undertook a study in fiscal 1973 to identify managerial and executive training needs. It resulted in an agency-wide action plan that is expected to have substantial impact on executive and managerial development activities throughout the Government.

Research findings of the study indicated, as noted in Chapter III, that there are some 60,000 managerial and executive positions in the Federal structure. The study recommends that attention be focused on specific target groups within this population-new managers and executives, and those moving into new positions of increased responsibilitiesand that special programs be provided at these transition points. In addition, the study recommends that continuing educational opportunities be provided for all other managers and executives on an annual basis.

Executive development program plans for fiscal 1974 are covered in the preceding chapter.

Labor Relations Training

In accordance with Civil Service Commission/ Office of Management and Budget guidelines for the management and organization of agency responsibilities under the Federal Labor-Management Relations program, the Commission designed and

issued a 7-part labor relations training needs survey, which will be used to assist agencies in identifying labor relations training requirements. We have also developed three films in the areas of grievance, arbitration, and negotiation, all of which will be available for agency use in training programs. In conjunction with the Commission's recent revisions of the qualification standards for the positions of Personnel Specialist and Personnel Officer, two new training courses are being developed that will incorporate the new labor relations functions of the positions.

Upward Mobility Training

The Commission's expanding role in the areas of equal employment opportunity/upward mobility training, brought about by new responsibilities under the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, has been detailed in preceding pages of this chapter. In the course of planning for this training, 30 visits were held with 25 different agencies. The resulting new courses were developed by the Commission in response to agency requests.

Phaseout of the Public
Service Careers Program

On April 3, 1970, the Civil Service Commission

assumed the responsibility for administering the Department of Labor's Public Service Careers (PSC) program as it related to the Federal service. Since assuming that responsibility, the Commission has taken major strides toward achieving the program's long-range goals of hiring and training minimally skilled persons and of upgrading lower level Federal employees through training, job restructuring, and career ladder development. As of June 30, 1973, participating agencies reported hiring and training 9,437 minimally skilled persons at the entry level and providing upgrade opportunities to 7,803 lower level employees.

The typical Public Service Careers trainee was 20 to 29 years old, underemployed, and lacked a high school education. Men constituted 45 percent of the participants, and nearly 15 percent of entry-level PSC trainees were Vietnam-era veterans. The trainees were geographically located at 735 installations in 459 cities in 50 States and the District of Columbia.

In order to meet the divergent needs of such a heterogeneous group, jobs were targeted to cover over 100 different occupations. The end result, therefore, was diversified and meaningful job training for the participating trainees.

The Public Service Careers program officially came to a close on June 30, 1973. Building on the program experience, the Civil Service Commission is continuing to encourage all Federal agencies to carry on the program goals as ongoing objectives for their agencies. The Commission has set requirements and is providing technical guidance to Federal agencies for the systematic hiring and development of low-skilled and disadvantaged persons. If this can be achieved, the program may be "phasing out" in one respect, but would just be beginning in the form of individual agency programs committed to further development of the minimally skilled and lower level Federal employees.

Residential Training
Programs for Executives

Four interagency residential training centers for Federal executives are operated by the Civil Service Commission. Three of them are Executive Seminar Centers, offering 2-week residential study programs to executives, most of whom are at GS-14 and 15 or equivalent levels. The fourth is the Federal Executive Institute, which offers an 8-week program to executives primarily drawn from the top three

grades. All of the centers are supported by participating agencies on a shared-cost basis. Attendance is basically Federal, but executives of State, county, and municipal governments are also eligible.

In fiscal 1973, the Federal Executive Institute conducted four sessions of its 8-week Residential Program in Executive Education, with 240 executives attending. Participation by women and minority group members was noticeably higher than in preceding years.

The Institute also offered a variety of shorter programs, all of which mirror its continuing attention to expressed administration policies. They were: Making Federalism Work, Federal Organization for Executives, Organizational Development, Managing for Productivity in Government, a Seminar for Top Managers (GS-18), and Special Conferences for Updating of Federal Executive Institute Alumni.

Anticipating an increased enrollment in the 8week Residential Program, provision has been made for five sessions in fiscal 1974, and space accommodations have been extended accordingly.

The Retirement Story

Commission people involved with retirement, insurance, and occupational health programs had a busy year. Changes and challenges came thick and fast.

Cost-of-Living Increases

Last year's annual report predicted that a cost-of

living annuity increase of 4.8 percent effective July 1, 1972, would "literally snow the Commission under with retirement claims for a short period of time" at the beginning of fiscal 1973. The prediction proved correct. In a 4-month period, the Commission received a record 80,000 retirements as compared to a "normal" workload of 5,000 applications a month. Adjudication of this unprecedented workload was facilitated by expansion of the automated retirement claims processing system, creation of a night task force composed mainly of college students, and high levels of overtime by the Commission's retirement staff.

We faced much the same situation at the end of fiscal 1973. It looked as though the workload records set during the year would be broken by the effects of a 6.1 percent cost-of-living increase effective July 1, 1973. This was the largest automatic cost-of-living increase ever to be applied to the entire annuity roll, and was expected to create workload levels possibly more massive than those experienced a year earlier.

