[Opa Is Our Battle Line]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION
Denver, Colorado
TO ALL EMPLOYEES OF THE OFFICE
OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION IN REGION VIIS
The continued success of the OPA, measured in service to our country, will be realized in direct ratio to the performance of each individual employee and the degree of cooperation and coordination attained throughout the entire organization.
A thorough understanding of the purposes and accomplishments of our agency, plus the methods by which we are attempting to attain our goal, is important to each employee, not only for his own personal guidance and satisfaction, but to insure the maximum in attainment for the common cause.
The employee handbook has been prepared to give you a general understanding of your agency. I hope that each of you will read it from cover to cover. It is arranged in such a way that it affords a ready reference, with answers to many questions that will arise from time to time.
Due to the extent of otir territory, I have not had the pleasure of knowing each of you personally. I hope that I may have that privilege at some time during the course of our association.
I wish to extend my best wishes to each of you and to express my appreciation for your cooperation and the interest you have evidenced in attaining those results so vital to the war and to the future of our country.
CLEM W. COLLINS
Regional Administrator
This handbook has been developed by the Training Branch, Personnel Division, in cooperation with operating officials. Published for the use of the employees of the Office of Price Administration. June 1943.
OPA
IS OUR BATTLE LINE
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK
Region VII Edition
OCTOBER 1943
OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1943
OPA Is Our Battle Line series
No. 1—National Employee Handbook
No. 2—Regional Employee Handbook
No. 3—Employee Handbook for War Price and Rationing Boards
No. 4—Handbook for Price Panel Assistants
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Our Part in Winning the War_________________________________________________ vn
Foreword__________________________________________________________._______ TY
Part I. Our Agency___________________________________________________________ ]
OPA in the Making________________________________________________________
OPA’s predecessors_____________________________________________________________ 2
Legislative basis for OPA______________________________________________________ 2
Rationing authority________________________________________________________ 2
OPA’s inheritance_____________________________________________________________ 2
The Policies and Purposes of OPA___________________________________________ 2
Why Price Control, Rent Control, and Rationing Are Necessary__________________ 2
Direct controls over supplies and their distribution_______________________ 3
Indirect controls over consumer demand_________________________________________ 4
Direct control of prices_______________________________________________________ 5
The Consequences of Inflation________________________________________________ 5
The price structure__________________________________________________________ 5
Business_______________________________________________________________________ £
Production_____________________________________________________________________ g
Labor______________________________________________________________________
Fixed incomes__________________________________________________________________ 6
Farmers______________________________________________________________________ 5
Standards of living__________________________________________________________ 6
Price Control________________________________________________________________ 7
The Period of Selective Price Control________________________________________ 7
The General Maximum Price Regulation___________________________________________ 7
The Extension of Price Control_______________________________________________ 7
Wholesale prices____________________________________________________________ 7
Retail prices_________________________________________________________________ 8
The Effectiveness of Price Control___________________________________________ 9
Methods of Price Control_____________________________________________________ 9
The base period_______________________________________________________________ 9
The dollars-and-cents ceiling__________________________________________________ 9
The formula________________________________________________________________ n
How a Regulation Is Created__________________________________________________ U
Rationing____________________________________________________________________ 12
Types of Rationing__________________________________________________________ 12
Reasons for Rationing_____________________________________________________ 12
Shortages____________________________________________________________________ 13
When We Ration____________________________________________________________ 13
How We Ration_______________________________________________________________ 14
Ration Documents__________________________________________________________ 44
The flow-back process_____________________________________________________ 14
Ration banking.______________________________________________________________ 14
Point rationing_________________________________________________________ 15
What We Are Rationing_________________________________________________________ 15
Rent Control.________________________________________________________________ 15
Purposes of Rent Control______________________________________________________ 15
Fair Rent Committees______________________________________________________ Jg
Rent Control Under the Emergency Price Control Act_________________________ 17
Typical Maximum Rent Regulations___________________________________________ 17
Registration__________________________________________________________________ 18
Effectiveness of Rent Control_______________________________________________ 18
in
IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Part II. Our Organization----------------------------------------------------- 19
OPA’s Place in the Federal Government_________________________________________ 19
OPA’s Relation With Central Administrative Services___________________________ 19
Functional Layout of the National Office______________________________________ 20
The Price Department____________________________________________________________ 20
The Rationing Department_____________________________________________________ 20
The Rent Department-——______________________—_________________________________ 22
The Legal Department------------------------------------------------------------ 22
The Professional Services Department_________________________________________ 22
The Information Department______________________________________________________ 22
The Administrative Management Department______________________________ 22
The Senior Deputy Administrator—and the Field________________________,________ 22
The Field Organization______________________________________._________________ 22
Regional offices______________________________________________________________ 23
District offices____________________________________________________________ 23
Defense-rental area offices_____________________________________ 23
Local war price and rationing boards_____________________________;___________ 23
The Administrator-----------------------,-------------------—----------------- 23
Keeping Up With the Organization________________„_____________________________ 24
Fitting our jobs in____________________.______________________________________ 24
Necessity for organizational flexibility_________________________________ 24
References and sources__________________________________________________________ 24
Part III. Our Jobs— ______________________________________;------------------- 25
OPA’s Personnel Policy___________________________________________________________ 25
Our Attitude Toward Our Jobs__________________________________________________ 25
Our private interests__________________________________________________________ 25
Loyalty_______________________________________________________________________ 25
Personal conduct-.___________________________________________________—------- 25
Our spare time_____________________________________._________________—.------ 25
Service to the public___________________________________________________________ 26
Confidential nature of our work_________________________________________________ 26
Our part in OPA Staffing________________________________________________________ 26
Financial Responsibility________________________________________________________ 26
Legal Rights, Protection, and Prohibitions______________________________________ 27
Racial and Religious Fairness___________________________________________________ 27
Unions_________________________________________________________________________ 27
Adjustment of Complaints________________________________________________________ 27
Sales, Contributions, Canvassing________________________________________________ 28
Personal Mail__________________----------------------------------------------- 28
Home Address____________________________________________________________________ 28
Draft Deferment Policy__________________________________________________________ 28
Hours of Work___________________________________________________________________ 28
Holidays________________________________________________________________________ 28
Leave____________________________________________________________—------------ 28
Vacation leave__________________________________________________________________ 29
Sick leave_____________________________________________________________________ 29
Maternity leave________________________________________________________________ 29
Leave without pay________________________________________________—----------- 29
Military leave----------------------------------------------------------------- 29
Leave for court duty____________________________________________________________ 29
Official leave_______________________________________________________________ 29
Civil Service Personnel Regulations______________________________________________ 30
Appointment___________________________________________________________________- 30
Promotion_____________________________________________________________________- 30
Separation-------------------------------------------------------------------- 30
The Stabilization of Employment Program--------------------------------------- 31
Transfer._______________________—--------------------------------------------- 31
Job Classification and Salary___________________________________________________ 31
Salary ranges---------------------------------------------------------------- 32
Overtime___________________________________________________________ 32
Payroll---------------------------------------------------------------------- 32
Deductions from salary------------------------------------------------------ 33
Refund of deductions____________________________________________________________ 33
TABLE OF CONTENTS
V
Part III. Our Jobs—Continued.
Civil Service Personnel Regulations—Continued. Page
Retirement____________________________________________________________________ 34
Automatic contributions_______________________________________________________ 34
Voluntary contributions_____________________________________________________ 34
Automatic retirement________________________________________________________ 34
Optional retirement___________________________________________________________ 34
Disability benefits__________________________________________________________ 34
Death benefits________________________________________________________________ 34
Credit for military service_______________________________________________ 34
Annuities____________________________________________________________________ 34
Efficiency Ratings__________________________________________________________ 35
Compensation for Injury_______________________________________________________ 35
Part IV. Our Services and Resources
Travel____________________________________________________________________ 36
Communications________________________________________________________________ 36
Mail_________________________________________________________________________ 36
Messengers________________________________________________________________ 37
Telephones____________________________________________________________________ 37
Wire messages_________________________________________________________________ 37
Supplies and Equipment______________________________________________________ 37
Stenographic, Typing, and Transcription Services______________________________ 37
Printing and Duplicating______________________________________________________ 38
Library_______________________________________________________________________ 38
Inquiry Section___________________________________________________________ 38
Employee Suggestion_________________________________________________________. 38
Conference Rooms______________________________________________,_____________ 38
Training_______________ ____________________________________________________ 39
Share-Your-Car_______________________________________________________________ 39
War Savings Bonds_____________________________________________________________ 39
Red Cross Blood Bank__________________________________________________ 40
Epilogue____________________________________________________________________ 41
Suggested Readings____________________________________________________________ 42
Index_____________________________________________________________._________ 45
ILLUSTRATIONS
Frontispiece________________________________________________________________ vil
Tug of War___________________________________________________________________ 3
Dollar Savings on Government War Expenditures__________________________________ 8
Dollar Savings to Farmers______________________________________________________ 10
Rents for Wage Earners_________________________________________________________ 16
OPA’s Place in the Federal Government_______________________________________ 20
OPA’s Allies on the Home Front______________________________________________ 21
OPA Organization Chart_________________________________________________Opp. p. 22
Regional Map____________________________________________________________Opp. p. 26
OUR PART IN WINNING THE WAR . . .
In total war, for every soldier in the field there must be many civilians at home to furnish his weapons, his food, and his equipment.
A large part of the welfare of this vast civilian Army ... as well as the soldier’s own “stake” in the economy to which he will return ... is in OPA’s hands.
The wages and the savings of the people must not be swept away in soaring prices and u n c o n -trolled rents. Scarce supplies of civilian goods must be fairly distributed. And the battle - of - inflation must be won lest it seriously endanger the battle - of - production.
Thus, the morale of the Civilian Army and, through the morale, its actual production are directly affected by the way OPA does its job.
The responsibility of each one of us in OPA is clear. We have a share in a job that must not fail.
vn
FOREWORD
Purpose of the Handbook
This handbook has been prepared to help employees gain a working knowledge of OPA and to feel at home in their job. It contains information about OPA’s work, about OPA’s organizational, structure, and about our obligations, rights, and privileges as employees.
Large private businesses are becoming increasingly aware that one of their greatest assets is the good will created by their employees. It is even more evident that what we say about OPA and about our jobs to our family and friends, or to anyone, can greatly increase the opportunity of the war agency for which we work to serve our Nation. Half-truths or misinformation cripples the effectiveness and even endangers the existence of any agency serving the people. It is, then, an important part of our effort in winning the war to inform ourselves about the work of the Office of Price Administration and the specific role each of us plays in it.
Besides, the more we understand of the agency and our jobs, the more intelligently we can work. The more we know of the services and resources available for our use on the job, the more smoothly our work will flow.
How To Use the Handbook
The handbook is to be used by new employees as an aid to orientation in OPA; it is to be used by both new and old employees as a handy reference. The aim has been to clarify principles rather than to cover details; to indicate sources of further information rather than to trace procedures. In other words, what is said here is for general information; before acting on any particular, we should confer with our supervisors or go to the sources indicated in connection with the action involved.
Since many new employees are coming to OPA and the work load of supervisors is heavy, it would be helpful if we would learn as much as we •can from the handbook and approach our supervisors with definite matters to be worked out instead of vague problems in undefined, or ill-defined, areas.
It’s Yours
This handbook is yours. Put your name on it. Keep it in a •convenient place on your desk. Use it for your information and your pleasure.
558309°— 43-------2* •
Part I
OUR AGENCY
OP A in the Making
OPA’s predecessors. A turn through OPA’s early history leads along an alphabetical maze of organizations and reorganizations. Rapid changes were necessary to keep pace with swiftly developing defense and war programs. Though it might be of little worth to memorize names and dates, it is reassuring to know that there has been a continuity of some years’ duration in the effort to control prices, and in the study of how best to accomplish that control.
The need for regulating prices was formally recognized long before the Office of Price Administration was established. In September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, and England and France declared war, a flurry of buying and a rise of 25 percent in the prices of basic commodities during the first month of the war made it evident, in the light of the lesson learned from World War I, that something must be done to protect the United States from the inflation and profiteering that threatened.
In May 1940 the President launched the defense program by calling for a mobilization of all the resources of the country. To pilot this mobilization program, he named an Advisory Commission to the newly reborn Council of National Defense, which had been dormant since the end of World War I. One of the seven divisions of the Commission was the Price Stabilization Division. It was OPA’s earliest predecessor.
