American Samoa Administrative Code

(a) Career Service Appointments. Career service appointments are always made through open competitive civil service examination procedures to fill permanent, regularly budgeted positions from the open or promotional registers. They always require a probationary period of one year…

(a) Any person who has satisfactorily completed a probationary period in the career service and who has separated therefrom, may be reinstated to a position with the same or similar duties to those he previously performed, provided his reemployment is not prohibited by rules or l…

The following types of in-service placement exist within the career service: (a) Promotion. (1) No employee shall be certified from a promotional register until he has gained permanent status; however, a probationary employee may be admitted to a promotional examination if the an…

An employee who has retired may be reemployed under this chapter but his annuity shall be suspended during the period of his reemployment under this chapter. History: Rule 10-81, eff 29 Jul 81, § 3.14.

In keeping with the American Samoa Code Annotated, the director shall develop and maintain a territory-wide classification and pay system based on objective, consistent, and timely classification of all positions within the Executive and Judicial Branches, of ASG and the legislat…

(a) Each agency shall maintain current position descriptions covering each career service and excepted position authorized to the agency. Each supervisor is responsible for reviewing the descriptions once each year for accuracy. (b) When duties of positions change, the supervisor…

The classification and compensation plan of the territory shall provide for three separate segments: (a) The educational schedule, which applies to the department of education/community college classification and compensation plan for teachers, counselors and principals, which is…

The director shall develop and maintain a position classification system which shall provide for the placement of each position into an appropriate class. This includes: (1) the establishment of written class specifications which describe each of the various classes within the cl…

(a) The effective date of an initial classification action shall be the date action is officially taken by the office of manpower resources to classify the position. (b) The effective date of any subsequent classification action shall be the beginning of the pay period immediatel…

An administrative review may be requested by an employee or his designated representative or by the department head within 20 days after the effective date of the classification or reclassification action. (a) The request for administrative review must be in writing and shall con…

(a) The white collar pay schedule shall be known as the general pay schedule and shall be as follows (effective 7 Jan 80; revised 1 Jul 81): GS-11 10,767 11,417 12,067 12,717 13,367 14,017 14,667 15,377 15,967 16,617 GS-10 8,282 9,802 10,322 10,842 11,362 11,882 12,402 12,922 13,…

(a) Initial Appointment. (1) All initial appointments shall be made at the first step of the appropriate pay range of each of the 3 salary schedules except that, in the event that recruitment of an employee is not practicable at the first step, the director may, after appropriate…

(a) Every employee is entitled to an annual step-increment increase at the beginning of the pay period immediately following his service year preceding such increase. (b) A service year is 52 weeks of continuous service in present grade and step, which shall include credit for le…

(a) Applicability. This section applies to all career service employees and certain contract employees whose contracts permit overtime or compensatory time, with the following exceptions: (1) Department of education and community college; (2) Employees in second or third jobs. (b…

(a) It is recognized that some positions at times involved intrinsically hazardous working conditions, justifying “hazard pay”. “Hazard pay” is pay additional to the normal hourly pay for the position, payable to employees while actually engaged in the hazardous activities. Upon …

(a) Each department which has responsibilities requiring work around the clock will set up 3 shifts; the normal morning to afternoon is known as the “day shift”; the shift beginning in the afternoon into the evening is known as the “swing shift”; and the late night to morning shi…

(a) Any government employee whose permanent duty station is outside of and who is assigned temporarily for a determinable period of time in excess of 30 days to duties in either the Manu’a Islands or Swains Island will receive a housing/subsistence allowance of $ 200 per month if…

It is recognized that maximum efficiency on the job can be obtained only by permitting employees to have time off with pay for purposes of rest, recreation, and to meet personal and family needs. It is also considered essential to the maintenance of a stable, satisfied, and produ…

(a) The department of administrative services is responsible for the maintenance of employee leave records and furnishing advice relative to all leave records matters. (b) The office of manpower resources is responsible for all policy matters pertaining to leave and absence from …

(a) The following public holidays are designated by statute and are paid holidays for government employees: (1) New Year’s Day, 1 Jan; (2) Washington’s Birthday, 3rd Monday in February; (3) Good Friday, Friday before Easter; (4) Flag Day, 17 Apr; (5) Memorial Day, Last Monday in …

Holidays shall be observed as provided below: (a) For employees with workdays of Monday through Friday, if a holiday falls on: (1) Saturday it is observed on the Friday preceding the holiday; (2) Sunday it is observed on the Monday following the holiday; (3) workday it is observe…

(a) Accrual. To earn leave an employee must be employed during a full biweekly pay period. He is considered to have been employed for a full pay period if he is in a pay status of an agency on all days falling within the pay period exclusive of holidays and nonworkdays. (b) Earni…

Sick leave is for use when an employee is physically incapacitated to do his job, or for such related reasons as exposure to a contagious disease that would endanger the health of co-workers, presence of contagious disease in an employee’s immediate family which requires his pers…

