The purpose of making Inauguration Day a legal holiday is to enable all Government employees to attend the inauguration ceremonies of the President-elect. As a result of this law all Government employees were discharged from service on March 4, 1929, including the employees of the Government Navy Yard and a few in the custodial and other services of the Government.
All other employees in the Government services, including the per diem employees of the Government Printing Office and the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, are taken care of by existing law and they received full pay_notwithstanding that they are excused from work on Inauguration Day.
The committee feels that those per diem employees adversely affected should receive the same consideration as other employees throughout the District of Columbia. There is no essential difference between the character of their employment and that of other civilservice employees in the District who work upon a monthly basis as the work of per diem employees is continuous throughout the year. It is well to remember also that civil-service employees, as a rule, work only 42 hours per week, and are entitled to 30 days' leave in addition to 30 days' sick leave while the workers in the navy yard work 48 hours per week and have no allowance for sick or other leave so that they are already placed at a disadvantage as compared with those who are paid upon a monthly or annual basis.
The total number of employees in the navy yard is in the neighborhood of 4,500, and they receive a per diem salary of $6 per day. Employees outside of this group who are affected are small in number.
The resolution meets with the approval of the Navy Department as is shown by a letter from the Secretary of the Navy dated October 15, 1929, which is appended hereto and made a part of this report.
The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS,
NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, October 15, 1929.
United States Senate, Washington, D. C.
MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Replying further to the committee's communication dated April 30, 1929, transmitting Senate Joint Resolution 24, "For the payment of certain employees of the United States Government in the District of Columbia and employees of the District of Columbia for March 4, 1929," and requesting the views of the Navy Department relative to this measure, I have the honor to advise you as follows:
The purpose of this proposed legislation is to provide that employees of the United States Government in the District of Columbia and the employees of the District of Columbia who come within the provisions of the act approved June 18, 1888, and who, under the provisions of said act, were excused from work on Monday, March 4, 1929, a holiday, shall be entitled to pay for said holiday. It appears from the records of the Navy Department that commencing March 4, 1901, each and every inaugural day has been regarded as a holiday with pay, and employees of the Washington Navy Yard have been paid for all inaugural days up to but not including March 4, 1929. A decision rendered by the Comptroller of the Treasury to the Secretary of the Navy on August 19, 1904 (11 Comp. Dec. 97), stated that per diem employees of the Washington Navy Yard are entitled to pay for Saturday afternoons, Labor Day, and inaugural day, although not performing work thereon, provided they are excused from work on such days by Executive order.
The reason for not granting March 4, 1929, as a holiday without loss of pay or time appears to have been due to the absence of an Executive order to cover the matter. It is understood that all Government departments, including their