With pressures on prices increasing because of increased demands and spreading shortages, it soon became clear that an agency with merely ad-
1
2
OPA IS OUR BATTLE LINE
visory powers was not enough. So the President, during the first months of 1941, made a series of rearrangements leading toward isolation of the price control function so that it could operate more effectively. He split the Advisory Commission’s functions, establishing the Office of Production Management (OPM) to manage production and the Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply (OPACS) to do most of the rest. On August 28, 1941, the name was changed to the Office of Price Administration, the functions of the Civilian Allocation Division being transferred to OPM, predecessor of WPB, by the same order.
Legislative basis for OPA. However, like its predecessors, OPA was still operating under order of the President, though as early as the summer of 1941 it had been obvious that price control needed to be given legislative basis if it were to be fully effective. On July 30 of that year, the President asked Congress to provide that statutory authority. On January 30, 1942, the Emergency Price Control Act became law. For the first time, the Office had undisputed power to control prices and rents and was provided with specific means to punish violators.
Rationing authority. The responsibility for rationing was not included in the Emergency Act, but was delegated to OPA by the War Production Board in January 1942. (See section, “When We Ration,” p. 13.)
OPA’s inheritance. In spite of the lack of statutory support and in spite of the confusing demands of the swiftly changing world picture, the price agency in its various forms left behind a story of creditable achievement. (See chart on front cover.) By February 11, 1942, when the Price Administrator was formally sworn in under the Act, 105 formal price schedules had been issued, approximately 120 voluntary agreements to stabilize prices had been reached by various industry groups, several hundred letters, warnings, and suggestions had been issued regarding maximum prices, and a fair start had been made toward educating the public in the need for price control. By studies, observations, and investigations the office had also amassed a reservoir of information and records on which it could draw, and experience which would prove invaluable in the days to come. For an organization which was said to have been operating by “jawbone control” in a price structure held together with “rubber bands and paper clips,” that was not a bad record.
THE POLICY AND PURPOSES OF OPA
Why Price Control, Rent Control, and Rationing Are Necessary
This world-wide war demands the shifting of tremendous quantities of manpower, materials, and machines to war production. From 30 to 35 million persons will have been shifted to war industries and to the armed forces by the end of 1943. The total supply of certain vital materials (such as copper and aluminum) and a very large part of many others must be funneled into war plants. Many civilian industries which would have to use scarce materials, machines, and labor skills to keep going will be forced to close down, to cut production, or to change to producing essential war goods.
OUR AGENCY
3
TUG OF WAR . . .
1932
1939
1940
EJ Amount of goods and services received during the year by the average American, measured according to 1941 prices.
■ Amount of dollars spent during the year by the average American.
Note.—Until 1941, spending more and getting more—at higher prices. In 1942, spending more but getting less. In 1943, expecting to get less and hoping to spend less.
1941
1942
1943
ESTIMATE
The most urgent economic responsibility of everyone engaged in this war is to achieve maximum war production. Labor, materials, and machines must be transferred from civilian production to war production as rapidly as possible. This means that civilian production must be stripped down to essentials. Closely related is the problem of obtaining a fair distribution of the dwindling supply of civilian goods. It is also necessary, during our fight for liberty, to avert the economic depression which would inevitably follow inflation. Therefore, all the controls of our war economy are directed toward these three objectives: (1) maximum war production, (2) fair distribution of scarce civilian goods, and (3) forestalling postwar economic deflation.
Direct controls over supplies and their distribution. Direct controls used to gain our war objectives include priorities and allocations, and consumer rationing. Priorities and allocations may be defined as the rationing of scarce materials and equipment to manufacturers to insure war plants having first call on materials when there is not enough for both war and civilian production. When the supply of a commodity becomes too scarce to meet even the demands of all war plants, the necessary materials are directly allocated to those plants producing goods most urgently needed
4
OPA IS OUR BATTLE, LINE
for the war program. Rationing to manufacturers—that is, priorities and allocations—is done by the War Production Board.
The purpose of consumer rationing, which is done by OPA, is to obtain a fair distribution of necessities when the supply is insufficient to meet all demands. Essential consumer goods must be rationed when supply is seriously reduced relative to the quantities which consumers are able and willing to buy. If scarce civilian necessities were not rationed, stores could not supply all their customers. Lines would form on the sidewalk. Some families would get more than their fair share. Others would get less than their share, or none. The decrease in civilian morale and efficiency would seriously damage the war program.
Furthermore, when shortages of consumer goods are acute, rationing is necessary to help control the cost of living. Since rationing assures consumers a fair share of rationed commodities, there is far less temptation for them to offer to pay more than the legal price in order to obtain goods. Rationing and price control go together to assure that scarce goods will be fairly distributed; the rationing program would break down if stores were free to favor the customers who offered the highest price.
Indirect controls over consumer demand. Indirect war controls include taxation, purchase of war bonds out of current income, direct control of incomes, and restrictions of' consumer credit. The purpose of all such controls is to reduce the amount of money civilians have to spend, because consumers have money to buy far more civilian goods7 and services than can be produced.
The present prospect for 1943 emphasizes the need for more controls. With total production at record levels—estimated at $185 billion for the year—people will have incomes totalling over $140 billion. But because well over 50 percent of our production will be for war requirements, only about $80 billion worth of civilian goods and services will be available. Personal taxes will absorb approximately $15 billion of purchasing power. Savings will also take money out of circulation; but, under the abnormal circumstances of wartime, it is very difficult to predict how much people will save. If the same proportion of current income is saved in 1943 as in 1942, total savings—in war bonds and other forms—will absorb approximately $30 billion of purchasing power. If these estimates are correct, there will still be an “inflationary gap” of $15 billion; that is, the demand for civilian goods will be $15 billion more than the supply of civilian goods.
The President has asked for still further increases in taxes. Unless taxes are increased, price ceilings must be firm enough to endure the enormous strain represented by $15 billion of excess purchasing power. If price ceilings hold, savings will exceed the predicted figure (which is already immense) by $15 billion.
This is the real reason for increasing personal taxes in wartime. And this is what is behind the patriotic appeal to set aside for the purchase of war bonds 10 percent or more of what we are making. Every dollar we put away in war bonds or other savings or in payment of debts, as well as the money we pay out in taxes, helps to take the strain off the price ceiling by withdrawing money from the consumer market. OPA employees are
OUR AGENCY 5
in a position to understand this principle with special clarity and have, therefore, a special obligation to follow it.
Another means of keeping pressure from the consumer market is the. restriction of consumer credit. The Federal Reserve authorities have discouraged installment purchases by restrictions which increase the required down payment and reduce the time allowed for repayment.
During the latter half of 1942, income payments (wages, dividends, etc.) increased monthly over four times as fast as they had increased during the first 20 months of the war in Europe. Since it is the gap between income payments and the supply of civilian goods and services which creates pressure on prices, steps must continue to be taken to keep money income from increasing so fast. The War Labor Board is working to keep wages from rising except in special cases where they are below standard or where they are unfair. Farm cash income must be stabilized through control of farm prices when they reach a level called “parity.” Abnormal profits must be avoided by sound price control and through excess-profits taxes.
Five points of the President’s seven-point program, announced April 1942, deal with these indirect aids to direct price control.
Direct control of prices. The increasing amount of materials and labor that must go into producing the tremendous volume of armaments required by the war means that less and less is available for civilian consumption. At the same time, the payments for this production are swelling the volume of wages, salaries, cash farm income, and all other types of income, to record-breaking levels. The gap between purchasing power and the supply of civilian goods is, therefore, being constantly widened. That is why it is necessary that the fullest use be made of every type of control over consumer demand.
Once incomes are stabilized, taxation and savings are capable, in theory, of closing this gap—eliminating the difference between consumer demand and supply. In practice, however, they have always fallen far short. There is still a great deal of extra purchasing power which must be prevented by a direct control of prices from causing an inflationary price rise. The OPA can perform its job effectively, however,, only if adequate support is provided by the various controls over consumer demand. It is not a question of which controls should be used. These controls all supplement each other. It is not possible to obtain maximum war production and fair distribution of the limited supplies of civilian goods without the full and coordinated use of all of the varied instruments of control.
The Consequences of Inflation
The price Structure. Inflation creates two major economic problems in wartime: inflation makes it impossible either to achieve a maximum war effort or a fair distribution of scarce supplies, and inflation jams the gears of war production by upsetting war prices. The price structure is like a delicate web, with elaborate inter-relationships among all prices. The price of every commodity affects the price of every other commodity. In wartime, there are special pressures and strains on price structures. This is primarily because of the violent shift in the pattern of war production— from the customary goods of peacetime to the unfamiliar implements of war. .But it is also because foreign sources of vital materials are cut off or
6
OPA IS OUR BATTLE LINE
drastically curtailed (as when Japan invaded the Southwest Pacific) and more costly methods of transportation must be used (as the shift from tankers to tank cars for petroleum shipments to the East coast). If there were no price control, the price structure would be thrown into wild disorder.
Business. Inflation increases business risks enormously. Production involves planning. Prices are the guideposts by which plans are made—a business man must be able to predict his various cost prices and his selling prices before being willing to make contracts. During inflation, all prices rise, but some rise more rapidly than others. Business planning becomes a gamble because the business man can not tell how prices are going to behave. Wild and erratic price increases bring large unexpected profits to some business men and bring ruin to others. Some business men become war profiteers—sometimes through no fault of their own—while others are bankrupted.
Production. With prices rising rapidly, speculative buying and hoarding cause violent fluctuations in available supplies and artificial shortages of essential materials. A smooth and continuous flow of production at top speed becomes impossible. Inflation makes it impossible to distribute civilian goods fairly because it distorts the distribution of the national income. The consequent disruption of civilian morale and efficiency dangerously delays war production.
Labor. During inflation, the rapid rise in the cost of living leads to a scramble for a higher money-income in an effort to make up for loss in purchasing power of the dollars received. Some groups are able to increase their money-income more rapidly than others. Certain labor groups, for instance, who are strongly organized in strategic war industries may succeed in keeping their money-wage rates ahead of the rising cost of living. Their real wages rise. But many other labor groups suffer a decline in real income.
Fixed incomes. All persons with fixed incomes suffer during inflation— those living on savings, pensions, and annuities, and many others whose income cannot easily be adjusted upward.
Farmers. Farmers experience no real gain if the prices they pay for the things they buy rise as fast as the prices they receive for their produce. Often the prices of the things they buy rise faster. In the last war prices of farm machinery rose 74 percent. This time the increase has been held to 6^4 percent. Fertilizers in the last war rose by 86 percent; this war by 13 percent. Price control has already saved farmers many millions of dollars by controlling the goods they have to buy. (See chart, “Dollar Savings to Farmers,” p. 10.)
Standards of living. Modern war involves a serious lowering of living standards, regardless of the level of money income. Production of consumer goods must be reduced to the barest minimum in order to release resources for the production of war goods. If morale and efficiency on the homefront are to be maintained, the sacrifices involved must be shared by all. This is the real reason why all groups in the economy must be treated alike . . . why farm prices must be controlled when they reach parity . . . why wages and other incomes must be stabilized . . . why scarce goods must be rationed.
OUR AGENCY
7
PRICE CONTROL
The Period of Selective Price Control
The fall of France led to the inauguration of a large armament program in the United States during the summer of 1940. But no serious price problems arose before the early part of 1941. This was because war expenditures averaged only about $300 million per month from July through December 1940, and because there was considerable idle labor, surplus materials, and plant capacity which could be put to work without causing prices to rise. As the program grew in size, inflationary danger points appeared at those bottlenecks where demand began to press hard on supply—for example, machine tools, steel scrap, aluminum, copper, lumber, and certain imported items. During this period, a policy of controlling prices of selected commodities was appropriate because the danger points were still limited in number. Price ceilings were placed only upon those spots where inflationary pressure arose. These ceilings involved producers’ and manufacturers’ prices. The cost of living was still substantially unaffected.
The General Maximum Price Regulation
The attack on Pearl Harbor drastically altered the problem. Everyone began to deal in bigger figures, bigger operations. War-production schedules were revised upward sharply, and war expenditures began to climb rapidly to astronomical heights.
The inflationary pressure that threatened the entire price structure by the spring of 1942 was generated by two major developments. First, war expenditures had become enormous, totaling $3 billion in the single month of March. Second, the supply of consumer goods could no longer be increased in response to the rising demand created by war expenditures. Plants were producing all they could. Since August 1941 civilian output had been steadily declining and by spring 1942 war production was cutting seriously into civilian production.
