemperance, or willful misconduct on the part of the employee, shall upon his own application or upon the request or order of the head of the department, branch, or independent office concerned, be retired on an annuity computed in accordance with the provisions of section 4 hereof: Provided, That proof of freedom from vicious habits, intemperance, or willful misconduct for a period of more than five years next prior to becoming so disabled for useful and efficient service, shall not be required in any case. No claim shall be allowed under the provisions of this section unless the application for retirement shall have been executed prior to the applicant's separation from the service or within six months thereafter: Provided, That any employee who heretofore has failed to file an application for retirement within six months after separation from the service, may file such application within three months after the effective date of this Act. No employee shall be retired under the provisions of this section unless examined by a medical officer of the United States, or a duly qualified physician or surgeon, or board of physicians or surgeons, designated by the Civil Service Commission for that purpose, and found to be disabled in the degree and in the manner specified herein. The time limitation for execution of claims for retirement under the terms of this section may be waived by the Civil Service Commission in cases of employees who at the date of separation from service or within six months thereafter, are adjudged mentally incompetent, but the application in such cases must be filed with the Civil Service Commission within one year from the date of restoration of any such person to competency or the appointment of a fiduciary whichever is the earlier. In the case of any such person heretofore separated from service application may be filed within one year after the effective date of this Act. Every annuitant retired under the provisions of this section, unless the disability for which retired be permanent in character, shall at the expiration of one year from the date of such retirement and annually thereafter, until reaching retirement age as defined in section 1 hereof, be examined under the direction of the Civil Service Commission by a medical officer of the United States, or a duly qualified physician or surgeon, or board of physicians or surgeons designated by the Civil Service Commission for that purpose, in order to ascertain the nature and degree of the annuitant's disability, if any. If an annuitant shall recover before reaching retirement age and be restored to an earning capacity which would permit him to be appointed to some appropriate position fairly comparable in compensation to the position occupied at the time of retirement, payment of the annuity shall be continued temporarily to afford the annuitant opportunity to seek such available position, but not in any case exceeding one year from the date of the medical examination showing such recovery. Should the annuitant fail to appear for examination, as required under this section, payment of the annuity shall be suspended until continuance of the disability shall have been satisfactorily established. The Civil Service Commission may order or direct at any time such medical or other examination as it shall deem necessary to determine the facts relative to the nature and degree of disability of any employee retired on an annuity under this section. In all cases where the annuity is discontinued under the provisions of this section before the annuitant has received a sum equal to the amount credited to his individual account as provided in section 12 (a) hereof, together with interest at 4 per centum per annum compounded on June 30 of each year, the difference, unless he shall become reemployed in a position within the purview of this Act, shall be paid to the retired employee, as provided in section 12 (b) hereof, upon application therefor in such form and manner as the Civil Service Commission may direct. In case of reemployment in a position within the purview of this Act the amount so refunded shall be redeposited as provided in section 12 (b) hereof. No person shall be entitled to receive an annuity under the provisions of this Act, and compensation under the provisions of the Act of September 7, 1916, entitled "An Act to provide compensation for employees of the United States suffering injuries while in the performance of their duties, and for other purposes," covering the same period of time; but this provision shall not be so construed as to bar the right of any claimant to the greater benefit conferred by either Act for any part of the same period of time. Fees for examinations made under the provisions of this section, by physicians or surgeons who are not medical officers of the United States, shall be fixed by the Civil Service Commission, and such fees, together with the employee's reasonable traveling and other expenses incurred in order to submit to such examinations, shall be paid out of the appropriations for the cost of administering this Act. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the right of any person entitled to an annuity under this Act shall not be affected because such person has received an award of compensation in a lump sum under section 14 of the Act entitled "An Act to provide compensation for employees of the United States suffering injuries while in the performance of their duties, and for other purposes", approved September 7, 1916, as amended, except that so much of such compensation as has been paid for any period extended beyond the date such annuity becomes effective, as determined by the United States Employees' Compensation Commission, shall be refunded to the United States Employees' Compensation Commission, to be covered into the Employees' Compensation Fund. Before such person shall receive such annuity he shall (1) refund to such Commission the amount representing such commuted payments for such extended period, or (2) authorize the deduction of such amount from the annuity payable to him under this Act, which amount shall be transmitted to such Commission for reimbursement to such fund. Deduction from such annuity may be made from accrued and accruing annuity payments, or may be prorated against and paid from accruing payments in such manner as the Employees' Compensation Commission shall determine, whenever it finds that the financial circumstances of the annuitant are such as to warrant such deferred refunding. О AUTHORIZING INCREASES IN WAGES FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYEES OF THE ALASKA RAILROAD FOR SERVICES RENDERED FROM MAY 1, 1943, TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1943, INCLUSIVE DECEMBER 6, 1944.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. RAMSPECK, from the Committee on the Civil Service, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4709] The Committee on the Civil Service, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4709) to authorize increases in wages for certain employees of The Alaska Railroad for services rendered from May 1, 1943, to September 30, 1943, inclusive, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the following amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. Page 2, line 10, change the word "increased" to "increases". This amendment is recommended because of a clerical error in drawing up the bill. The purpose of the bill is to remedy an injustice resulting from a decision of the Comptroller General concerning the War Övertime Pay Act of 1943, effective May 1, 1943. The decision restricts the effect of the act to employees of The Alaska Railroad on a monthly or annual basis and denies the benefits of the act to employees paid on an hourly or per diem basis. In fairness and justice, all employees are deserving of the same consideration. As soon as practicable after the decision of the Comptroller General was made known, the Secretary of the Interior made the necessary administrative order so as to give the employees paid on an hourly or per diem basis the same increase given to the employees paid on a monthly or annual basis by the War Overtime Pay Act, and such order was effective October 1, 1943. In order to give equality of treatment, the present proposed legislation is necessary to cover retroactively the increases between May 1, 1943, and September 30, 1943, inclusive. Ordinarily such action would be taken as a matter of course by administrative order, but under the decision of the Comptroller General legislation is required. H. Repts., 78–2, vol. 5- -74 |