Executive Order—Civil Service: Government Printing Office Rules

ADOPTING AND PROMULGATING ORDER. In the exercise of the power vested in him by the Constitution, by the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes, and the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States," approved January 16, 1883, the President hereby makes and promulgates the following rules concerning the classified service of the Government Printing Office, to be known as the Government Printing Office Rules: RULE I. 1. The classified service of the Government Printing Office shall include all persons employed in that office except those appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and unskilled laborers or workmen. 2. The officers, clerks, and other employees of the Government Printing Office are hereby arranged in the following classes: Class 1--All persons receiving an annual salary of less than $720, or a compensation at the rate of less than $720 per annum. Class 2.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $720 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $720 or more, but less than $840 per annum. Class 3.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $840 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $840 or more, but less than $900 per annum. Class 4.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $900 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $900 or more, but less than $1,000 per annum. Class 5.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,000 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1,000 or more, but less than $1,200 per annum. Class 6.--All persons receiving an annual salary of 1,200 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1,200 or more, but less than $1,400 per annum. Class 7.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,400 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1,400 or more, but less than $1,600 per annum. Class 8--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,600 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1,600 or more, but less than $1,800 per annum. Class 9.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,800 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1,800 or more, but less than $2,000 per annum. Class 10.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $2,000 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $2,000 or more per annum. RULE II. 1. To test fitness for admission to the classified service of the Government Printing Office, examinations of a practical character shall be provided by the Commission. If the trade or occupation is such that a competitive test can not be made, the Commission shall provide regulations for the registration of applicants without competitive tests. 2. Any male citizen of the United States not under 21 or over 45 years of age and any female citizen not under 18 or over 35 years of age may be examined for positions in the Government Printing Office. 3. No application for a position in the Government Printing Office which belongs to one of the recognized mechanical trades shall be received from any applicant who has not served at least five years at the particular trade to which the position for which he applies belongs, one year of which service must have been rendered as a journeyman. 4. Blank forms of application shall be furnished by the Commission, and the date of reception and also of approval by the Commission of each application shall be entered on the application paper. RULE III. 1. The grade or standing of every competitor shall be determined under regulations made by the Commission, and each competitor shall be duly notified whether or not he is eligible for appointment. 2. No competitor who has failed to obtain an eligible standing shall be admitted to another test within six months from the date of failure unless he shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the Commission that at the time of his examination he was unable to do himself justice because of illness or other good cause. 3. No eligible shall be admitted to a test during the period of his eligibility unless he shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the Commission that at the time of his examination he was unable to do himself justice because of illness or other good cause. 4. All competitors whose claims of preference under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes have been allowed by the Commission who attain a general average of 65 per cent or over, and all other competitors who attain a general average of 70 per cent or over, shall be eligible for appointment to the place for which they were examined. The names of all competitors thus rendered eligible shall be entered in the order of grade on the proper register of eligibles. 5. The Commission shall establish regulations for the order of certification of applicants who are registered without competitive examinations under the provisions of Rule II, paragraph 1. 6. When two or more eligibles are of the same grade, preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which the application papers are filed. 7. The period of eligibility to appointment shall be one year from the date on which the name of the eligible is entered on the register, unless otherwise determined by regulations by the Commission, RULE IV. 1. All vacancies, unless filled by promotion, transfer, or reappointment, shall be filled in the following manner: (a) The Public Printer shall, in form and manner to be prescribed by the Commission, request the certification to him of either males or females, or both, eligible to the vacant place. (b) If fitness for the vacant place is tested by competitive examination, the Commission shall certify from the proper register the names of the three eligibles thereon, of the sex or sexes called for, having the highest averages, who have not been three times certified: Provided , That the eligibles upon any register who have been allowed preference under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes shall be certified according to their grade before all other eligibles thereon: And provided further, That if the vacancy is in a position for which a competitive examination can not be provided certification shall be made of the names of the first three eligibles on the register, of the sex or sexes called for, who have not been three times certified. 