Inflationary pressure spread throughout the economy. Prices began to rise faster. What is more significant, alarming price pressures were developing at the retail level—the cost of living was threatened. The time had come when price stabilization could be achieved only by controlling all prices. Accordingly, promptly after the announcement of the national economic stabilization program by the President, the General Maximum Price Regulation (GMPR) was issued on April 28, 1942, freezing prices at all levels—producer, wholesaler, and retailer.
The Extension of Price Control
Wholesale prices. Before the GMPR was issued, price control had been extended to 55 percent of the economy at the wholesale level. This was the period of selective price control. The GMPR added another 23 percent, bringing the total controlled segment to 78 percent. The stabilization Act of October 2, 1942, made possible the further extension of price control to farm prices, and after issuance of TMPR (Temporary Maximum Price Regulation) 22 on October 5, 1942, only 14 percent of the wholesale economy remained uncontrolled.
558309°—43---------3
8 OPA IS OUR BATTUE LINE
DOLLAR SAVINGS ON GOVERNMENT WAR EXPENDITURES BY PREVENTING WORLD WAR I PRICE INCREASES*
Actual
If Dec. 1942 prices are held
SOURCE: Office of Price Administration, Division of Research
OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION DIVISION OF RESEARCH
NO. 2939
#These savings represent the difference between the amount of actual dollar expenditures and the amount that would have hod to be spent to buy the same physical volume of goods if prices hod risen from August 1939 levels at the same rate os corresponding prices rose during World War I above July 1914 prices.
Retail prices. During the period of selective price control, ceilings had been imposed on only 4 percent of the cost of living. The GMPR brought an additional 62 percent under control in May 1942 and TMPR 22 added 14 percent in October 1942. By March 1943, over 90 percent of cost-of-living commodities had been brought under control by OPA, and a large proportion of the remaining items were controlled by other agencies.
OUR AGENCY
9
The Effectiveness of Price Control
From the outbreak of war to April 1943, wholesale prices have risen 38 percent. Prices of farm commodities have risen 103 percent at the wholesale level, while prices of commodities other than farm products and foods have risen only 21 percent. This is because farm prices were far below parity in 1939, and it has been Government policy for 10 years to raise prices to that level. In the field of industrial products, where control has been substantially complete, the rise since February 1942 is hardly worth mention.
The rise of 26 percent in the cost of living has been heavily concentrated in foods. The rise in farm prices has driven retail food costs up 50 percent; and food accounts for two-fifths of total living costs.
Since the GMPR, living costs have risen only about 7 percent; higher food costs, caused by the rise in uncontrolled farm prices, have been primarily responsible for the rise. The rate of rise in retail foods was reduced after October when TMPR 22 brought all but 12 percent of food items under control. By March 1943 practically all retail foods had been placed under ceilings. During the spring, however, retail food price ceilings were adjusted upward substantially in consequence of still incomplete control at the farm level. Early in June 1943, the stabilization program was being expanded to include the use of subsidies in rolling back retail food prices to the level of September 1942, as specified in the act of October 2, 1942.
Methods of Price Control
Before the General Maximum Price Regulation, many of the most important industries were brought under price ceilings by means of individual regulations. The GMPR subjected almost all remaining industries to price control by means of a general freeze. The GMPR was a stop-gap measure, made necessary by an emergency which required immediate action. It applied the same price technique—the base-period freeze—to widely dissimilar industries.
During the following months, the Office devoted a great deal of attention to relieving undue pressures on particular industries, in accordance with adjustment provisions incorporated in the GMPR itself. At the same time, attention was given to refinement of regulations governing particular industries in order to make them more effective. The basic objective, however, has been to replace the GMPR with specific industry regulations as rapidly as possible. By May 1942, when the GMPR became effective, approximately 140 maximum price schedules governing particular industries had been issued. By March 15, 1943, over 330 permanent regulations governing specific industries were in effect.
Three major types of price ceilings have been employed by the Office:
(1) The base period type whereby prices are frozen at the highest levels reached during a designated period. The GMPR itself is the outstanding example, although many regulations governing specific industries have also employed this technique.
(2) Specific dollars-and-cents ceiling, which is a maximum price written into the regulation in the form of actual dollars and cents. In this case, the
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OPA IS OUR BATTLE LINE
DOLLAR SAVINGS TO
FARMERS
BY PREVENTING WORLD WAR I
PRICE INCREASES*
ACTUAL
SOURCE! Office of Price Administration Division of Research
IF DEC. 1942 PRICES ARE HELD
* These sovings represent the difference between the actual dollar expenditures and the amount that would have to be spent to buy the same physical volume of goods if prices had risen from August 1939 levels at the same rate as corresponding prices rose during World War I above July 1914 prices.
OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION DIVISION OF RESEARCH
NO. 2940
OUR AGENCY
11
OPA calculates the ceiling, which is applicable to all sellers of a given item. For example, a wholesaler must not charge for a hundredweight of frankfurters, Grade AA (in sheep casings) more than $27 (plus $2.50 extra charge for sales to a retailer in the District of Columbia). Every seller has to conform to that price as it is written into the regulation even if he has charged more in the past.
During recent months, the Office has been replacing other ceilings with this type as rapidly as possible. The major advantage of dollars-and-cents ceilings is that they are more easily enforceable—buyers and sellers can find out what the ceiling price is.
By March 1943, much progress had been made in establishing dollarsand-cents ceilings. Although most of these regulations apply only to preretail margins, extensive plans were well under way for the establishment of dollars-and-cents ceilings in the retail field. For example, it is proposed to replace the dozen or so regulations now governing retail food prices with one simplified regulation. Uniform mark-ups for goods would be established by classes of stores. On the basis of these uniform mark-ups, OPA field offices would establish dollars-and-cents prices in every city and community.
(3) The formula type, which provides that the ceiling price shall be calculated by each seller on the basis of current or other costs, plus a margin that is defined in various ways—in other words by a formula written into the regulation and left for the seller to translate into dollars and cents. For instance, independent retailers with an annual sales volume under $50,000 may add to the price they'paid to the wholesaler for fresh bananas an amount equalling 34 percent of the buying price.
How a Regulation Is Created
It takes teamwork to create a regulation. Numerous skills and a variety of experience have to be pooled to mold it into final shape. The commodity specialist contributes knowledge about the industry and its practices. The accountant determines whether the form of the questionnaire sent out to the industry is answerable by the industry and, after the questionnaire is returned, reviews the information and turns it over to the economist in completed tables. The economist works out the economic justification and helps direct the economic decisions. The attorney decides points of legality which arise in the formation of every regulation. He drafts the regulation and writes up the formal statement of considerations which must be published with every regulation. He works closely with the economist.
The experience of businessmen and industrialists on the outside is not overlooked. While the regulation is in its earliest stages, the OPA men meet with representatives of the industry to be affected by the regulation and ask them for criticism, suggestion, and cooperation.
In fact, at every stage, the formation of the regulation calls for such a complete merger of knowledge and skills that it is never possible to say that any one person is responsible for any part or phase of the finished regulation. The whole is the result of a series of interrelated decisions. At one point the knowledge of one man is emphasized; at another, the point-of-view or skill of another influences the action. A regulation must capitalize on the best judgment of every specialist working with it; its quality is dependent upon the ability of the specialists to work as an effective group.
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RATIONING
Rationing is new to the OPA, new to the United States, and it is almost new to the whole world. There are no books or treatises written on the subject from which we can find out how rationing is done. We have to learn by experience. OPA rations only civilian products, because industrial rations or allocations are made by the War Production Board.
Types of Rationing
There are two types of rationing at present being administered by OPA. One is called nonselective rationing, and the other selective. There are also a number of combinations of the two.
Nonselective rationing is a very simple process of spreading a scarce commodity a little thinner throughout the Nation, as we did when we leveled the Nation’s sugar bowl and reduced the size of the Nation’s coffee cup. The commodity is divided into equal shares and everyone is given an equal right to obtain his share. Nonselective rationing is used to adjust shortages which are not very acute.
Sometimes we have a shortage so acute that the commodity is reduced almost to the vanishing point. It is then necessary to see that the persons who do the most to win the war get the full supply of this very scarce commodity. This is called selective rationing—not spreading the scarce commodity thinner, but giving it all to one or more selected groups. These groups are composed of those who help build war materiels, those who helpproduce materials necessary for civilian consumption, those who protect our health and welfare, such as physicians and ministers, and those who protect us from enemies at home, such as members of fire and police departments. These selected groups are taken care of in our regulations; they are eligible to receive the very scarce commodities, such as automobiles and bicycles.
Sometimes we combine nonselective with selective rationing, giving everybody a little, but selected groups most of the commodity. The mileage rationing program is an interesting combination of the two types. Neither tires nor gasoline is really rationed, but mileage is rationed—chiefly to save: rubber. Except in the Eastern States, where overland transportation difficulties and the U-boat menace have limited the supply, gasoline is not scarce; but the Nation’s rubber must be used as economically as possible until we can produce more than enough to supply our armed forces and our essential civilian needs. Under the mileage program, everybody who owns a car—and has it registered—gets a basic ration. Additional mileage is allowed those who need it in connection with their occupations, either going to and from work or on the job.
Reasons for Rationing
We ration because we have shortages. If we did not ration commodities which are scarce, some people—the most aggressive, those with the most time to shop, those with the most money—would get all. The rest of us would get none. The only way to distribute scarce goods democratically is to divide them according to some well-worked out regulation which takes every person into consideration.
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Rationing is also closely interrelated with price control. It helps to stem inflation; price control, in turn,, aids rationing. If there were no rationing and if people were allowed to buy-—for thoughtless wasting, for selfish using, for hoarding—all of a scarce commodity they wished, the great pressure would break through the price ceilings. On the other hand, if buyers, who now have more money than ever before, were allowed to offer any price for goods, the sale of scarce goods would become like an auction. Prices would zoom upward, and goods would go to the highest bidder, not to the person who most needed them. We need rationing and price control working together.
Shortages
There have been four types of shortages in this war. The first occurs when the total supplies are cut off by war conditions. Ninety-seven percent of the crude rubber supply was lost when Japan overran the Southwestern Pacific. As a result of this loss, practically all the tires we have now are those already produced and on cars.
A second cause of shortage is the transportation problem. This is the most difficult to dramatize to the public, but it results in a real shortage. Sugar from the Philippines was cut off. Shipments from Hawaii and Cuba are greatly reduced. Many of the ships either have been sunk or are being used to carry supplies to our troops and our allies. Sugar and coffee and, in certain areas, gasoline and fuel oil all have had to be rationed as a result of transportation difficulties.
Absolute shortage is brought about by the Government simply stopping the production of a given commodity. Automobiles, typewriters, and bicycles are no longer produced for civilian consumption, because the steel is used for other purposes. That means that the automobiles or typewriters or bicycles we have left must be doled out very carefully by selective rationing.
The fourth type of shortage is caused by highly increased consumer purchasing power. Nearly everybody is working now and has more money to spend than ever before. Therefore, it takes more goods to satisfy demands of buyers. But increased production is not possible any longer because of the conversion of plants to wartime production. Thus between increased demand and decreased civilian production a shortage is produced.
When We Ration
General authority to ration goods sold at retail and goods sold directly to the consumer was delegated to OPA by the War Production Board in January 1942. We ration a commodity whenever the WPB, the Rubber Director, the Office of Defense Transportation, the War Food Administration or any other agency to which the President has given control over certain commodities, decides that rationing is necessary in order to carry out its program. The agency concerned issues an order, called a directive, to OPA telling when rationing of the commodity should begin and what supply is available, and we do the rest.
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How We Ration
Ration documents. Rationing creates immense administrative tasks. Every time OP A makes a decision about rationing it affects 130 million people. It is not simple to devise a rationing plan which will be fair to all and will at the same time work successfully. After we have determined to whom a commodity is to be given, and how much, we have to call the people in to a local war price and rationing board to get a document which entitles them to purchase the commodity.
There are two types of these documents. If the commodity will last a long time—as, for instance, an automobile—a certificate is issued. If the commodity has to be purchased frequently—as, for instance, an item of food—a book of small certificates, or coupons, is issued. Other practical considerations also influence the decision about which type of ration document to use. If many of the documents must be given to a person all at once, certificates would be too bulky; on the other hand, if only one is to be issued at a time, a small coupon would be too easily lost. Sometimes, too, because of the importance of the commodity, it is desirable to maintain tighter control by keeping a certificate, made out in detail, after the transaction has been made. There is also the tradition of using an imposing looking document for a transaction of some importance. A certificate, therefore, tends to inspire confidence.
