time in the case of employees of the Department of Transportation, occupying nonmanagerial positions in GS-14 or under, the duties of which are determined by the Secretary of Transportation to be critical to the immediate daily operation of the air traffic control system, to directly affect aviation safety, and to involve physical or mental strain or hardship.

The overtime work of employees performing such duties must be determined by the Secretary of Transportation to be unusually taxing, and it must be found that operating requirements cannot be met without substantial amounts of overtime.

This legislation does not exempt the premium pay of these employees from the limitation on premium pay prescribed by 5 U.S.C. 5547. This section limits the premium pay that may be received by an employee to an amount which does not cause his aggregate rate of pay for any pay period to exceed the maximum rate for GS-15.

This legislation will affect 9,000 to 10,000 air traffic controllers, and approximately 6,000 airway facilities personnel.

The air traffic controllers include air traffic control specialists (including crew chiefs) in en route and terminal air traffic control facilities and in-flight service stations.

The airway facilities personnel are those whose duties are to assure continuous and reliable technical operation of radar display, instrument landing, and other systems for the control and use of air traffic. They insure that technical operation is within prescribed standards, certify satisfactory operation, prevent deterioration, and in the event of equipment failure or abnormal operation take expeditious and corrective action to preclude air traffic delays and assure aviation safety. Overtime work for personnel in such positions is unusually taxing, in that the requirements for expediting the safe movement of air traffic and speedy restoration of navigational aids, including essential equipment in air traffic control facilities, place extreme physical or mental pressure on the employees who must perform the work.

HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

The problems with which this legislation is concerned arise because of limitations in the existing statutes relating to the payment of overtime and standby premium pay to employees in positions for which the basic pay exceeds the rate for the first step of GS-10.

The extremely high rate of growth of air transportation is a major factor creating the need for substantial overtime on the part of our air traffic controllers and airway facilities personnel. In the last 5 years the number of passengers carried by our scheduled airlines has doubled, and the number will double again in the next 5 years. This growth is matched and in some ways exceeded by the growth of general aviation. There are more than 100,000 general aviation aircraft today. In 5 years there will be more than 150,000. Therefore, extensive use of overtime is necessary. For example, starting in June 1968, employees in the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center began working 6 days a week, and will continue working 6 days until relief is available.

To meet the unprecedented growth of air transportation and reduce the requirement for overtime work, there is no alternative but to hire additional employees for the operation and maintenance of the air

traffic control system. The administration has proposed new user charges to provide funds for the expansion of the work force and the capacity of the airway system. The use of overtime is currently an essential need in the air traffic control system. The need for overtime will exist, but to a lesser extent, when the system is staffed with fully trained employees as it would not be economically feasible to staff for unanticipated absences, severe weather conditions, or peak traffic conditions.

Overtime. Existing statutory provisions (5 U.S.C. 5542) authorize premium pay for overtime officially ordered or approved in excess of 40 hours in an administrative workweek or in excess of 8 hours in a day. Payment for overtime is authorized at the rate of one and one-half times the hourly rate of basic pay of the employee if his basic pay does not exceed the minimum rate of GS-10. The hourly rate for such minimum rate, as of July 1, 1968, is $4.47, and the overtime rate is $6.71. For an employee whose basic pay does exceed the minimum rate of GS-10, the maximum overtime hourly rate of pay is limited to $6.71 an hour.

The problem with the foregoing limitation can best be illustrated in the case of air traffic control specialist positions. These are highly skilled and demanding positions. The journeyman air traffic controller at certain high-activity locations is classified at GS-12. His crew chief is classified at GS-13. In order to keep these air traffic control towers and centers properly manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it is necessary at many towers and centers to schedule these employees on a rotating basis, which includes Sunday work. Sunday work (when performed during a regularly scheduled S-hour period of service which is not overtime) is compensable under existing law (5 U.S.C. 5546(a)) at a premium pay rate of 25 percent above the employee's regular rate of basic pay.