Leave without pay is a temporary absence from duty in nonpay status granted upon the employee’s request and at the discretion of management. The permissive nature of leave without pay distinguishes it from absence without leave (AWOL), which is a nonpay status resulting from a pe…

Leave without pay shall be freely granted to any government employee for the purpose of campaigning as a candidate for public office in American Samoa for a period beginning 30 days before and ending 10 days after the date set for election. History: Rule 10-81, eff 29 Jul 81, § 5…

Maternity leave, a period of approved absence for incapacitation related to pregnancy and confinement, is chargeable to sick leave or any combination of sick leave, annual leave, and leave without pay, in the order given. (a) Employees are required to request maternity leave subs…

(a) General Provisions. A full-time employee who serves under an appointment without time limitation and who is a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States, the U.S. Public Health Service, or the National Guard is entitled to leave of absence for annu…

(a) Excused absence is absence from duty, duly authorized by the employee’s agency director, without charge to annual leave or loss of payor service credit, under the circumstances described below: (1) To take an employment examination for a position currently occupied or I to wh…

Unauthorized absence shall be treated as absence without pay and may be grounds for disciplinary action. History: Rule 10-81, eff 29 Jul 81, § 5.13.

(a) Earning of Credits. An officer or employee who is absent from work because of injuries/illnesses incurred within the scope of his employment and who is receiving workers’ compensation wage-loss replacement benefits, such as temporary total disability and temporary partial dis…

It is the policy of ASG to provide a method which affords recognition of exceptional skills, resourcefulness, or exceptional acts of employees. The purpose of the incentive awards program, therefore, is to provide a device by which recognition may be afforded an employee or a gro…

(a) It is the responsibility of the director of the planning and budget office to budget annually a specified fund for payments of cash awards under the program. (b) It is the responsibility of a representative committee, known as the incentive awards committee and consisting of …

An employee is eligible to be considered for a cash award by presenting to the chairman of the incentive awards committee, in writing, his suggestion for improvement of government operations. History: Rule 10-81, eff 29 Jul 81, § 6.3(a).

A cash award may be made when a career service employee’s or contract specialist’s performance over a 6-month period substantially surpasses the normal requirements of his position or he performs a special assignment in above average manner without adversely affecting his regular…

A special act or service may be contributed during an emergency, in connection with a special program or activity, or by creative efforts important to administration, science, or research and characterized as a nonrecurring situation. Any employee is eligible to be considered for…

When a contribution has been made by more than one employee or by a group of employees, all who have contributed, including supervisors, may share equally or proportionately in the group cash award; however, the total amount of the award is as if made to an individual. Where indi…

Effective on and after 6 Jan 80, employees who are awarded service certificates will also receive a tenure award in cash as follows: (1) Twenty-year certificate, $500; (2) Thirty-year certificate, $750; (3) Forty-year certificate, $1,000; (4) Retirement certificate, $100. History…

It is the policy of the ASG to urge its career service employees and contract specialists to cultivate those personal qualities which characterize a good employee’s loyalty to the United States Government and the ASG: a sense of responsibility for the public trust and a standard …

Any criminal, dishonest, immoral, or any other conduct on the part of an employee which would adversely affect the government will be cause for his removal from employment. Gambling or the use of alcoholic beverages by employees in public buildings, construction sites, or offices…

An employee is required to carry out the announced policies and programs of the ASG. While policies related to his work are under consideration, he may -and is expected to express his opinions and points of view, but once a decision has been rendered by those in authority, he wil…

Employees and other persons are prohibited from selling or soliciting for personal gain within a government building occupied or used by the government without proper permission. This prohibition does not apply to: (1) authorized and installed business activities; e.g., employee …

An employee shall not engage in any business activity or work either in the capacity of employee or otherwise, which prevents an employee from devoting his primary interests, talents, and energies to the accomplishment of his work for the government or tends to create a conflict …

Employees are encouraged to participate in activities of professional societies and of civic organizations whose purpose and objectives are not inconsistent with those of the ASG. History: Rule 10-81, eff 29 Jul 81, § 7.2(e).

(a) Employees shall be held accountable for government property entrusted to them for their official use. It is their responsibility to protect and conserve government property, including motor vehicles and other self-propelled equipment, and to use it economically and for offici…

An employee shall not accept from or bestow upon any person or organization with which he deals officially anything of economic value, such as a gift, loan, or gratuitous service. No employee shall solicit or make a contribution for a gift for an official superior nor accept such…

It is the policy of the government to accord the public free access to information about its activities. Employees should confine statements made in their official capacity to factual matters, and statements on policies and programs should be limited to those policies and program…

An employee may not knowingly advocate the overthrow of our constitutional form of government through membership in any organization which asserts the right to militate against the United States or ASG. History: Rule 10-81, eff 29 Jul 81, § 7.2(i).