The flow-back process. After the consumer has his document, he presents it, during a specified period, to his supplier. The supplier, likewise, in order to replenish his supplies must turn over the documents he has collected to the person who supplies the commodity to him. In this manner the documents flow back until they get to the manufacturer. OPA calls this the “flow-back process.” Without it we would lose control of rationing, because the only way to make sure that dealers sell only upon presentation of rationing documents is to require them to turn in those documents in order to replenish their own supplies.
Ration banking. In January 1943, a National system of ration banking was established, patterned after a system developed in England. It gives the businessman a simple, workable means of keeping up with his ration stamps in the buying and selling processes.
Under the plan, the dealer regularly deposits to his ration checking account in a local bank the ration coupons he has received for selling rationed goods. Whenever he wants to replenish his supplies, he writes a check—which we call a ration check—on his coupon bank balance, and gives it to the person from whom he buys. The supplier in turn deposits the check into his own ration bank account. In that way, the flow of “ration credit” is easy and dealers are relieved of the burdensome process of bundling up ration coupons and passing them along up the line from retailer to distributor to wholesaler to manufacturer. Ration banking also relieves the local boards of a great deal of work. They no longer have to receive, count, and verify great stacks of coupons turned in by dealers, and issue certificates of larger denomination in exchange for them. Moreover, the tellers in banks are trained to verify and credit the coupons with great accuracy, and thus discover any illegal practices in false or miscounted coupons.
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Only business men are affected by the system—the average person does not have to set up a ration banking account.
Point rationing. Point rationing is being used for the first time in the United States. Instead of rationing a single commodity, we ration in a group a number of commodities enough alike that they can be substituted for each other. For instance, the whole group of processed foods was rationed together so that each consumer gets a specific number of points to buy whatever he chooses from the group. Tastes differ between persons and between different sections of the country. Also many processed foods are seasonal. The point system has the advantage of giving every person an equal share and at the same time allowing him to choose the foods he likes at the seasons when he can get them. The point system also allows a better control of the flow of foods. If there is too much of a demand on a certain item of food, people can be encouraged to buy some other item simply by raising the points price of the first.
What We Are Rationing
Items being rationed by May 1943 and the date when rationed sales began is indicated in the following tabulation:
Tires--------------------------------------------------------------------- Jan. 27, 1942
Automobiles_______________________________________________________________ Feb. 2, 1942
Typewriters--------------------------------------------------------------- Apr. 20, 1942
Sugar--------------------------------------------------------------------- May 5, 1942
Gasoline------------------------------------------------------------------ May 15, 1942
Bicycles------------------------------------------------------------------ May 15, 1942
Heavy duty rubber footwear____________________________________________ Sept. 29, 1942
Fuel oil______________________________________________________________ Oct. 1, 1942
Coffee---------------------------------------------------------------- Nov. 29, 1942
Heating stoves (oil or coal—in the 30 states where fuel oil is rationed)._Dec. 19, 1942
Shoes--------------------------------------------------------------------- Feb. 9, 1943
Processed foods (canned, dried, and frozen fruits and vegetables)_________ Mar. 1, 1943
Meat, fats, fish, and cheese______________________________________________ Mar. 29, 1943
RENT CONTROL
Purposes of Rent Control
Rent control is necessary in the United States today in order to prevent rents from rising to inflationary or unfair levels; to keep workers from moving unnecessarily from one defense area to another in search of reasonable rents; to contribute a large part toward stabilizing the cost of living; to build up the morale of defense workers and of members of the families of the men in the armed forces; and to keep down profiteering. The one item of rent makes up a large part of the entire expenses of a typical family and the expense is felt with especial keenness because it is customarily paid out in one sizeable amount once a month. A breadwinner would notice, more sharply a raise of his rent from $50 to $60 than his wife would notice the increase from 10 cents to 12 cents for a can of beans, even though the two increases might, in the long run, be equally vicious so far as the Nation is concerned.
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Fair Rent Committees
With the outbreak of the war in Europe, rents began to increase all over the United States, particularly in the large cities. As early as the fall of 1940, the necessity for rent control was recognized. Rent surveys were made in several localities by the Consumer Division of the National Defense Advisory Commission, and data on rent increases were secured from other agencies.
When the Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply (OPACS) was set up in April 1941, it was authorized to formulate rent control programs. Plans begun by the Defense Commission to establish Fair Rent Committees were continued. By the time the Emergency Control Act was passed (January 1942), 210 Fair Rent Committees had been set up in 34 states.
The most important job of these committees was to investigate reported cases of excessive rents and to discourage demands for higher rents and certain kinds of unfair evictions of tenants. The committees were composed of local people who knew rental conditions in their community and rent problems peculiar to the locality. However, they had no legal authority to compel anyone to follow their recommendations. Whatever good they did came from appeal to the landlord’s patriotism and sense of fairness or from the pressure of public opinion upon him. The committees served their purpose by providing much useful data and experience for the de
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velopment of a national rent policy, promoting public understanding of rent control, and showing the need for Federal action.
Rent Control Under the Emergency Price Control Act
The Emergency Price, Control Act, under which rents are now controlled, provides that before the Administrator may make rent regulations effective in a defense-rental area he must first formally declare why stabilizing or reducing rents in that area is necessary and what he recommends in regard to rents. The local community is then allowed 60 days to carry out the recommendations, by state or local regulation. If the required action is not taken within that time, the Administrator may establish maximum rents for the area.
The first defense-rental areas were designated in March 1942. The required 60-day period elapsed without any local action and, on June 1, 1942, maximum rent regulations were issued for those areas. Additional areas were designated from time to time and, after the lapse of the 60-day period, were brought under Federal control. In October 1942, all of the United States—except the District of Columbia—which had not previously been regulated, was designated as a part of some defense-rental area. Consequently, Federal maximum rent regulations may now be declared effective in any part of the United States if need arises. Thus far, 75 million people live in communities which have been brought under Federal rent control.
Rent regulation for the District of Columbia is not administered by the Office of Price Administration, but by a rent control administrator empowered by a Congressional statute some 6 weeks before the enactment of the Emergency Price Control Act.
Typical Maximum Rent Regulations
OPA has issued two typical maximum rent regulations. One covers housing accommodations other than hotels and rooming houses; the other covers hotels and rooming houses. Each of these regulations has three important divisions: one which sets maximum rents which landlords may charge; one which defines minimum services which the landlord must provide; and one which restricts the eviction of tenants. The rent control program could not succeed if any one of these three had been omitted.
Generally, the maximum rent regulation goes back to some period before the national emergency caused rents to increase and selects a base date. Rents are then frozen as of that date. Although a landlord is automatically required to reduce his rents to the freeze date level, he may petition and get an adjustment if, for some particular reason, that level is unfair to him. Also, the local rent director, upon his own initiative or upon application by a tenant, may order a decrease of the maximum rent if the landlord has allowed his property to run down or has decreased the number or quality of services, or for other special reasons.
The landlord has to provide the same essential services, furnishings, furniture, and equipment as were provided on the freeze date, except when he has been granted permission by the rent director to decrease them.
The tenant is also protected from unfair eviction. As long as he continues to pay the rent, he may not be put off the property unless he himself
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has violated some important obligation of tenancy, including permitting the housing accommodations to be used for illegal or immoral purposes, or unless the landlord wants the property for his own immediate use.
Registration
In order that all tenants may know of the maximum rent for the property they are renting, the regulation provides that all housing accommodations shall be registered with the local rent office, within a certain limit of time. By the end of March 1943, approximately 11 million registration statements had been filed by landlords, some of which were for housing accommodations in the Territory of Alaska.
Effectiveness of Rent Control
The effectiveness of rent control is clearly indicated by the reduction and stabilization of rents, a highly important item in the cost of living. The Bureau of Labor Statistics index shows that shortly after Federal rent control became effective, rents paid by wage earners and lower-salaried workers in 34 large cities dropped from the peak of May 1942 back to the level of December 1941 and remained there throughout the last half of 1942. (See chart, “Index of Rents Paid by Wage Earners and Lower-Salaried Workers,” p. 16.)
Part II
OUR ORGANIZATION
OPA’s Place in the Federal Government
The Emergency Price Control Act of 1942 made OPA an independent agency among the array of National War Agencies, giving it the authority to control prices and rent. A network of interrelations connect OPA with many other agencies and deparments of the Government. Together with the Food Program of the Department of Agriculture, the Petroleum Coordinator, and various other agencies who make overall plans for specific commodities, the War Production Board, which originally delegated rationing authority to OPA, makes the rulings on available supplies of commodities to be rationed from time to time. The Administrator of OPA is ex officio member of the Board. He is also a member of the Economic Stabilization Board in the Office of Economic Stabilization. The Stabilization Director consults with the members of his Stabilization Board, and the OPA, in turn, operates in accordance with the comprehensive national economic policy as formulated and developed by the Stabilization Director. The other agencies are, for the most part, related to OPA in a less general sense, each being connected with some specific part of the OPA program, as for instance the Office of War Information, the War Manpower Commission, and the Bureau of the Budget.
OPA’s Relation With Central Administrative Services (OEM)
The Division of Central Administrative Services of the Office for Emergency Management was set up to provide a large-scale, centralized service for war agencies too small or too new to service themselves economically and efficiently. CAS continues to render a few services for OPA in connection with the procurement of supplies, equipment, and space. OPA now has no other connection with OEM.
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Functional Layout of the National Office
The National office is the focal point for planning vast decentralized operating programs for price control, rent control, and rationing which affect the lives and actions of the entire civilian population of this country. In order to obtain the most effective administration of these programs, it was determined that OPA’s day-to-day, face-to-face dealings with the public should be carried on from offices geographically suited to serving the needs of local populations living in widely spread, diversified areas. The National office is a central policy-making and coordinating agency; the field offices and the local boards are the actual operating agencies which translate policies into action.
Seven departments make up the organizational structure of the National office. Three of these are directly responsible for OPA’s three big jobs— price control, rationing, and rent control. The other four facilitate the doing of these jobs by furnishing expert guidance and services. (See organization chart, opp. p. 23.)
The Price Department is at present made up of six commodity price divisions, under the supervision of the Deputy Administrator in Charge of Price. These divisions, subdivided into commodity branches, develop all essential data on prices, prepare maximum price regulations and amendments, determine the policies for making adjustments under the GMPR and other price regulations, pass upon petitions of exception, and administer other phases of the price-control program.
The Rationing Department is made up of four rationing divisions under the supervision of the Deputy Administrator in Charge of Rationing. These divisions analyze the supplies of rationed commodities available under rulings made by the WPB, Agriculture’s Food Program, the Petroleum Administration, and others, relate these supplies to consumer
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OPA’S ALLIES ON THE HOME FRONT
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needs, determine quotas to be allotted to individuals and to geographic areas, and plan the regulations and procedures to be used in operating rationing programs in the field.
The Rent Department, under the Deputy Administrator in Charge of Rent, determines when stabilization or reduction of rents is necessary in a defense-rental area, makes recommendations in regard to rents, prepares rent regulations and determines appropriate rent levels, and plans and supervises the administration of rent regulations.
The Legal Department, under the direction of the general counsel, conducts all legal research on the authority of the Office of Price Administration; renders requested legal opinions; plans and supervises enforcement activities, including court actions; and conducts all cases for the Office before the Emergency Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States. The general counsel also coordinates the technical work of the attorneys in the Price, Professional Services, Rationing, and Rent Departments.
The Professional Services Department, under the deputy administrator in charge, is responsible for providing professional and technical services, including basic over-all economic research, development of quality standards for commodities, establishment of accounting standards and techniques and furnishing of accounting services and advice, and research and analyses in connection with transportation and public utilities problems.
The Information Department, under the deputy administrator in charge, is responsible for all OPA informational and educational activities for the public. It supplies the public accurate, concise, and simplified information on the policies, actions, and purposes of the Office of Price Administration, and information necessary for consumer protection, conservation, and life under the conditions of wartime economy. This department has at its disposal the services and facilities of other Government agencies, especially the Office of War Information and the Office of Civilian Defense.
The Administrative Management Department, under the direction of its deputy administrator, acts as a focal coordinating point for all administrative management activities necessary for the administration of the agency both in the National office and in the field. It is responsible for reviewing, improving, devising, and coordinating organization plans, for carrying out personnel, budgetary, and fiscal activities, for furnishing administrative services, for standardizing OPA forms, and for improving work flow between the National office and the field organizations.
