European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 04, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Volunteer experience what s it Worth a. A it a. A. A i am one of those people  at every Post. I volunteered for unselfish reasons to help out my Community an still stay dose to. My children while they were very Young. I did not go but there for Fame and recognition. Quot. A a time came when my children grew up and did t need me so much. I thought let s seek some gainful employment. I visited my family member employment program and was told that All those great years of Volunteer work was Worth experience on those neat 171 application forms. I put All this and More on my forms adding up to what i Tho fight was 10 years of experience. But my trusty go civilian personnel office and Community to which i had also donated 1v2 years of service thought not. According to them it came out to 4.5 months in All. Seems they have this nifty Way of calculating Sotir Volunteer time and work experience to Little or nothing. Well As it turns out i am a valued Volunteer but not much for being employed in my Community. I would like to say thank you to my co and Community on this lesson in math and life. A. A. A Yvonne Payne Bamberg Germany a a James m. Biggs personnel staffing specialist civilian personnel division office of the Deputy chief of staff personnel Headquarters Usa eur replies Quot a.7. A a the . Office of personnel management is responsible for developing and issuing qualification standards and policies used by executive Branch 7 departments and agencies including the department of the army. A. All applicants Are evaluated against a qualification. Standard for the position for which applying to determine which applicants would be Able to per farm satisfactorily. Qualification standards for most occupations permit Eastern Europe s economic migrants by Michael Linoeman a associated press. A. A. A. A a the poles czechoslovak and hungarians who see the West As the embodiment of wealth Are themselves considered Rich by the poverty. A a j stricken masses of Romania and  end of communism is bringing a new economic Hierarchy to Eastern Europe. 7 a a Large numbers of bulgarians and romanians Are 7 7? abandoning hardship at Home for what seems like great Opportunity in More prosperous neighbouring countries. Those countries As a result must devote More of their still meager resources to caring for the newcomers until recently that was a problem Only for Germany France and other wealthier nations of Western Europe soviet citizens too Are going to Poland and Czechoslovakia in Searcus scarce goods illegal Van nor and profit from trading. Thousands of albanians recently fled to neighbouring Greece and thousands More n May trek North when their country opens its Borders. A economic migrants pose a dilemma for the new democracies which Are committed to human rights and seek to make things easier for their own people travelling to the  to qualify on the basis of education experience or a combination of the two. Credit is Given for experience of the Type and level specified in the particular qualification Standard when determining an applicant s qualifications. Volunteer experience is Given the same credit As comparable paid experience. Like paid experience Volunteer experience must be related to the Job being filled. Experience that includes both qualifying and no qualifying duties is credited based on the percentage of time spent performing the qualifying duties credit is Given based upon the Normal workweek and work year for the particular Type of employment. In most occupations the. Normal full time work week is 35-40 hours and the Normal work year is 12 months. Part time work is prorated in crediting experience. For example an employee working 20 hours per week would be credited5with six months of experience per year. Since Volunteer experience is Given the same credit As comparable paid experience it is necessary for applicants to provide detailed information about this no paid experience much As they would for a paying Job. Applicants May receive credit for Volunteer experience with religious Community welfare service and other organizations. A 1 because we do not have any details about the writer s Volunteer experience we cannot address the Issue of the Waters qualifications. Therefore we would suggest that the writer recon tact her civilian personnel office and discuss this matter with a personnel staffing specialist in the recruitment and placement division. Paying Back Home leave expenses the applicable state department regulation states that when government employees take return agreement travel rat they re obliged to work for the . I government for. The 12 months following their return or / they re required to pay Back the expenses incurred for the travel. _ poles remember being unwelcome visitors when they traded their Way around Central Europe and look with Quot Quot irony on the 568 emigrants who have won official registration As political refugees in Post communist _ Poland. Most of the refugees Are from Africa or Asia but they include 30 albanians. There were 60,000 romanians in Poland near the end of 1990 and in response to a Public outcry the Interior a a ministry considered deportations. Instead the ministry began requiring a romanian Quot entering Poland to have the equivalent of $100 for a five Day visit and $20 for each additional Day. That seems to have staunches the  it  to imagine that Poland will Start to heal romanian poverty on polish streets Quot said Zbigniew Skoczylas a former paratroop colonel who left retirement to head the new Bureau of refugee affairs. 