Executive Order 8816—Suspending the Provisions of the Saturday Half-Holiday Act of March 3, 1931, as to Certain Employees of the Government

Whereas section 5 (a) of the act of June 28, 1940, 54 Stat. 676, 678, authorizes the President "to suspend, in whole or in part, for the War and Navy Departments and for the Coast Guard and their field services, during the period of the national emergency declared by him on September 8, 1939, to exist, the provisions of the Act of March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1482; U.S.C. 5, 26 (a)), if in his judgment such course is necessary in the interest of national defense", such provisions, in effect, establishing Saturday half-holidays for certain Government employees; and

Whereas I find it necessary in the interest of national defense to suspend the provisions of the said act of March 3, 1931, as to certain employees of the Government to which section 5 (a) of the said act of June 28, 1940, is applicable:

Now, Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 5 (a) of the said act of June 28, 1940, I hereby suspend for the duration of the national emergency declared by me on September 8, 1939, to exist, the provisions of the said act of March 3, 1931, (1) as to all civil employees of the War Department and its field services engaged in the performance of labor or duties in the Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, and the Territory of Alaska, and (2) as to all civil employees of the Coast Guard and its field services engaged in the performance of labor or duties in Puerto Rico and the Territory of Alaska.

FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT

The White House,
July 5, 1941.