The Senior Deputy Administrator—and the Field
Over all these groupings of functions in Washington has been placed a Senior Deputy Administrator, to provide the tie between policies set in Washington and administrative operations in the field. His function, in other words, is that of a general manager, with both the Washington office and the field organizations subject to his direction.
The Field Organization. The lay-out of the field organization is best described in hierarchical terms. The country is divided into eight regions, each region headed by a regional administrator. Within the region there are district offices and, reporting to the district offices, defense-rental offices. Finally, at the broad base, there are the local war price and rationing boards.
ORGANIZATION CHART
ofIice of price administration
* One or more District Offices in each of the states mentioned
OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION
NO. 4190
558309o—43 (Face p. 22)
OUR ORGANIZATION
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. A regional office is, within its jurisdiction, a center of general planning and supervision, under the direction of the regional administrator. It is the immediate representative of the National office in the field and is responsible for the vast number of problems which must be settled authoritatively in the field for decentralized programs. It is responsible for the •direction of all price control, rent control, rationing, and related operations in the area, as well as for the supervision and control of all subordinate offices in the region.
District offices provide convenient locations for the transaction of business. In general, they deal with problems of interpretation and adjustment of specific price regulations; the explanation of regulations to individual businessmen and trade groups; and the supervision of the local boards in handling rationing, price control, and consumer education matters within their districts. District offices are the primary points of enforcement activity for all OPA price, rationing, and rent regulations. They adapt National policies to the requirements of the specific district area. In the price control field they deal primarily with administration of OPA regulations with respect to their effect upon dealers at various levels, leaving for the regional offices consideration of producer problems of larger scope.
Defense-rental area offices administer the rent control program. Their directors are responsible directly to the appropriate district director.
Local war price and rationing boards are composed of local citizens serving without compensation who are in a position to deal with local problems on the basis of intimate knowledge of their communities. They are assisted by clerical employees paid out of Federal funds. During rush periods of registration for rationing programs, many thousands of volunteer workers—housewives, school teachers, businessmen, local government officials—all over the country donate many hours of work to help make these huge undertakings a real success.
There are more than 5,000 of these local war price and rationing boards in communities throughout the Nation. Thus, committees of neighbors issue ration books directly to the people, assign allotments of gasoline and fuel oil to users, issue purchase certificates for new automobiles, for new and recapped, or recapping tires and for other certificate-rationed items, and perform other local price and rationing administrative functions.
The Administrator
Since the general management of operations both in Washington and in the field is in charge of the Senior Deputy Administrator, the Administrator is left free to devote himself to the formulation of general policies, to the ■establishing of working relationships with the heads of other agencies and with the Congress, and to the interpretation of OPA policy and action to industry and to the people. This continuing contact is all the more necessary in view of the interrelation of price control, rent control, and rationing with almost every aspect of the conduct of the war, with all phases of industry, and with all the essentials of everyday living.
For advice on these problems, the Administrator has at his disposal the heads of the seven departments; the Director of Research who serves as economic advisor; the General Counsel who serves as legal advisor; the Industry Council which is made up of business men who provide a reservoir
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of business and industry experience on management and policy problems; the Labor Office which renders advice on the interrelations of labor and OPA programs; the Credit Policy Office which furnishes information and advice on policies of credit at all levels of production and distribution; and the Office of Administrative Hearings which hears, determines, and reviews suspension order proceedings under rationing orders and regulations.
Keeping Up With the Organization
Fitting our jobs in. To be effective on the job, each of us must discover how his specific job fits into the work of his unit, how his unit’s job gears into the work of the other units, and how all organizational units mesh together into a working whole. We are as surely on a production line as the men and women in denim. Each employee’s job is to combine his efforts with those of his coworkers to keep the machinery of OPA running with maximum speed and smoothness. To accomplish this purpose, the employee must understand the organizational structure of OPA and the function of each part.
Necessity for organizational flexibility. Organization is always dynamic. Even the older Government agencies and large private businesses often undergo reorganizations. The organization of OPA in particular is constantly changing because it is constantly confronted with a double-barreled problem—to initiate and operate large-scale programs and, simultaneously, to set up organizational units to operate those programs. Information cannot be complete enough at any given moment nor wartime conditions stable enough to allow final organization, or even perfected organization. Employees who understand that change, though sometimes confusing, is inevitable—and often desirable—in a wartime agency are most likely to be effective in OPA. They are at this time best suited to serve their country and to develop themselves.
References and sources. Those interested in keeping up with the latest organizational developments in OPA should consult the OPA quarterly reports, the OPA service, the administrative orders, field administrative letters, divisional orders, and division and branch charts.
Note: The organizational structure as outlined here, as well as the organizational chart, are as of June 1, 1943.
Part HI
OUR JOBS
OP A PERSONNEL POLICY
Our Attitude Toward Our Jobs
Our private interests. It is necessary that we take a completely public attitude toward our jobs in OPA. The honor and the usefulness of the Office are paramount; our duties and decisions as public servants must be completely divorced from our private interests. Office Order No. 10, together with its revisions, and Administrative Order No. 81 makes formal statement on this subject. An employee should consult the director of his division if special applications of the statement arise in his own particular job. However, no rule or regulation could possibly encompass all the points of propriety arising from this major principle nor define the spirit of loyalty which must guide day-to-day decisions.
Loyalty. In the swift, driving development of a war agency, complete loyalty to the work is even more needed than in the older agencies where it has had the opportunity to develop through the years. Though loyalty prevents such fault finding as will discredit OPA’s work with the public, it inspires such criticism as will improve OPA’s programs and the way they are carried out.
Personal conduct. OPA imposes no restrictions upon our personal activities. It is up to us to conduct ourselves so as to create a harmonious flow of work in the office and a feeling of good will both for OPA and the Federal service on the part of those we meet outside.
Our spare time. Our time off the job is our own. As employees of OPA, we are free to accept any outside employment which will not reflect upon the Federal government nor embarrass OPA. However, since we are now working a full 6-day week, on jobs which affect the winning of the
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war and the direction of the peace, it is especially important to consider carefully whether outside work may lessen our efficiency or affect our health. In order to clear any possible difficulties, an employee before accepting outside employment should inform his supervisor of the nature and demands of the work.
A Presidential order forbids Federal civil service employees to hold office under any state or municipal government except in certain municipalities adjacent to the’District of Columbia specifically designated by the Civil Service Commission.
Service to the public. Those of us who in our work come into contact with the public should remember that we represent the Office of Price Administration. The purposes and concepts of OPA are still new to the people whose everyday lives are vitally affected by them. The regulations are numerous and often necessarily complex. The public, busy with its own work, cannot be expected to take time to study and understand many matters which are clear to us because we work with them every day.
We are paid from public funds and OPA, like every other Federal agency, exists by public desire and consent. If the public is to gain a high opinion of the value of the OPA program and therefore give it the wholehearted support necessary to its success, we must be generous, informative, prompt, and pleasant in all our public contacts, whether by personal interview, by telephone, or by mail.
Confidential nature of our work. As employees of OPA, we have access to information which if given out prematurely, or even hinted, would endanger the welfare of the country as surely as would indiscreet talk of military matters. A safe rule is never to discuss official information outside OPA, even if it is not specifically designated as “confidential,” and never inside OPA except with other employees whose work is affected by it.
Section 4 (c) of the Emergency Price Act of 1942 contains a statement on the use of official information:
“It shall be unlawful for any officer or employee of the Government, or for any adviser or consultant to the Administrator in his official capacity, to disclose, otherwise than in the course of official duty, any information obtained under this Act, or to use any such information, for personal benefit.”
No formal statement, however, can substitute for a strong personal sense of responsibility for the proper handling of information acquired in our work.
Our Part in OPA Staffing
At this time, when quality personnel is at a premium, our attitude toward our own jobs can benefit OPA by encouraging a desire in qualified persons to work in our agency. Naturally, we should never promise anyone a job, but should be able to tell him what steps to take to get an application in motion through the Civil Service Commission.
Financial Responsibility
OPA considers our private credit affairs as fundamentally our own concern; however, it does expect financial responsibility of its employees. It then devolves upon each of us to see that his debts or other private obligations shall not discredit or annoy the Office.
558309o—43 (Face p. 26)
OUR JOBS
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Legal Rights, Protection, and Prohibitions
In addition to the right to vote, Civil Service employees retain the right to express political opinions privately, belong to political clubs, make contributions to a political organization, be spectators at a political meeting, and petition Congress.
Of course, if we live in the District of Columbia and have not retained legal residence in a State, we have no voting privileges. However, unless voting privileges have been allowed to lapse from misuse, most States will let us vote by mail—we can write our county clerk for instructions or, for general elections, get information from the absentee voters’ bureau set up in Washington by our party.
We are protected by civil-service law from various types of political influence, and conversely we are expected not to seek such influence for our own advancement. We may not make use of our position to assist a political party. We may not have membership in a political party which advocates the overthrow of our constitutional form of government in the United States. If we wish to take any part in politics, it would be wise to read the Civil Service Commission’s Form 1236, Political Activity and Political Assessments, which can be obtained from the Personnel Division.
There is also legal prohibition against making gifts to official superiors, accepting gifts from employees lower in rank, and instructing applicants with a view to their preparation for Civil Service examinations.
Racial and Religious Fairness
In an agency that is serving a war for the survival of democracy, there can be no room for discrimination—of any sort.
Unions
The OPA recognizes the right of employees to organize into unions, to select representatives for the purpose of dealing collectively with management, to work for improved conditions of employment, and to promote increased efficiency through such improved conditions. It has accordingly invited participation by organized employees in the formulation of personnel policies and in the solution of problems of common concern to management and employees.
Officers of the unions advise and represent members in the adjustment of employee grievances. They also represent their members before Congress and actively support legislation in the interest of Government employees.
Adjustment of Complaints
’OPA is particularly desirous of ipaintaining high morale among its employees and is willing to do the utmost to adjust employees to their jobs. We are expected to consult freely with our supervisors concerning any questions affecting our duties, working conditions and relationships, employment status, or any matter which is not satisfactory to us. If we are not satisfied with the decision of the supervisors, we may carry the grievance to higher levels of authority—to the Administrator, if necessary— through formal machinery set up for that purpose. (See Administrative Order No. 13, Supplement 7.)
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OPA IS OUR BATTLE LINE
Constructive suggestions which have a general application may be brought to attention by reporting them to the Employee Suggestion Branch.
Sales, Contributions, Canvassing
OPA employees are protected on the job from solicitation or collection of contributions for any purpose, unless they are officially authorized. Unauthorized selling, soliciting, or canvassing should be reported immediately to the building guards. We are likewise prohibited from these activities ourselves and from patronizing such activities during office hours.
Personal Mail
For our own convenience and to relieve the already overburdened mail room of OPA, we should have our personal mail sent to our home addresses. Though a new employee may not be able to avoid using OPA for a temporary address, he should establish a home address as soon as possible and take immediate steps to divert all personal mail there.
Home Address
In our own interest, it is a good idea to be prompt about notifying the time clerk immediately of any change of address or telephone number; or of any change of name by reason of marriage or any other legal process.
Draft Deferment Policy
All questions of draft deferment are to be handled by the OPA Committee on Selective Service; no employee is to make a request for occupational deferment in his own behalf. It is the policy of OPA not to request deferment except in the most unusual cases where the employee has unique qualifications necessary to the successful accomplishment of an important part of OPA’s over-all program. All policy on deferment is subject to change in accord with future directives of the War Manpower Commission and the Selective Service Board.
Hours of Work
The legal work week of full-time employees of OPA is 48 hours—8 hours a day, Monday through Saturday. No employee is required to work longer than that except with special authorization in case of emergency. Employees may be compensated, either by cash or by equivalent time off, for extra time worked.
Holidays
In order to give the fullest support .to the war, the heretofore generous holiday allowance has been reduced. No one should make plans for a holiday until there has been official notification that it is to be observed by OPA.
Leave
Full-time employees of OPA are eligible for leave privileges. Absences from official duty during regular working hours can be charged as leave if enough leave to cover time absent has been earned and saved up.
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Leave of absence must be requested and authorized in advance, except in an emergency, such as illness. When advance request is impossible, the request may be submitted when the employee returns to duty.
Vacation or “annual” leave. Employees who hold indefinite or regular appointments earn leave credit at the rate of 2% days a month, or 26 days a year. Leave credit may be carried forward’from year to year; the maximum credit that can be carried forward is 90 days.