7 Czechoslovakia has about 1,000 economic migrants in refugee Camps. Most Are romanians but they include a some soviets and albanians. 7 hungarian authorities checked 3,000 travellers last fall and determined that Only 10 percent were in the country legally. 7 7- some of the migrants sell embroidery cosmetics. Quot Date they a carvings in it markets dubbed a Little. Com econ a for the Sovie Trade bloc that is As near a defunct As the Warsaw pact. Others turn to crime. People in Romania and Bulgaria where food is scarce and lights frequently go off for Lack of Power Are lured by the Well stocked shelves created by economic Reform. Quot Here the shops Are full and at Home there is nothing Quot said bulgarian in Warsaw who would not give his name. Co personnel have told me that when government. Employees take their rat they re obliged to work at their present Job for the next .12 months or pay Back the travel expenses. The reason Usa eur policy. What gives is there  restrictive Usa eur 7. 7 regulation that supersedes the state department regulation if six months after i take my authorized rat i take another . Government Job am i obliged to repay the rat expenses co says yes. Co says that my supervisor could not even release me to another Job. But state department says no  need to keep working for the  government for 12 More months. Name withheld /. Jane Wilson personnel management specialist civilian personnel division Deputy chief of staff personnel Headquarters Usa eur replies the writer asks How Long an employee is required to. A remain under a renewal agreement. For employees subject to the 5-year overseas service limitation rat can be taken during a 12-month period which begins six months prior to the end of their initial is month agreement. This Means that the renewal tour can be As Little As-12 months or an amount of time Between 12 and 24 months which brings total overseas service to five years. A Quot a a a a a a a a a a a _7 Usa eur does not have a regulation requiring. A employees to remain in their present Jorfor this period. A it. Travel agreement requirements Are based on general a services administration regulations not state. Department and Are implemented within the department of defense by the joint travel regulations St volume 2. Service requirements  travel agreement apply to Federal service not to service with a particular Agency or in a particular Job. A readers a action line is the readers a a a court of last resort  to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other. Avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and done to know where to turn for the answer write to. Readers action line co the stars and stripes Apo 09211-4211. All letters must be signed and pre Ference will be Given to those seeking. Information of general interest to our readers. 7 he said he had been to Poland 10 times in 18 months As a trader bringing in cheap goods from Bulgaria and a taking Back items that Are in great demand and Short Supply at Home. Quot. Another attraction is the zloty a once weak currency that now has a fixed value in Poland backed by a Western currency fund. Bulgarians and others can change their Money into zlotys then into dollars a the Money that counts in Eastern Europe a at a More favourable rate. Often the entire trip is taken for the single aim of getting dollars Quot said Valentin Panov press attache at the bulgarian embassy in Warsaw. _. Most economic migrants to Poland from Bulgaria and Romania Are gypsies whose tradition rejects the limitations of National Borders. 7 they can be seen begging in Warsaw s downtown. Shopping District and Many Camp out in the Railroad stations. There Are complaints about epidemics untended  crime but also appeals in some polish newspapers for tolerance. Parents sometimes Send children of 4 or 5 out to beg. A Money changer at the Warsaw East Railroad station said a _ family with three or four children could make up to $130 a Day. 7- 7 a a a a a average monthly pay in Poland is the equivalent of $153 it equals $65 in Romania officially and Only $22 at the More realistic Black Market rate. In Bulgaria the. Average salary translates to $43. Some migrants View their Eastern european neighbors As stepping stones to Richer countries. Poland generally is the path to Germany or Scandinavia and Hungary the route to Austria and the rest of Western Europe. A Page 16 the stars and stripes monday february 4,1991