Employees who retired in time for the 6.1 percent increase also benefited from an improved recurring special payment system that produces accurate payments while providing for better claims control. Special payments are approximations of an individual's annuity made while the claim is being

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT? Information in this pamphlet helps employees leaving Federal Government decide whether to withdraw their retirement contributions or let them ride.

processed. They alleviate any financial hardship to claimants resulting from the huge workload surges created by the annuity increases.

Improved Services

There were a number of other retirement service improvements to employees and annuitants during the year. A leaflet, "Retirement Benefits When You Leave Government Early," was published to give employees information on the relative advantages of leaving their retirement contributions in the Retirement Fund versus withdrawing the funds for immediate personal use. The annuity check disbursement procedure was moved to Treasury's Chicago Disbursing Center, where a greater check processing capability exists. This change in disbursement centers allows the Commission to issue and voucher retirement claims later in the month, and equates to a gain of several processing days.

Each annuitant's statement of income and tax withheld was mailed with the January annuity check this year, allowing the maximum amount of time possible for early preparation of individual tax returns. The insertion of income statements with the annuity check also reflects the Commission's increased reliance on check insertions as opposed to separate mailings of informational materials. This policy resulted in savings of over $300,000 in postage costs alone in fiscal 1973.

This year the Commission conducted a special income survey of a sample group of civil service annuitants. The purpose was to develop and update information on total income, income by source, and the relationships between total income, civil service annuity, years of service, average salary, and number of years retired. The survey indicated that the civil service annuity typically constitutes 70.2 percent of an employee annuitant's total income and 50 percent of a survivor annuitant's total income. Seven of ten employee annuitants, and eight of ten survivor annuitants, were found to have a second source of income. In both cases, the most common second source of income was found to be Social Security benefits. While there is no immediate service benefit associated with this survey, its results will be used in the future in considering program improvements that best meet the needs of civil service annuitants.

An illustration of how such research can serve the needs of employees or annuitants occurred in the

reduction in force was necessary and before resorting to the prescribed reduction-in-force procedures, or while such procedures were in progress, it could request by letter the resignation of employees in certified competitive areas who would be eligible for immediate annuity if they were involuntarily separated.

While this authorization served its intended purpose of lightening the adverse impact of reductions in force, the Commission had continuing problems in administering it. Among other things, there were unsupported allegations that agencies in reductionin-force situations were coercing older employees to resign, and questions were raised as to whether the "requested resignation" procedure conformed to the intent of the retirement law and whether separations resulting from it were truly involuntary. The Commission, therefore, rescinded the "requested resignation" authority for separations occurring after December 31, 1972.

In lieu of the "requested resignation" procedure, the Commission proposed to the Congress draft legislation designed to accomplish the same objective of lightening the impact of reductions in force. The Commission's proposed legislation was enacted as Public Law 93-39 on June 12, 1973. This legislation amends section 8336(d) of title 5, United States Code, to permit the voluntary retirement on immediate annuity of an employee who is at least age 50 with at least 20 years of service (or at any age with at least 25 years of service) during a period when his employing agency is undergoing a major reduction in force as determined by the Commission, and who is serving in such geographic areas as may be designated by the Commission. As in the case of employees who are involuntarily separated, employees who voluntarily retire under this new option have their annuities reduced by 1/6 of one percent for each full month they are under age 55 (2 percent a year).

Authorization by the Commission for optional retirement under the amendment may extend to employees of an entire department or agency, or it may be limited to employees in one or more geographic areas, installations, or competitive levels or areas within an agency. Additionally, the Commission limits the time within which eligible employees may exercise the right to retire optionally. No optional retirement eligibility exists unless there is appropriate written authorization by the Commission and the employee falls within the limitations con

tained in the authorization.

The new legislation will help agencies carry out a major reduction in force with less disruption to the work force than was previously the case. This is accomplished by allowing eligible employees over a larger part of the organization to volunteer for retirement before a reduction in force actually is effected, thereby permitting the employing agency to ascertain in advance the overall effect of retrenchment in a particular geographic or occupational area. These voluntary retirements assist in reducing the number of involuntary separations that must be made.

Comparability Report On Benefit Programs

During the year the Commission examined the major benefits programs provided to Federal employees to compare them with those provided by other employers, public and private. The result was a staff report entitled "Comparisons of Major Benefit Programs." The report provides a meaningful basis for determining how the Federal Government compares with other major employers in the area of employee benefits and represents a milestone along the increasingly inviting road toward comparisons based on total compensation, rather than on isolated components of the total.

The report covers 11 other employers and contains data on six major benefit programs: retirement, health benefits, life insurance, vacations, sick leave, and holidays. The data indicate that on the basis of overall benefits, the Federal Government compares favorably with 10 of the 11 employers. The sole exception was New York State, which has experienced some difficulty in financing its benefit

programs.

Reductions in Health Benefits Premiums

Premiums for the two Government-wide plans in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program were reduced for calendar year 1973. More than three-fourths of all employees and annuitants are covered in these two plans.

Premium rates for the Government-wide Service Benefit Plan (Blue Cross-Blue Shield) were reduced by 10 percent in the high option and 15 percent in the low option. Rates for the Government-wide Indemnity Benefit Plan (Aetna) were reduced by 5