These round-the-clock staff requirements for air traffic control specialists are met to the maximum extent feasible by rotation and by scheduling the workweek of the available air traffic control personnel, including regularly scheduled overtime hours. In addition, these employees must from time to time be called back for unscheduled overtime duty to meet unforeseeable fluctuations in air traffic or special air traffic burdens imposed by weather conditions.

One result of the GS-10, step 1, limitation on payment of overtime is that the GS-12 and GS-13 air traffic control specialist or crew chief receives less than time and one-half for his overtime work. In fact, the percentage of premium pay decreases steadily as the employee's rate of basic pay increases. The "premium" rate ($6.71 per hour) actually becomes less than the regular rates for GS-12, step 6 ($6.83 per hour), and above. From that point forward, the employee actually draws less hourly pay for overtime work than he does for regular nonovertime work. This situation creates gross inequities and inevitably generates employee morale problems, as well as reluctance by employees to remain available for frequent callback for overtime work.

The following example illustrates the problem in more concrete terms: Under the rates in effect on July 1, 1968, an air traffic control specialist in GS-12, step 6, receives $6.83 per hour as his regular basic rate of pay. When he performs regularly scheduled Sunday work

(nonovertime) he receives an additional 25 percent for a total of $8.54 per hour. On the other hand, if this same GS-12, step 6, air traffic control specialist is required to work overtime he receives a maximum payment of $6.71 per hour for such overtime. This is 12 cents per hour less than his regular rate of pay. If this unscheduled overtime work is performed on a Sunday, the maximum overtime rate remains at $6.71 per hour as against his rate of pay ($8.54 per hour) for regularly scheduled nonovertime Sunday work. The disparities become even greater if the employee is at a higher step in grade and draws a regular rate of pay higher than that of GS-12, step 6. A crew chief at GS-13, step 5, for example, is paid $1.14 per hour less for overtime than for regular time with correspondingly larger disparities for Sunday overtime work.

The overall result is that the employee working under the conditions described above not only finds himself working overtime for less than his regular rate of pay, but may be working side by side with an employee of the same grade who, because he is working on his regularly scheduled Sunday shift, is being paid substantially more per hour for the same work.

The illustration speaks for itself by indicating the employee morale problems that exist in such a situation, and the accompanying problems of having employees willingly remain available for such overtime work.

The remedy applied by this legislation is simply to remove the GS-10, step 1, limitation from the payment of premium pay for overtime for those Department of Transportation personnel who perform functions which directly affect aviation safety and permit the payment to such employees of straight time and one-half for such premium pay.

The bill does not seek to alter the limitation on premium pay imposed by 5 U.S.C. 5547, which limits the aggregate pay including premium to the maximum rate for GS-15. This limitation poses no serious problem at this time.

Standby time. The bill proposes also to eliminate the GS-10, step 1, limitations presently imposed on premium pay for standby time pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5545 (c) (1), to alleviate inequities in standby duty assignments similar to those discussed above with respect to

overtime.

EXPLANATION OF THE BILL

The first section of the bill adds a new paragraph (3) to section 5542(a) of title 5, United States Code.

The new paragraph (3) provides an hourly rate for premium pay for overtime in an amount equal to one and one-half times the hourly rate of basic pay for certain employees of the Department of Transportation who occupy nonmanagerial positions in GS-14 or under. It is intended that such provisions apply only to employees who cannot control their overtime work.

The provision requires that the Secretary of Transportation determine the particular positions which will qualify the occupant for the overtime rate. The Secretary is required to reach a determination that the duties of the position are critical to the immediate daily operation of the air traffic control system, directly affect aviation safety, and in

volve physical or mental strain or hardship; that overtime work is unusually taxing; and that the operating requirements cannot be met without substantial overtime work.

Paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 5542 (a) currently limit the hourly rate for premium pay for overtime to the minimum rate of GS-10. This legislation removes the employees covered by paragraph (3) from that limitation, and permits them to be paid premium pay at the rate of time and one-half for their overtime work.

The premium pay of these employees will still be subject to the limitation on premium pay prescribed by section 5547 of title 5, United States Code. This section limits the premium pay of any employee subject to these premium pay provisions for overtime work to an amount which does not cause the employee's aggregate rate of pay for any pay period to exceed the maximum rate for GS-15. This limitation will prevent employees in the higher steps of GS-14 from receiving the full time and one-half rate.