We are not expected to use leave credit as rapidly as we earn it, but only at such times as is agreeable to the supervisor and suitable for the work. Everyone is encouraged to take a period of continuous vacation leave each year, usually not to exceed 12 consecutive working days.
An employee who has been in the Federal service for 1 year or more and who has used all his earned vacation leave may be given an advance of leave, if special circumstances require.
Sick leave. Sick leave is credited at the rate of 1^4 days a month or 15 days a year. The maximum accumulation of sick leave is 90 days. Where special circumstances require, a limited advance sick leave may be arranged for employees who have been on the job 3 months or more.
If an employee is absent on account of sickness for 3 days or less,, his statement on the leave form as to the reason for his absence is sufficient for sick leave allowance. If he is absent on account of sickness for more: than 3 days, he should present a doctor’s certificate upon his return to work.
Maternity leave. Generous provisions have been made for maternity leave. It is granted subject to the approval of the employee’s administrative officer, and plans for leave should be discussed with him as far in advance as possible.
Leave without pay. Leave of absence without pay may be granted whenever necessary or advisable on account of extended illness when annual and sick leave have been exhausted, or because of temporary lack of work or funds on the job, or service in the armed forces. Leave without pay is usually granted only after all annual leave has been used.
Military leave. An employee who joins the armed forces is entitled to indefinite leave of absence without pay. If he requests it, he is paid for his unused annual leave by regular semi-monthly salary checks until the leave is exhausted; or, if he prefers, the leave may be left to his credit until some later time. All of his sick leave is left to his credit until he returns to Federal service.
Leave for court duty. An employee who has a regular or war service appointment will receive regular pay for time absent from work on account of jury duty for State or Federal court or as a witness in his official capacity as an employee of the Federal government. When he is absent to testify as a private citizen, his absence is charged to annual leave.
Official leave. When an employee is absent from his regular work on account of official business, his absence is not charged against his leave credit.
For further information: Administrative Order No. 12; Annual and Sick Leave Laws and Regulations; Executive Orders Nos. 8383 and 8385.
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OPA IS OUR BATTLE LINE
CIVIL-SERVICE PERSONNEL REGULATIONS
Appointment
In order to cope with the difficult problems of recruitment of personnel for the war program, the Civil Service Commission issued War Service Regulations in February 1942. Because of the press of time, the need for many new people, and the necessity to make a broader use of available personnel, these regulations modified, for the duration of the war, the operations of many of the peacetime Civil Service rules on appointments and established the rights and privileges of all persons appointed since March 16, 1942. The most important change was the modification of competetive procedures and the creation of the limited status of “war service” appointments.
Although those of us who were appointed to a Civil Service job after March 16, 1942, did not acquire, by that appointment, a classified (competitive) Civil Service status, we are protected by the laws and regulations preserving the merit system. The term of our war service appointments, whether original or by transfer or reinstatement, is for the duration of the war and 6 months thereafter.
Temporary appointment may be made for specific periods of less than 1 year.
Those of us who prior to March 16, 1942, had been given regular proba-tional Civil Service appointments retain the regular status.
Promotion
The Office of Price Administration has officially established a policy of promotion-from-within and of encouraging transfer to other positions in OPA which afford better opportunities or greater outlet for ability. Promotions are not made merely for doing good work but for taking on more responsible and more difficult duties. In the approval of promotions, Civil Service standards on qualifications must be observed. These standards are written in terms of education and experience; they are similar to those required of applicants for examinations but not so strict.
Separation
An employee may leave OPA employment in a number of ways, such as transfer to another agency, resignation from government service, and dismissal for unsatisfactory services. Even though an employee is appointed for the duration of the war plus 6 months, his tenure is subject to certain conditions. For instance, if funds are no longer available for certain activities, the OPA may be forced to request the Civil Service Commission to approve the termination of the services of some of us engaged in those activities. In this action, several factors are considered, principally type of appointment, efficiency, and length of service.
Whenever an OPA employee, resigns, an exit interview is held in an effort to discover the reasons for his leaving and, if possible, to adjust problems by reassignment.
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The Stabilization of Employment Program
Our liberty to move from one job to another is subject to future directives of the War Manpower Commission. In compliance with the Manpower Commission’s program to stabilize employment and wages, the OPA cooperates with the Civil Service Commission in preventing unnecessary moving around of workers among the Federal agencies. Before any move can be made the Civil Service Commission must decide that the change would contribute more to the winning of the war and would not jeopardize the work of OPA.
Transfer
Before considering resigning or transferring to another Federal agency, we are urged to discuss our job problems with the supervisor and the personnel representative. Often assignment to some other kind of work can be arranged, if the change seems desirable. Sometimes OPA may object to certain transfers because of severe shortages of manpower, and the Commission considers these objections in making its decision.
In order to prevent violations of the transfer procedure, no employee will be reinstated to a position in another Government agency within 30 days after his resignation, except in unusual cases. A full statement of the principle is made in War Manpower Commission Directive No. 10:
“No department or agency will effect the transfer or the appointment, reappointment, reinstatement, or reemployment within thirty days of separation from the service of any employee, or former employee, as the case may be, of another department or agency without the express prior approval of the Civil Service Commission.”
Job Classification and Salary
The job of every person in the Federal civil service is graded under a uniform system of classification designed to assure equal pay for equal work. When a job is “classified” it is in effect “pigeon-holed” according to the type of work involved in the job and the level of difficulty of the work. First of all, an official description is made of the job, and on the basis of that description the job is placed into one of the following broad groups called services:
Clerical, Administrative, and Fiscal (CAF), which includes the large group of positions involving office work or general administration such as clerk, accountant, administrative officer, stenographer, typist, etc.
Scientific and Professional (P), which includes those specialized positions requiring college training in a science or profession such as economist, lawyer, statistician, engineer, doctor, etc.
Sub-professionl (SP), which includes semi-technical positions requiring a lesser degree of specialized training than those in the professional service, such as nurse, laboratory assistant, draftsman, etc.
Crafts, Protective and Custodial Service (CPC), which includes skilled and unskilled laborers, building guards, watchmen, messengers, etc.
After the job has been placed in the proper service, it is graded according to the level of difficulty of the work involved. The grading in turn determines the pay which attaches to the job.
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OPA IS OUR BATTLE LINE
This whole process of determining the service, grade, and pay of an individual job is called classification, and at various stages it requires the cooperation of the employee, the supervisor, the administrative officer, the personnel division, and the Civil Service Commission. The role played by each of these in a typical classification action is as follows:
1. The employee prepares a detailed description of his regular duties and work assignments and submits the description to his supervisor for review.
2. The supervisor reviews the description for accuracy and completeness and approves it "after discussing any changes or amendments with the employee.
3. The administrative officer, after discussing the job description with the supervisor, makes a recommendation as to the service and grade of the job to the personnel division.
4. The personnel division makes a careful evaluation of the job from the standpoint of OPA and Civil Service classification standards, and submits a recommendation for final classification to the United States Civil Service Commission. ,
5. The Civil Service Commission must approve the classification before it becomes final.
It should be emphasized that job classification is just that—the classification of a job on the basis of its duties and responsibilities. Classification does not consider the qualifications of the person filling the job; a graduate ■of a law school hired as a messenger and doing the work of a messenger would have his position classified as messenger, not as attorney. Nor can job classification recognize such factors as the efficiency of an employee, or his willingness to contribute overtime. These personal factors are recognized in other parts of the personnel program, such as the efficiency rating system, the promotion plan, and overtime compensation provisions.
Salary ranges. All OPA employees except those employed by the war price and rationing boards are paid according to the salary schedule of the Classification Act of 1923. The table on p. 33 shows the salary ranges for each grade in the various services.
All persons newly appointed to the Federal service are appointed at the starting rate for the grade of their position. Salary advancements to higher steps within a grade are made in accordance with a uniform system which sets up definite requirements, principally length of service and the employee’s efficiency rating. An employee whose starting salary is below $3,800 is eligible for an advancement of one step in the range of his grade every 18 months; an employee whose starting salary is $3,800 or above is entitled to an advancement of one step every 30 months.
Overtime. Federal employees are entitled to pay for any hours more than 40 worked during the regularly established work week of 48 hours. If the employee makes more than $2,900 a year, his overtime pay is computed on the $2,900 rate only.
If we work for daily or hourly compensation, we do not receive overtime pay but are given a 15 percent increase over our basic salaries, within the limits of certain provisions.
Pay roll. Employees of OPA are paid twice a month—the 10th and the 25th day of the month in the National office; at varying dates in the field
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offices. In the National office, employees in grades CAF-1 to CAF-4, CPC-1 to CPC-6, and SP-1 to SP-5 are paid in cash. All other employees receive checks through their branch distribution agents.
Classification Act Compensation Schedules
Service and grade Starting rate
CAF P&S SP CPC
1 720 780 840 900 960
2 1,200 1,260 1,320 1,380 1,440 ' 1,500
1 1,200 1,260 1,320 1,380 1,440 1,500 1,560
1 1,260 1,320 1,380 1,440 1,500 1,560 1,620
3 1,320 1,380 1,440 1,500 1,560 1,620
2 1,320 1,380 1,440 1,500 1,560 1,620 1,680
2 3 1,440 1,500 1,560 1,620 1,680 1,740 1,800
4 1,500 1,560 1,620 1,680 1,740 1,800 1,860
3 4 1,620 1,680 1,740 1,800 1,860 1,920 1,980
5 1,680 - 1,740 1,800 1,860 1,920 1,980 2,040
4 5 1,800 1,860 1,920 1,980 2,040 2,100 2,160
6 1,860 1,920 1,980 2,040 2,100 2,160 2,220
5 1 6 2,000 2,100 2,200 2,300 2,400 2,500 2,600
7 2,040 2,100 2,160 2,220 2,300 2,400 2,500
8 2,200 2,300 2,400 2,500 2,600 2,700 2,800
6 7 9 2,300 2,400 2,500 2,600 2,700 2,800 2,900
7 2 8 10 2,600 2,700 2,800 2,900 3,000 3,100 3,200
8 2,900 3,000 3,100 3,200 3,300 3,400 3,500
9 3 3,200 3,300 3,400 3,500 3,600 3,700 3,800
10 3,500 3,600 3,700 3,800 3,900 4,000 4,100
11 4 3,800 4,000 4,200 4,400 4,600
12 5 4,600 4,800 5,000 5,200 5,400
13 6 5,600 5,800 6,000 6,200 6,400
14 7 6,500 6,750 • 7,000 7,250 7,500
15 8 8,000 8,250 8,500 8,750 9,000
16 9 tn excess of 9,000
Source: Section 13, Classification Act of 1923 with amendments to Aug. 1, 1942. 39028 R. Aug. 5, 1942.
Deductions from salary. Certain deductions are made from our salaries. Five percent of our basic pay, not including overtime, is automatically deducted and deposited in the Treasury of the United States to be credited to our individual retirement accounts, which earn interest at four percent. Twenty percent of our gross pay, with specified exemptions, is automatically deducted for Federal and Victory Taxes. A deduction will be made from our salary payments of whatever amount we authorize for buying IFar Savings Bonds. The allotment may be arranged with the “Minute Man” in each office.
Refund of deductions. «»An employee who is separated from the Federal service before he has served 5 years may receive a refund of the sum credited to his individual retirement account, with interest.
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OPA IS OUR BATTLE LINE
Retirement
All full-time salaried employees of OPA are entitled to the benefits of the Civil Service Retirement Act.
Automatic contributions. Five percent of the salary of anyone to whom the retirement act applies will be automatically withheld, to be credited to his individual retirement fund.
Voluntary contributions. An employee may deposit in his retirement fund additional sums of money, in multiples of $25. At the date of his retirement the total of these deposits, with 3 percent interest, will be available for purchasing additional annuity.
Automatic retirement. An employee is automatically retired from Federal Service when he reaches the age of 70 and is accorded an annuity provided he has served at least 15 years. If he has served less than 15 years at that age, he may continue to work until he has served 15 years; or if he is essential and irreplaceable he may, by special dispensation, be retained beyond the age of 70.
Optional retirement. An employee who at the age of 60 has completed at least 30 years of Federal service or who at the age of 62 has completed at least 15 years of Federal service may retire on full annuity.
An employee who at the age of 55 has completed 30 years of Federal service may retire on a reduced annuity.
