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official business, except as hereinafter prohibited. When an employee desires to make an assignment of his pay, under any of the circumstances enumerated above, he shall give to the disbursing clerk or fiscal agent a written order showing the full name and address of the assignee, the period covered by such assignment, and whether it is desired that the amount be paid in cash or by check. Assignment blanks will be furnished by the disbursing clerk or fiscal agent upon application. If, by the terms of the assignment, payment be made by check, the check shall be drawn to the order of the assignee and a notation made thereon by the disbursing clerk or fiscal agent showing the purpose of such assignment and on whose account drawn; if payment be made in cash the assignee's receipt shall be taken on the voucher or pay roll. In either case the assignment shall be attached to the voucher or pay roll upon which the first payment is made. Under no circumstances will any assignment or other order for salary be approved or honored by the disbursing clerk or a fiscal agent when in the nature of an assignment or other making over of salary for value received, or as security for a loan, or when made payable to loan brokers or companies, or agents thereof. (See also paragraph 98.)

17. A person serving the whole of any calendar month, who is paid on an annual or monthly basis, will be paid one-twelfth of the annual, or the full monthly, salary, irrespective of the number of days that the month contains.

18. A person entering the service, in any month other than February, on any day except the 31st of a 31-day month, and serving to the end thereof, will be paid from the date of entry to the 30th day of said month, both dates inclusive; a person entering the service on the 31st day of a 31-day month will receive no pay therefor.

19. A person entering the service during February, and serving continuously to the end thereof, will receive

a full monthly installment less as many thirtieths as there were days elapsed prior to date of entry.

20. An employee paid on a per annum or monthly basis, who permanently retires from the service without serving the whole month, is entitled to one-thirtieth of a monthly installment for each day on full-pay status.

21. An employee will be paid for each day in a thirty or thirty-one day month for which he is in a duty or pay status, except for the thirty-first day. An employee in a duty or pay status from the first to and including the last day of a month will receive one-twelfth of his annual pay only; if in such status from the first to thirtieth, and in a status of absence without pay for the thirtyfirst day, he will receive twenty-nine days' pay only. one day's pay being forfeited for such one day of absence. An employee “Furloughed," or "On leave without pay," from the 16th to the 31st, inclusive, of a 31-day month, will receive fifteen-thirtieths of a monthly installment of salary; an employee absent under the same conditions from the 16th to the 28th, inclusive, of the month of February, will receive fifteen-thirtieths of a monthly installment of salary; an employee absent on the last day of February will receive twenty-seven thirtieths, or in leap years twenty-eight thirtieths, of the monthly installment of salary.

22. Where permission is granted a clerk, or other employee, to be absent on annual leave or leave without pay for a day or other specific period of time, and the leave expires with Saturday or a day preceding a legal holiday, no deduction of pay will be made on account of absence on the next Sunday or legal holiday, provided the clerk or other employee returns to duty on the day following the Sunday or legal holiday.

23. Where an employee, not entitled to leave with pay, is absent without permission, pay should be deducted for each day's absence, including Sundays and legal holi

47711°-15-2

days. When the absence includes the last day of February, three days' (in leap year two days') pay should be deducted for absence on that day. (See paragraph 21.)

24. Per diem employees will not receive pay for Sundays unless service is necessary and actually performed, in which case the service must be certified to on the account by the supervising official.

25. Per diem employees within the United States holding permanent appointments will receive pay for legal holidays if in a duty status, but temporary per diem employees other than those employed by hour or piece, or a few days at a time, incidental to their main employment elsewhere, and those whose appointments read "For days actually employed" must perform service the day before and the day following such holiday in order to be entitled to pay therefor.

PREPARATION OF SALARY ACCOUNTS.

26. When two or more employees are serving at the same field station their salary accounts may be rendered by the official in charge on a pay roll Form 2. When serving alone an employee should render his salary account on voucher Form 3. The amount due at an annual or monthly rate, or for fractional parts of a month, must be ascertained from the Department Salary Tables. (See Appendix B.)

In case of a new appointment, promotion, or reduction in grade involving a change in rate of compensation, or transfer from one bureau to another, sheet and line reference must be shown.

The exact period of service should be stated, with inclusive dates. If the salary be at an annual or monthly rate, Sundays will be included in the period of service.

The correctness of every service voucher as to the period of service and the actual performance thereof must be established by the certificate of the chief of bureau or other official, designated by him, having immediate supervision of the service therein set forth.

SUPPLIES.

ADVERTISEMENTS AND PROPOSALS.

27. Until written authority therefor shall have been granted by the Secretary or a chief of bureau pursuant to his letter of authorization from the Secretary, no purchase of supplies shall be made, except in cases of actual emergencies for the protection of the public interests or of preservation of public property, the necessities for which I shall be shown by a certificate of the official making the e purchase. Every such emergency purchase must be approved prior to payment, and then only when in the judgment of the approving officer the purchase was lawful and justified.

28. All requisitions for the purchase of supplies, or for job work, in excess of $100 must be approved by the Secretary, except in case of the Weather Bureau and the Forest Service, which may issue requisitions for amounts not exceeding $500; but no automobiles, motor boats, or other motor-driven vehicles, and no medicines for personal use (see paragraph 78, section m), shall be purchased without specific authority of the Secretary.

29. Except in cases in which the aggregate amount involved does not exceed fifty dollars, or which are provided for by paragraph 35, no purchase of or contract for supplies or services, other than personal services, shall be made until after advertisement a sufficient time previously for proposals respecting the same, when the public exigencies do not require the immediate delivery of the articles or the performance of the services. Such advertisements may be: (1) by notices posted in public places inviting competitive bidding; (2) in newspapers, upon specific authority from the Secretary, when the amount involved is two thousand five hundred dollars, or more; (3) by formal proposals sent to three or more dealers, when the aggregate amount involved exceeds fifty dollars and is less than two thousand five hundred dollars.

30. No price shall be accepted unless it is reasonable. All bids and proposals shall be subject to these regulations. The contract of purchase will be complete and binding upon acceptance by the department of a bid or proposal. The Chief of the Weather Bureau and the Forester, or a district forester when previously authorized in writing by the Forester, may accept bids or proposals when the amount involved is five hundred dollars or less, and shall, respectively, give notice of all acceptances by themselves. In all other cases acceptances, and notices thereof, will be by the Secretary. Except in cases in which, pursuant to paragraph 144 of the Administrative Regulations, there may be a waiver, as evidence of contracts of purchase, the Secretary will sign, and may require the bidder or maker of a proposal to sign, a written contract when the amount involved is one thousand dollars or more. When less than fifty dollars is involved, and answers to inquiries, made in compliance with the fiscal regulations, result in quotations of reasonable prices, the lowest price quoted may be used informally by the chief of the bureau concerned as the basis of purchases in the open market. Unless otherwise stated in the specifications, or advertisement for bids or proposals, or in the contract of purchase, the department shall be bound only for the particular supplies specified therein, and shall not be bound for supplies which may be purchased at any other time during that fiscal year.

31. Delivery at a field station outside of Washington for use in the field service, and not for use in the Washington office, may not be required under a contract or acceptance based upon delivery at the department in Washington.

32. The General Supply Committee contracts are for articles to be used in Washington, and do not apply to any supplies for a field service, except with the consent of contractors, or to supplies ordered for scientific, labora