Section 2 of the bill amends section 5545 (c) (1) of title 5, United States Code, relating to premium pay for standby time, to provide that employees covered by the first section of the bill may have their premium pay for standby time computed at an annual premium rate that does not exceed 25 percent of their basic annual pay. The current statutory provision limits such rate to not more than 25 percent of the minimum rate of basic pay for GS-10. This amendment provides the same basic treatment for premium pay for standby time as is provided by the first section of the bill for premium pay for overtime.

Section 3 of the bill provides an effective date for the changes provided by the first section and section 2, as the first day of the first pay period which begins on or after the 30th day after the date of enactment.

COST

Using the fiscal year 1969 original estimate of overtime and standby time, this legislation would result in an additional annual cost of $1.5 million. However, due to the recent increase in air traffic with the resulting increase in overtime and standby time, the current estimate of additional annual cost is $2.1 million.

EXECUTIVE RECOMMENDATION

The official recommendation of the Department of Transportation is set forth below, together with a letter dated July 26, 1968, describing the functions of airway facilities technical personnel.

THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION,
Washington, D.C., June 27, 1968.

Hon. JOHN W. MCCORMACK,

Speaker of the House of Representatives,

Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. SPEAKER: I transmit herewith for the consideration of the Congress a draft of a proposed bill, to provide for the payment of overtime and standby pay to certain personnel employed in the Department of Transportation.

The bill is designed to provide additional flexibility and equity in scheduling overtime, callback for nonscheduled overtime, and standby time for personnel of the Federal Aviation Administration in the Department of Transportation whose functions directly affect the orderly. efficient, and safe flow of air traffic. The bill would provide for payment for such duty in a manner which will be fair and equitable to the FAA and to the employees.

As detailed below, the problems with which we are concerned arise because of limitations in the existing statutes relating to the payment of overtime and standby pay to employees in positions for which the basic pay exceeds the rate for the first step of GS-10.

The extremely high rate of growth of air transportation is a major factor creating the need for substantial overtime on the part of our air traffic controllers and airway facilities personnel. In the last 5 years the number of passengers carried by our scheduled airlines has doubled, and the number will double again in the next 5 years. This growth is matched and in some ways exceeded by the growth of general aviation. There are more than 100,000 general aviation aircraft today. In 5 years there will be more than 150,000. Therefore, extensive use of overtime is necessary. For example, starting in June 1968, employees in the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center will begin working 6 days a week, and will continue working 6 days until relief is available.

To meet the unprecedented growth of air transportation and reduce the requirement for overtime worked by our employees, we will continue to need additional employees for the operation and maintenance of the air traffic control system. The administration has proposed new user charges to provide funds for the expansion of our work force and the capacity of the airway system. The use of overtime is currently an essential need in the air traffic control system. The need for overtime will exist, but to a lesser extent, when the system is staffed with fully trained employees as it would not be economically feasible to staff for unanticipated absences, severe weather conditions, or peak traffic conditions.

Overtime. Existing statutory provisions (5 U.S.C. 5542) authorize the payment of overtime pay for work officially ordered or approved in excess of 40 hours in an administrative workweek or in excess of 8 hours in a day. Payment for overtime work is authorized at the rate of one and one-half times the hourly rate of basic pay of the employee if his basic pay does not exceed the rate of basic pay for step 1 of GS-10 ($6.36 per hour). For an employee whose basic pay does exceed the rate for step 1 of GS-10, the maximium overtime hourly rate of pay is limited to that amount-$6.36 per hour.

The problem with the foregoing limitation can best be illustrated in the case of air traffic control specialist positions. These are highly skilled and demanding positions. The journeyman air traffic controller at certain high-activity locations is classified at GS-12. His crew chief is classified at GS-13. In order to keep these air traffic control towers and centers properly manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it is necessary at many towers and centers to schedule these employees on a rotating basis, which includes Sunday work. Sunday work (when performed during a regularly scheduled 8-hour period of service which is not overtime) is compensable under existing law-5 U.S.C. 5546