Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, including authority vested in me by Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1958 (72 Stat. 1799), it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Scope. The Civil Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) shall prepare national emergency plans and develop preparedness programs, concerning Federal civilian employees, covering: the personnel system; personnel utilization; manpower administration; wage and salary stabilization; emergency personnel management and staffing assistance to Federal agencies; recruiting activities; reassignment or transfer; a national postattack registration system; deferment of employees from military service; investigative requirements and procedures; the Employee Retirement System; the employees group life insurance and health benefit programs; participation in the formulation of national and regional manpower policies as the representative of the Federal Government as an employer; the establishment of implementing polices and procedures for Federal personnel as necessary; and related activities. These plans and programs shall be designed to develop a state of readiness in these areas with respect to all conditions of national emergency, including attack upon the United States. SEC. 2. Functions. The Commission shall: (a) Personnel system. Prepare plans for adjusting the Federal civilian personnel system to simplify administration and to meet emergency demands. (b) Utilization. Develop policies and implementing procedures designed to assist Federal agencies in achieving the most effective utilization of the Federal Government's civilian manpower in an emergency. (c) Manpower policies. As the representative of the Federal Government as an employer, participate, as appropriate, in the formulation of national and regional manpower policies as they affect Federal civilian personnel and establish implementing policies as necessary. (d) Manpower administration. Prepare plans, in consonance with national manpower policies and programs, for the administration of emergency civilian manpower and employment policies within the executive branch of the Government, including the issuance and enforcement of regulations to implement such policies. (e) Wage and salary stabilization. Participate, as appropriate, with the Office of Emergency Planning and the Department of Labor in the formulation of national and regional wage and salary stabilization policies as they affect Federal civilian personnel. Within the framework of such policies, prepare plans for the implementation of such policies and controls established for employees within the executive branch of the Government, including the issuance and enforcement of necessary regulations. (f) Assistance. Develop plans for rendering personnel management and staffing assistance to new and expanding Federal agencies. (g) Recruiting. Develop plans for the coordination and control of civilian recruiting policies and practices by all Federal agencies in order to increase the effectiveness of the total recruitment efforts during an emergency and to prevent undesirable recruitment practices. (h) Reassignment. Develop plans to facilitate the reassignment or transfer of Federal civilian employees, including the movement of employees from one agency or location to another agency or location, in order to meet the most urgent needs of the executive branch during an emergency. (i) Registration. Develop plans and procedures for a nationwide system of postattack registration of Federal employees to provide a means for locating and returning to duty those employees who become physically separated from their agencies after an enemy attack, and to provide for the maximum utilization of the skills of surviving employees. (j) Deferment. Develop plans and procedures for a system to control government requests for the selective service deferment of employees in the executive branch of the Federal Government and in the municipal government of the District of Columbia. (k) Investigations. Prepare plans, in coordination with agencies having responsibilities in the personnel security field, for the conduct of national agency checks and inquiries, limited suitability investigations, and full field investigations under emergency conditions. (1) Salaries, wages, and benefits. Develop plans for operating under emergency conditions the essential aspects of salary and wage systems and such benefit systems as the Federal Employees Retirement System, the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program, the Federal Employees and Retired Federal Employees Health Benefits Programs, and the Federal Employees Compensation Program. (m) Federal manpower mobilization. Assist Federal agencies in establishing manpower plans to meet their own emergency manpower requirements; identify major or special manpower problems of individual Federal agencies and the Federal Government as a whole in mobilizing a civilian work force to meet essential emergency requirements; identify sources of emergency manpower supply for all agencies where manpower problems are indicated; and develop Government-wide plans for the use of surplus Federal civilian manpower. (n) Executive reserve. Maintain a central register of executive reserve members for the purpose of assisting all departments and agencies to avoid the issuance of invitations to persons already in the executive reserve, and to avoid excessive governmental demands on a single employer, and to assist the Federal agencies in the preparation of executive reserve training programs. (o) Training. Develop, organize, and conduct, as appropriate, interagency training programs in emergency personnel management for Federal employees. (p) Resources. Periodically assess Federal civilian manpower resources available from all sources in order to estimate availability under an emergency situation, analyze resource estimates in relation to estimated requirements in order to identify problem areas and develop appropriate recommendations and programs. Provide data and assistance before and after attack for national resource evaluation purposes of the Office of Emergency Planning. SEC. 3. Research. Within the framework of Federal research objectives, supervise, conduct, or recommend research directly concerned with carrying out emergency preparedness responsibilities, designate representatives for necessary ad hoc or task force groups, and provide advice and assistance to other agencies in planning for research in areas involving the Commission's interest. SEC. 4. Functional Guidance. The Commission, in carrying out the functions assigned in this order, shall be guided by the following: (a) Interagency cooperation. The Commission shall assume the initiative in developing joint plans for the coordination of Government-wide civilian manpower mobilization and emergency personnel administration programs with those agencies which have responsibility for any segment of the Federal personnel program. The Commission shall utilize to the maximum those capabilities of other agencies qualified to perform or assist in the performance of assigned functions by contractual or other agreements. Plans developed by the Commission shall be in consonance with national manpower policies and plans developed pursuant to Executive Order No. 11000. (b) Presidential coordination. The Director of the Office of Emergency Planning shall advise and assist the President in determining policy for the performance of functions under this order and in coordinating the performance of such functions with the total national preparedness program. (c) Emergency planning. Emergency plans and programs, and emergency organization structure required thereby, shall be developed as an integral part of the continuing activities of the Commission on the basis that it will have the responsibility for carrying out such programs during an emergency. The Commission shall be prepared to implement all appropriate plans developed under this order. Modifications and temporary organizational changes, based on emergency conditions, will be in accordance with policy determinations by the President. SEC. 5. Emergency Actions. Nothing in this order shall be construed as conferring authority under Title III of the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, as amended, or otherwise, to put into effect any emergency plan, procedure, policy, program, or course of action prepared or developed pursuant to this order. Such authority is reserved to the President. SEC 6. Redelegation. The Commission is hereby authorized to re-delegate within the Commission the functions hereinabove assigned to it. SEC. 7. Prior Actions. To the extent of any inconsistency between the provisions of any prior order and the provisions of this order, the latter shall control. Emergency Preparedness Order No. l2 (heretofore issued by the Director, Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization) (26 F.R. 836-837), is hereby revoked. JOHN F. KENNEDY THE WHITE HOUSE, February 26, 1963