2. Of the three names certified to him the Public Printer shall select one, and if at the time of making this selection there are more vacancies than one he may select more than one: Provided , That if the Public Printer shall object in writing to any eligible named in the certification, stating that because of physical incapacity or for other good cause particularly specified such eligible is not capable of properly performing the duties of the vacant place, the Commission may, upon investigation and ascertainment of the fact that the objection made is good and well rounded, direct the certification of another eligible in place of the eligible to whom objection is made. 3. When a person designated for appointment shall have reported in person to the Public Printer, he shall be appointed for a probational period of six months, at the end of which period, if his conduct and capacity be satisfactory to the Public Printer, he shall receive absolute appointment; but if his conduct and capacity be not satisfactory he shall be notified that he will not receive absolute appointment, and this notification shall discharge him from the service. The Public Printer shall require the officer under whom the probationer may be serving to carefully observe and report in writing upon the services rendered by and the character and qualifications of such probationer as to punctuality, industry, habits, ability, and adaptability. These reports shall be preserved on file, and the Commission may prescribe the form and manner in which they shall be made. 4. Any person appointed to a position which belongs to one of the recognized mechanical trades may upon reporting for appointment be subjected to a practical test under the supervision of a board designated by the Commission, and if he or she fails to attain a general average of 70 per cent on a maximum of 100 per cent he or she shall be rejected for appointment. 5. In case of public and pressing exigency, demanding the immediate employment of skilled and experienced workmen who can not be at once supplied in the manner provided for in section 2 of this rule, or by transfer under Rule VI, or reinstatement under Rule VII, there may be employed without examination or certification for a period not to exceed thirty days, which with the consent of the Commission may be extended in periods of thirty days each, any persons who have the requisite knowledge or experience who may be available: Provided , That no person shall serve more than ninety days in any one year under such temporary appointment. The year limitation in regard to appointment shall begin to run at the date of the original appointment. Every such temporary appointment and also the discontinuance of the same shall be at once reported to the Commission. RULE V. I. Until promotion regulations shall have been applied to the classified service of the Government Printing Office promotions therein may be made upon any test of fitness determined upon by the Public Printer if not disapproved by the Commission. RULE VI. 1. Transfers may be made as follows: (a) From a position in the classified service of the Government Printing Office requiring a knowledge of some mechanical trade to a position in any one of the Executive Departments requiring a knowledge of the same mechanical trade, upon requisition from the head of the Department to which the transfer is to be made and the consent of the Public Printer: Provided, That a person so transferred shall not be transferred to another position in one of the Executive Departments unless such other position requires a knowledge of the same mechanical trade upon which the original transfer was based, nor until he has served one year in the position to which he was originally transferred. (b) From any Executive Department to the classified service of the Government Printing Office upon requisition from the Public Printer and the consent of the head of the Department from which the transfer is to be made. 2. No person shall be transferred as herein authorized until after absolute appointment and until the Commission shall have certified to the officer making the transfer requisition that the person whom it is proposed to transfer has passed an examination to test fitness for the place to which he or she is to be transferred. No person shall be transferred to any place from which he or she may be barred by age limitations for original entrance or by the rules regulating the apportionment of appointments among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia. RULE VII. Upon requisition of the Public Printer the Commission shall certify for reinstatement in the Government Printing Office, in a grade requiring no higher examination than the one in which he was formerly employed, any person who within one year next preceding the date of the requisition has through no delinquency or misconduct been separated from the classified service of the Government Printing Office: Provided , That certification may be made, subject to the other conditions of this rule, for the reinstatement of any person who served in the military or naval service of the United States in the late War of the Rebellion and was honorably discharged therefrom, or the widow of any such person, without regard to the length of time he or she has been separated from the service. RULE VIII. The Public Printer shall report to the Commission-- (a) Every probational and every absolute appointment to the service of the Government Printing Office, (b) Every refusal to make an absolute appointment and the reason therefor, and every declination of an appointment, (c) Every separation from the service of the Government Printing Office and the cause of such separation, whether death, resignation, or dismissal, Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.