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BALANCE OF CIVIL PAY
TREATMENT OF CLASS Z AND SIMILAR RESERVISTS
This paper sets out proposals for Class Z and similar reservists called up under the arrangements announced by the Prime Minister in his statement of 29th January, 1951. It assumes that, whatever may be the decision on balance of civil pay in a future war, it is not practical politics to abandon it for some at least of the reservists now being called up.
2.
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
These arrangements are for the recall of:-
some 235,000 Class Z reservists for 15 days' training with the
Army and 10,000 Class G reservists for 15 days in the R.A.F.;
about 6,000 naval reservists for 18 months' service;
(possibly) 200 regular and volunteer reservists for a similar
period in the R.A.F.;
2,300 Royal Auxiliary Air Force reservists and 600 R.A.F.V.R.
reservists for 3 months' continuous training.
Group (i) will be called the short-term group and (ii) - (iv) the long-term group.
3.
The question is whether civil servants recalled under any of these schemes should continue to receive their civil pay in addition to military pay, in whole or in part.
4.
There are three possibilities:-
(i)
special leave without pay for everybody;
(ii)
balance of civil pay for everybody;
(iii)
some form of special leave with pay for the short-term group
and balance of civil pay for the long-term group.
5.
Present Position
(i) All permanent staff and certain temporary staff are allowed special paid leave within defined limits if they are volunteer members of the Territorial Army, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, etc. (The amount of special leave varies between a maximum of 12 working days for staff with an annual leave allowance not exceeding 18 days and up to 6 working days for staff with an annual leave allowance of 24 days or more.)
(ii) National Servicemen are entitled to special unpaid leave for the period of their annual training with the Territorial Army, etc.
(iii)
Balance of civil pay is in practice being given to most permanent staff who, as ex-Regulars or as members of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers, were recalled to the Colours following the outbreak of war in Korea. It is understood that it is not being given to some industrial staff.
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6.
(iv) Balance of civil pay is not, however, being given 264 of 587
(a) to any civil servant who may have volunteered for
re-enlistment;
(b) to temporary civil servants (unless they have been
employed in the Service since before 3rd March, 1939);
(c) to National Servicemen even if they volunteer to extend their
period of service beyond 18 months.
The arguments for and against treating the Z reservists in the various ways mentioned in paragraph 4 are considered below.
7.
Unpaid leave. In private industry it will be left to individual employers to decide whether or not to make up, in whole or in part, the pay of their employees. The Government will be expected to act as "good employers" in this matter, and, having regard to the present state of public opinion, it seems inadvisable to recommend that all civil pay should be withheld from the reservists.
8.
Balance of civil pay for everybody.
This approach seems unsound, since the special administrative arrangements that would have to be intro- duced for paying balance of civil pay for periods as short as 15 days would be exceedingly cumbersome in relation to the total sum involved. Z reservists receive regular rates of Forces pay which will vary with rank and marital status, They also receive a bounty of £4 which it is intended shall be tax-free and this would have to be grossed up for balance of civil
pay purposes,
9.
Balance of civil pay for the long-term group and special leave with pay for the short-term. It seems sensible to give balance of civil pay to the long-term group, particularly as ex-Regular reservists called up following the crisis in Korea are receiving it, even though (a) the recall of the latter group is a consequence of an obligation voluntarily entered into and (b) they had been receiving a retainer of 1s, 6d per day in recognition of their obligation. For the short-term group, what is needed is something that is rather better than the treatment given National Servicemen but not so good as that given to volunteer members of the Territorial Army. former receive only unpaid special leave, the latter are treated as follows:-
Annual Leave Allowance
18 days or less
Special Leave with Pay
The--
The whole training period up to a limit
of 12 working days.
More than 18 days and less
than 24 days
24 days or more
Three out of four working days up to a
limit of nine working days.
One out of every two working days up to
a limit of six days.
Staff with an annual leave allowance of more than 18 days normally treat the rest of the training period as annual leave but special leave without pay is given on request.
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