Disability benefits. An employee who, after at least 5 years of Federal service, becomes totally disabled for service in the grade or class of position in which he is employed may retire on a partial annuity unless his disability is the result of his own misconduct.
Death benefits. If an employee dies before retirement, his designated beneficiary or his estate receives the amount credited to his retirement fund at the time of his death, plus interest. If an annuitant dies without having received in annuity payments the entire amount to his credit at the time of retirement, the remaining amount together with any accrued annuity will be paid to his beneficiary or to his executor, or to the person whom the Civil Service Commission judges legally entitled to payment.
Credit for military service. A Civil Service employee who enters the service of the armed forces of the United States retains his status under the Civil Service Act so long as he is carried on the rolls of his department or agency as being on leave without pay for military training or service. The time he serves will be credited toward retirement. If he wishes, he may increase his retirement income by depositing appropriate contributions, as worked out by the Civil Service Commission.
Annuities. The amount of annuity payable to an employee after retirement depends upon his age, his average salary during any five consecutive years of service designated by the employee, and the amount contributed to the retirement fund.
There are several plans for computing annuities from which the employee may select. Unless an employee is on the verge of retirement, there is no point in his choosing, since circumstances at the time of his retirement will determine his choice.
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Efficiency Ratings
The efficiency rating is a method of appraising an employee’s performance and ability on the job. It causes the supervisor to evaluate in detail the way the employee does his work and, in turn, emphasizes the supervisor’s responsibilities to the employee.
OPA’s policy is not to “save up” commendation and criticism for the end of the efficiency rating period; on the contrary, every supervisor should from time to time tell his employees how they are getting along and draw out employees’ constructive criticism of the performance of the supervisory function. Each employee can help forward the constructive purposes of efficiency ratings by insisting on knowing exactly what his job is, to whom he is responsible for doing his job, what standards are used to judge his performance, and what the strong and weak points of his performance are.
Except for employees of the war price and rationing boards, efficiency ratings are regularly prepared each year for the period ending March 31 for all full-time employees who have served their 90-day trial period in OPA. They are also prepared for employees transferring out of OPA.
Compensation for Injury
The United States Government as an employer has insured all its employees to reduce the hardships involved in the event of injury sustained in the performance of duty.
We are cautioned that the slightest injury might result in serious complications and therefore it should be reported immediately to the supervisor, who will advise as to the facilities for treatment.
Part IV
OUR SERVICES AND RESOURCES
Those who work for the Federal Government have an unusual number and variety of services and resources at their disposal. We should learn what these services are in OPA and how to take advantage of them to facilitate our work. The most important of the services and resources available in the Regional office are outlined briefly in this chapter.
Travel
An employee who travels in connection with his work for OPA is reimbursed for transportation costs and for a certain part of his expenses, if his travel is authorized. Each branch has a travel agent (usually the administrative assistant) who prepares travel authorizations for the approval .of the Budget and Finance Division. Except in very special circumstances, travel is to be authorized in advance.
The Travel Reservation Unit furnishes information about trains, makes train reservations, plans itineraries, arranges for priorities for air travel, and attends to the pick-up and delivery of tickets. The Services Branch makes reservations for hotel rooms at reduced Government rates.
Further information: Field Administrative Letter No. 9; Standardized Government Travel Regulations (booklet) ; Traveling for OPA (guidebook).
Communications
Mail. Mail is picked up from and delivered to all branches and other designated organizational units and is dispatched from the Regional office eight times each working day. Mail is delivered from the post office about four times a day. Regional communications are dispatched to the Washington office twice a day, enveloped in groups.
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OUR SERVICES AND RESOURCES
37
Postage regulations permit letters and other material to be transmitted postage free, if they relate to the official business of OPA. Postage-free envelopes, upon which the address of the Office of Price Administration has been typed, may be furnished for the use of any person from whom information is requested, if the supplying of this information is merely a courtesy; for returning required reporté or any other type of required information, postage-free envelopes may not be furnished.
Messengers—Regular. Regular messenger service is scheduled for all OPA offices every 30 minutes of the working day, and a late pick-up at 7 o’clock in the evening.
Special. When the regular service is inadequate either as to destination or time, special messenger service is available for urgent official communications between OPA divisions and branches and between OPA and other destinations in the city.
For special service: Call Messenger Dispatch Desk.
Telephones. The National OPA office is on one exchange with other war agencies ; those in the home office can therefore dial directly any person in a war agency, as listed in the National War Agencies directory (revised monthly). Tie lines connecting OPA with thirty-odd other Government agencies are listed on the back cover of the directory; all Government agencies, including the Congressional office buildings and the Capitol, are reached by dialing 80 and asking for the desired agency by name; a call from an unlimited telephone to an outside line is made by dialing 9 and then dialing the desired city number.
Field offices are also supplied with the National War Agencies directory. The “Classified Directory” at the back of the book outlines the structure of all war agencies, giving the building and room number and the telephone number of the head of each organizational unit of branch level or higher. This classified section is useful to field employees making calls to the Washington office.
In order not to add to the burden of the already overtaxed system, telephoning is reduced to a minimum, in both number and length of calls. Public telephones are provided in all corridors for the convenience of those wishing to make personal calls.
For directories: Write or call Telephone Directory Unit, Communications Section, Office for Emergency Management.
For installation: Requisition from Office Services Branch.
Wire messages. Telegraph, teletype, and cable service is available for urgent official OPA messages. One form is used for all wire messages. The dispatcher determines which service to use according to the urgency as indicated on the form by the sender, the priority regulations, and the availability of the wires.
Supplies and Equipment
Supplies, equipment, and repair services are furnished through the Property, Purchase, and Supply Section. Requisitions are signed by the administrative officer of the organizational unit making the request and are addressed to the Property and Supply Officer.
Stenographic, Typing, and Transcription Services
When an office has an overflow of typing work, material may be sent to the Stenographic Section to be typed.
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OPA IS OUR BATTLE LINE
Printing and Duplicating
Printing, mimeographing, multilithing, and photostating services are available for our work in OPA and are requisitioned from the Printing and Distribution Branch.
Library
The library in the National office serves employees of both the home office and the field offices. If our library does not own a requested book, it borrows from other Government or private libraries, including the Library of Congress. It maintains a reading and reference room for our use; does library research upon request, such as searching out and extracting passages from documents, assembling materials for special intensive studies, and answering library-research questions; and transmits to the Library of Congress our requests for bibliographies. It also furnishes out-of-town telephone numbers from its file of directories of other cities. Purchases of books, maps, periodicals to be used in the divisions and branches are made through the library.
Identification cards, to be used in borrowing library materials, may be obtained at the library.
Library hours: Same as regular OPA working hours.
Ordering Section: See under Library, OEM Telephone Directory.
Reference desk: See under Library, OEM Telephone Directory.
Inquiry Section
The Inquiry Section furnishes telephone extension numbers and room numbers of employees and information about where to find any service connected with our work. New telephone listings are reported to this section for inclusion in the OEM directory.
Employee Suggestion
Every employee is invited to make suggestions to improve OPA operations. Suggestions which aim at increasing cooperation, reducing costs, eliminating duplication, providing short cuts, or improving working conditions are typical. The Suggestion Branch receives the suggestions, considers each carefully, and replies to the person making it. All suggestions are handled confidentially. When a suggestion is adopted, the person submitting it is given proper recognition.
Further information: Field Administration Letter No. 24,
Conference Rooms
Rooms and related services are furnished for OPA meetings and conferences both in the Washington office and in the field. The National office has five conference rooms in its own buildings, accommodating from thirty to one hundred twenty-five persons; additional rooms and auditoriums may be arranged for in buildings of other agencies and in hotels. Reporting services (digest form or verbatim) together with lighting, heating, blackboards, amplifying devices, and other essentials are available.
Requisition from: Conference Services Section.
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Training
In order to perform successfully the very important work of the OPA, all employees need—
1. To become acquainted with the aims, objectives, organization, methods of work, achievements, and problems of the OPA. (This handbook is an example of a device to assist you in acquiring this basic information. Induction conferences are also examples.)
2. To be furnished with the necessary information and direction to start doing the job effectively at the earliest possible time.
3. To be coached, supervised, or trained (all these words mean about the same thing) in the continued efficient performance of the job when the specific needs of employees for policy information show up through experience. Normally much of this instruction takes the form of individual direction by the employee’s supervisor. Group in-service training activities are organized where the needs of sufficiently large numbers of employees makes this method of instruction more effective.
For those employees who come into OPA with high capacities and skills, but who are inexperienced in the particular problems of OPA, special preassignment training activities are being developed. They are designed to assist employees through an intensive period of training to convert their general ability to the specialized work of OPA. Just as the Army and Navy are constantly converting numerous civilians into officers by intensive indoctrination, so OPA will make specialists in price control and rationing through a comparable program.
Supervisors are the employee’s principal aids in learning how to do the job. The Training Branch exists to confer with supervisors and groups of supervisors, training councils and others on appropriate methods to discharge their responsibility. Experience has proved that employees on all levels of responsibility are eager to participate in any activity which will aid them to do a good job. Employees are urged to bring their need to the attention of their supervisors so that appropriate measures might be taken to increase their contribution to the war program.
Share-Y our-Car
OPA car clubs have been organized in order to conserve the Nation’s rubber stockpile and to relieve Denver’s transportation burden. The Labor-Management War Transportation Committee reviews applications made by OPA employees for supplemental gasoline rations and makes recommendations which the car owner may present to the local ration board along with his application for gasoline.
Preference is given to car clubs in the issuance of official parking space. Since the space is limited, parking permits are issued to car-club members in the order of request.
War Savings Bonds
Employees are invited to comply with the President’s request that all Government employees make their War Savings Bond purchases through the pay roll allotment plan. The Administrator emphasizes that, of all agencies, ours should give this program the fullest support.
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OPA IS OUR BATTLE LINE
Red Cross Blood Bank
More than 1,000 OPA employees have donated to the American Red Cross Blood Bank. Appointments are made twice weekly for groups from. OPA through the Blood Donor Desk. Transportation to and from the Red Cross Center is provided by the Red Cross Motor Corps; 3 hours’ official leave is granted to blood donors.
EPILOGUE . . .
We now have our marching orders. Let us move forward together to do the job which is bigger than our individual job, bigger than our unit’s job, bigger than our department’s job . . . OPA’s job. The more completely we succeed as employees, the more completely OPA will succeed in its job . . .to make the war cost less; to hold the cost of living to a livable level; to distribute scarce goods with ( democratic fairness; to ( help see that after the war we . . . and our ! fighting boys . . . have« the kind of world to live in that we have been
fighting and dying for all over the world.
OP A is our battle line. . . .
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SUGGESTED READING
(AU materials in this list are available in the OP A Library.)
The groups into which these suggested reading materials have been divided are by no means mutually exclusive. For instance, some of the books in section IV(A) could have been placed in the first section, on general theories of war economics. Also, some of them contain discussions pertinent to the study of rationing. Indeed, all the materials are vitally interwoven, for it is not possible to understand one of OPA’s functions—price control, rationing, and rent control—without understanding the general principles underlying all three of them.
In order to prepare to get the most pleasure and efficiency on the job, you will likely wish to choose one book from each group and, in addition, read all the material in the group relating specifically to your work.
I. WAR ECONOMICS
The books in this group cover the general principles and the theories involved in a war economy. Each book has its own special emphasis or direction, which is usually evident from the title.
Baruch, Bernard. American Industry in the War. Prentice-Hall, New York, 1941. Basch, A. Economic Warfare. Columbia University Press, New York, 1941.
Black, J. D. Parity, Parity, Parity. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1941. Clark, J. M. The Costs of the World War to the American People. Yale University Press, New Haven. Conn., 1931.’
Crum, W. L., Fenelly, J. F., and Seltzer, L. H. Fiscal Planning for Total War. National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, 1942.
Economic Standard of Government Price Control. TNEC Monograph No. 32, 1941.
Fraser, E. C. and Teele, S. F. Industry Goes to War. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New
York, 1941.
Harris, Seymour E. Economics of America at War. Norton and Co., New York, 1940. Investigation of the National Defense Program. Hearings and Reports on Senate Report 71 (1941-1942).
Keynes, J. M. How To Pay for the War. Harcourt Brace & Co., New York, 1940.
Henderson, Leon and Nelson, Donald. “Prices, Products, and Government.” Harvard Business Review, Summer 1941; also PM 650.
Spiegel, H. W. Economics of Total War. Appleton Press, 1942. One of the Century Series on economics. Bibliography, pp. 359-389.
