12
week does not as yet apply to all state
employees has caused some dissatisfac
tion w ithin our ranks.
O ur failure to make it applicable to
all classifications was based on factors
over which there waS, rip tsingle control.
Lack of housing facilities at our insti
tution^, a poor labor market for cer
tain' types of employees, previously es
tablished construction program, the in
come factor and previously established
budgets, together made a uniform,
work-week impossible at this time. I
We should not discount the reaction
of the general p u b li^ to the five-day
work-wéek. Public reaction in the Salem
area hais n o t been good. Many business
firms have Strongly opposed this idea.
My recommendation is to continue
our effotts to bring as many employees
under a m onthly salary as possible, thus
opening the w âyrto bring these pebple
under the five-day week.
Vacation: During the year, the Civil
Service Cotnmission revised, its rules
whereby vacation Ipaye is now to be
allowed at the rate of two ¡calendar
weeks for each twelve m onths of- ser
vice, Before révision, ,-thef rules, we-te
based on one work day ôf vacation., pér
m onth of service. Pressure from private
employers arid public opinion are B B
lieved to haye had their I effect on the
Comfnission’S ruling. A two-daÿ per
year casual leave’ has now been allowed
under the revised rules which off-sets
to some extent the arbitrary reduction
in vacation leave. H
11 SzcA Leave: In most cases, depart
ments have credited I employees w ith
sick-leave earned before Civil Service
went' into effect. We played an active
part in, securing concessions from some
departments;
Regular Pay Days: We have made
but little progress in establishirig a reg
ular pay day for I hourly employees,
even though we have made many ef
forts to do so. Methods of reporting
payroll data and delivering checks ate
apparently cumbersome and I antiquat
ed, y
The Assoçiatiori should-offer a solu
tion to this problem. Possible solutions
are: ehmiriation of hourly rates o f pay,
two pay days per month, setting B n
Earlier date-'for closing payroll accounts
or ,setting a pay-day-'far enough Bed
the month to be met by j accounting
,dfiyfsidri5y under any < circumstances.
Merit Ratings; To date not all of %he
departments have attempted to apply
the system to their employee^. Some
have, ignored the rules entirely, some
have" /entered' into i&vhalf-heartedly,x4pd
few haVe made a sincere effort to Es
tablish a , workable System.
The m atter of Merit ratings "should
not be ignored by this sessiori B the
General Council. Either we should make
a determined e f f o rtto see that the rule
is ^enforced honestly and to the best
ability of ’those applying it, or recom
mend that; f t 'be discarded. As applied
in many instances, it is/a' travesty^'B
Examinationss We have a committee
appointed to w ork w ith the State Civil
Servipe Director on examinations. A
meeting of the Committee was called
but postponed at .the request of the Di
rector. A subsequent date has;not been
set.
. 5$
We friust keep vigilant ori thls -rriat-
ter.
RETIREM ENT:
O ur efforts' toward amending -the
Retirement A ct ate reported elsewhere.
There appears tqz be some question
about- the present policy of the Retire
ment Board regarding date of disabil
ity Retirement where an employee has
sick leave'and vacation credit.
There is also a question of the Board’s
policy of not allowing pay for accuriiu-
lated if ^C atio n when retirement age' is
reached. The Board b$s evidently' forced
some employees to retire two weeks be
fore the end of the m onth in order to
use up accumulated vacation.
The Association ha-s been asked to
take a I position I on the policy adopted
by I some departments I and institutions
in retiring ^everyone reaching the re
tirement age regardless of efficiency
and health.
The Retirement A ct has been criti-