War and Prices. TNEC Reports, Part 21, 1940, pp. 11021—11381.
II. OPA AND THE WAR PROGRAM
Battle Stations for All, OWI, Feb. 1943. A basic handbook on the fight to control living costs and prevent inflation.
{The) President’s Seven-point Program. Point of reference for study of the relationship of OPA’s program to the over-all National program.
Victory. OWI. Weekly digest of all war agency activities.
42
SUGGESTED READING
43
m. OPA’S JOBS
The books in this group give an over-all picture of what OPA’s jobs are and how these jobs are being done.
Quarterly Reports. The First Quarterly Report, for the period ended April 30, 1942r contains comprehensive treatment of OPA’s program from the beginning. Contains text of GMPR with Statement of Considerationfe.
OPA Highlights. Series issued weekly by OPA’s Division of Research. Gives current highlights on price, rationing, and rent actions and, occasionally, other information of current importance to OPA.
OPA Service. A complete, well-indexed looseleaf service, containing OPA schedules,, regulations, and orders, OPA administrative orders and notices, together with a description of the organization and function of OPA and analyses of all OPA action.
IV. PRICE CONTROL
A. General
The books in this group present the theories of price control and the problems as we face them today.
Adams, G. P. Wartime Price Control. American Council on Public Affairs, 1942.
Hamilton, Walton, and others. Price and Price Policies. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1938.
Hardy, Charles. Wartime Control of Prices. Brookings Institution, 1939.
Kjellstrom, E. H. Price Control: The War Against Inflation. Rutgers University Press, 1942.
Law and Contemporary Problems: The Emergency Price Control Act. Duke University Press, 1942.
Price Control Bill. House and Senate Hearings on the bill. 1941.
B. Price Control and the OPA
The materials in this group were prepared by employees of OPA and, for the most part, narrow the subject of price control down to our policies and our techniques in getting the job done.
GMPR Bulletin No. 1. April 28, 1942. Text of the GMPR, together with the Statement of Considerations. Appendix B consists of the list of the commodities designated as cost-of-living commodities. Of historical interest.
GMPR Bulletin No. 2, May 14, 1942. The descriptive title is “What Every Retailer Should Know About the General Maximum Regulation.” Of historical interest.
Price Control Manual. Procedural and technical; in the main, for economists and lawyers.
Price Control Report. Series issued periodically by OPA’s Division of Research. See especially: No. 7, The Effectiveness of Selective Price Control, May 1, 1942; No. 12, The Accomplishments of Price Control, Jan. 15, 1943; No. 13, The Effectiveness of Price Control (to October 1942).
Price Policy Series. Issued monthly by the OPA’s Research Division, beginning Dec-1941. See especially: No. 1, general discussion of the strategy of price control under the defense program; No. 2, lessons of price fixing and rationing at the retail level during the World War; No. 7, problems of subsidies and price control; and Nos. 10 and 11, on pricing techniques.
What Wartime Price Control Means to You. Brief educational pamphlet directed to the general public.
44
OPA IS OUR BATTLE LINE
V. 'RATIONING
A. From the Outside
The books in this group treat general principles of rationing and opinions of rationing from persons outside OPA.
“Broad Rationing Plan Ready.” Business Week, no. 662, pp. 15-16. May 9, 1942. OPA sees that controlled distribution of consumer goods must follow price freezing and is working on point system. Historical value.
Gragg, Charles I., Grimshaw, Austin, and Toele, Stanley F., “Competition Under Rationing.” Harvard Business Review, 20 (2), Winter 1942, pp. 141-155. Discussion of problems which result from shortages of basic raw materials in the United States.
(A) Reporter at Large. Reprint from the New Yorker, June 13, 1942. A reporter’s-eye view of a local board at work.
Spiegel, Henry William, The Economics of Total War, Appleton Press, 1942. One of the Century Series in economics. Bibliography, pp. 359-389. Chapter VII, “Wartime Control of Production and Consumption,” is devoted to a discussion of priorities and rationing with special reference to rationing of consumer’s goods in Britain and Germany.
Wartime Rationing and Consumption. Economic Intelligence Service of the League of Nations. June 1942. Study of impact of war controls and rationing on consumption and standards of living in all countries for which information is available.
B. Rationing and the OPA
The material in this group was prepared by employees of OPA and presents rationing from OPA’s point of view.
Price Policy Series. (Description in IV (B), above.) No. 2, Price Fixing and Rationing at the Retail Level.
Rationing Why and How. August 1942. A popular presentation of the fundamental principles of rationing.
{The) Theory of Rationing. Information Memorandum No. 9. Sept. 18, 1942. Analysis of the various theories and techniques of rationing—thorough and painstaking.
VI RENT CONTROL
Housing for Defense. Twentieth Century Fund. 1941.
Report on Rent Control, August 1, 1942-January 31, 1943. History, description of administrative organization, summary of data on operations, and analysis of rent regulations. 1 map, 12 tables, 62 charts.
INDEX
A
Page
Act, Emergency Price Control—_______ 2
Adjustment of complaints (employee)______________________________ 27
Administrator_________________________ 23
Deputy (see Departments)___________ 20
Senior Deputy_________________________ 22
Regional______________________________ 23
Administrative Management Department ______________________________ 22
Annual leave________________________ 29
Annuities, Employee retirement_ 34
Appointment under Civil Service
Regulations_____________________________30
Area rent offices____________________ 23
Attitude toward job__________________ 25
Automatic retirement contributions- 34
B
Banking, Ration_____________________ 14
Base period___________________________ 9
Benefits:
Death________________________________ 34
Disability___________________________ 34
Blood Bank___________________________ 40
Boards, local, war price and rationing__________________________________ 23
Business, Effect of inflation on____ 6
C
Canvassing (office buildings)_______ 28
Ceiling, Dollars-and-cents.___________ 9
Central Administrative Services_____ 19
Civil Service personnel regulations_ 30
Classification, Job__________________ 31
Committees, Fair Rent________________ 16
Communications_______________________ 36
Compensation for injuries____________ 35
Complaints, Adjustment of____________ 27
Conduct, personal____________________ 25
Conference Rooms-------------------- 39
Confidential information___________ 26
Consumer demand, control____________ 4
Contributions :
Automatic__________________________ 34
Voluntary____________________________ 34
Control:
Price—_______________________________ 7
Rent ________________________________ 17
Court duty, leave____________________ 29
Current information on organizational changes_______________________ 24
D
Page
Death benefits_______________________ 34
Deductions from salary—,—--------- 33
Refund of_____________________________ 33
Defense-rental area offices________- 23
Deferment (draft) policy_______.___ 28
Departments :
Administrative Management________ 22
Information_________________________ 22
Legal_________________________________ 22
Price__________________________— 20
Professional Services______________ 22
Rationing__________________________> 20
Rent__________________________________ 22
Deputy Administrator:
of Departments (see Departments) _________________________ 20
Senior_____________________________ 22
Direct controls: of prices_______________________ 5
over supplies and distribution— 3
Disability benefits ----------—_— 34
Distribution, Control of-----------— 3
District offices___________________— 23
Documents, Ration-------------------- 14
Dollars-and-cents ceiling------------- 9
Draft deferment policy_______________ 28
Duplicating__________________________ 38
E
Effectiveness of price control----- 9
Efficiency ratings________________— 35
Emergency Price Control Act________ 17
Rent control under____________________ 17
Employee Suggestion_________________ 38
Equipment___________________________ 37
Extension of price control_________ 7
F
Fair Rent Committees_________________ 16
Fairness, racial and religious----- 27
Farmers_______________________________ 6
Field organization___________________ 22
Financial responsibility-------— 26
Fixed incomes_________________________ 6
Flexibility, organizational-------— 24
Flow-back process (rationing)------ 14
Formula pricing ____________—_------- 11
45
46
INDEX
o
Page
Office, National_____________________ 19
Offices:
defense-rental________________________ 23
district______________________________ 23
regional_____________________________ 23
Optional retirement__________________ 34
Organization:
field__________________________________ 22 .
flexibility___________________________ 24
National______________________________ 20
Overtime----------------------------- 32
P
Pay roll_____________________________ 32
Personal:
conduct_______________________________ 25
mail________________________________ 28
Personnel:
policy________________________________ 25
regulations___________________________ 30
Point rationing---------------------- 15
Policy, draft deferment______________ 28
Policies of OPA_______________________ 2
Price control_________________________ 7
direct_________________________________ 3
methods of_____________________________ 9
selective______________________________ 7
Price Department_____________________ 20
Price regulations____________________ 11
Prices, wholesale_____________________ 7
Printing— ____________-— __________ 38
Private interests (employee)------- 25
Production-___________________________ 6
Professional Services Department___ 22
Prohibitions, legal (employee)----- 27
Promotion____________________________ 30
Protection, legal (employee)_______ 27
Public, service to___________________ 26
Purposes:
of OPA________________________________ 2
of price control__________________ 2
of rationing__________________________ 12
of rent control_________________ 15
R
Racial fairness____________________ 27
Ratings, efficiency__________________ 35
Ration banking_________________________ 14
Rationing______________________________ 12
Authority_______________________________ 2
Department____________________________ 20
Documents______________________________ 14
Methods________________________________ 14
Reasons for_________________________— 12
Types of____________________________- 12
What_______________________________-— 15
When__________________________________ 13
Why___________________________________ 12
References (organizational)---------- 24
Refund of deductions___________________ 33
Regional offices_______________________ 23
Registration for landlords_____________ 18
Regulation (price), creation of---- 11
G
Page
General Maximum Price Regulation- 7
H
History of OPA------------------------- 1
Holidays _—___________________________ 28
Hours of work------------------------- 28
I
Indirect controls over consumer demand-------------------------------- 4
Inflation, consequences of------------- 5
Information Department________________ 22
Injury, compensation for-------------- 35
Inquiry section_________________-— 38
J
Job, attitude toward------------------ 25
Job classification and salary------ 31
L
Labor__________________________________ 6
Layout of National office______________ 20
Leave:
annual-_____________________________ 29
for court duty________________________ 29
maternity_____________________________ 29
military______________________________ 29
official______________________________ 29
sick__________________________________ 29
vacation —_______________________— 29
without pay___________________________ 29
Legal:
Department_____________________________ 22
prohibitions___________________________ 27
protection_____________________________ 27
rights_________________________________ 27
Legislative basis for OPA-------------- 2
Library________________________________ 38
Living, standards of___________________ 6
Local boards (war price and rationing) _______________________________ 23
Loyalty (employee)--------------------- 25
M
Mail,' official_______________________ 36
Mail, personal________________________ 28
Maternity leave_____________________ 29
Maximum Price Regulation:
General_________________________________ 7
Specific________________________________ 9
Typical rent___________________________ 17
Messengers____________________________ 37
Methods of price control_______________ 9
Military: leave_____________________________ 29
service, credit for____________________ 34
N
National office, functional layout__ 20
INDEX
47
Regulation, Civil Service personnel-
Religious fairness__________________ Rent________________________________
Area offices___________________
Control, under E. P. C. Act____
Department__________________ Effectiveness__________________
Need for control________________
Purposes___________________ Registration of landlords__ Regulations, typical_______.___
Retail prices ____________________________________________ Retirement__________________________
Automatic__________________________
Optional___________________________
Rights, legal (employee)____________
S
Salary______________________________ deductions__________________________ ranges______________________________
Sales (office buildings)__ Selective price control___ Separation________________ Services (Professional) Department-Services to public________ Share-Your-Car_______________________
Shortages___________________________ Sick leave__________________________ Sources of organizational informa-
tion ________________________________
Spare time (employee)_______________ Stabilization of Employment Pro-
gram ________________________________
Page 30 27 15 23 17 22 18 15 15 18 17
8 34 34 34 27
31 33
32 28
7 30 22 26 39 13 29
24 25
31
Page
Standards of living____________________ 6
Stenographie Services_________________ 38
Supplies, Direct control over______ 3
Supplies, office____________________ 37
T
Telephones___________________________ 37
Training___________________________ 39
Transcription Services_______________ 38
Transfer_____________________________ 31
Travel_____________________________ 36
Typing services______________________ 38
V
Unions_______________________________ 27
V
Vacation leave_______________________ 29
Victory tax________________________ 33
Voluntary contributions______________ 34
W
Savings Bonds_________________ 39
Wholesale prices__________________ 7
Wire messages____________________ 37
Winning the war, our part._________ vn
Without pay (leave)________________ 29
Work hours_________________________ 28
O