opinion: NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD v. GULLETT GIN CO.
  No. 122.
  Argued November 29, 1950.
  Decided January 15, 1951.
  A. Norman Somers argued the cause for petitioner. Solicitor General Perlman, David P. Findling and Mozart G. Ratner filed a brief for petitioner.
  Conrad Meyer, III, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief was Robert R. Rainold.
  Mr. Justice Minton
  delivered the opinion of the Court.
  The question presented here is whether the National Labor Relations Board must deduct from back-pay awards to discriminatorily discharged employees sums paid to them as unemployment compensation by a state agency.
  The Board found that respondent Gullett Gin Company had discharged certain employees in violation of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, 61 Stat. 136, 29 U. S. C. (Supp. Ill) §§ 141 et seg., and ordered their reinstatement with back pay. Although the order provided for deduction of the employees’ net earnings and willful losses of wages, if any, the Board refused to deduct certain payments made by the State of Louisiana as unemployment compensation. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held such payments must be deducted, and modified the order accordingly. 179 F. 2d 499. We granted certiorari because of the importance of the question presented in the administration of the Act. 340 U. S. 806.
  In issuing the challenged order the Board acted under § 10 (c) of the Act, 61 Stat. 147, 29 U. S. C. (Supp. Ill) § 160 (c), which provides that upon finding an unfair labor practice, the Board shall issue a cease and desist order requiring the guilty party “to take such affirmative action including reinstatement of employees with or without back pay, as will effectuate the policies of this Act . . . .”
  To effectuate the policies of the Act the Board has broad but not unlimited discretion. Republic Steel Corp. v. Labor Board, 311 U. S. 7, 11. “[T]he power to command affirmative action is remedial, not punitive.” Id., at 12. We must not, however, be more mindful of the limits of the Board’s discretion than we are of our own limited function in reviewing Board orders. In an opinion dealing with a related matter the Court cautioned:
  “There is an area plainly covered by the language of the Act and an area no less plainly without it. But in the nature of things Congress could not cata-logue all the devices and stratagems for circumventing the policies of the Act. Nor could it define the whole gamut of remedies to effectuate these policies in an infinite variety of specific situations. Congress met these difficulties by leaving the adaptation of means to end to the empiric process of administration. The exercise of the process was committed to the Board, subject to limited judicial review. Because the relation of remedy to policy is peculiarly a matter for administrative competence, courts must not enter the allowable area of the Board’s discretion and must guard against the danger of sliding unconsciously from the narrow confines of law into the more spacious domain of policy.” Phelps Dodge Corp. v. Labor Board, 313 U. S. 177, 194.
  In effectuating the policies of the Act, the Board clearly may award back pay to discriminatorily discharged employees. This means that employees may be reimbursed for earnings lost by reason of the wrongful discharge, from which should be deducted net earnings of employees from other employment during the back-pay period, Republic Steel case, supra, and also sums which they failed without excuse to earn, Phelps Dodge Corp. v. Labor Board, 313 U. S. 177, 197-198.
  In Marshall Field & Co. v. Labor Board, 318 U. S. 253, this Court held that the benefits received by employees under a state unemployment compensation act were plainly not earnings which, under the Board’s order in that case, could be deducted from the back pay awarded. The question of whether the Board had the power to make such an order was not reached for the reason that the question had not been presented to the Board as required by § 10 (e) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 454, 29 U. S. C. § 160 (e). The question is here on this record, and we hold that the Board had the power to enter the order in this case refusing to deduct the unemployment compensation payments from back pay, and that in so doing the Board did not abuse its discretion.
  Such action may reasonably be considered to effectuate the policies of the Act. To decline to deduct state unemployment compensation benefits in computing back pay is not to make the employees more than whole, as contended by respondent. Since no consideration has been given or should be given to collateral losses in framing an order to reimburse employees for their lost earnings, manifestly no consideration need be given to collateral benefits which employees may have received.
  But respondent argues that the benefits paid from the Louisiana Unemployment Compensation Fund were not collateral but direct benefits. With this theory we are unable to agree. Payments of unemployment compensation were not made to the employees by respondent but by the state out of state funds derived from taxation. True, these taxes were paid by employers, and thus to some extent respondent helped to create the fund. However, the payments to the employees were not made to discharge any liability or obligation of respondent, but to carry out a policy of social betterment for the benefit of the entire state. See Dart’s La. Gen. Stat., 1939, § 4434.1 ; In re Cassaretakis, 289 N. Y. 119, 126, 44 N. E. 2d 391, 394-395, aff’d sub nom. Standard Dredging Co. v. Murphy, 319 U. S. 306; Unemployment Compensation Commission v. Collins, 182 Va. 426, 438, 29 S. E. 2d 388, 393. We think these facts plainly show the benefits to be collateral. It is thus apparent from what we have already said that failure to take them into account in ordering back pay does not make the employees more than “whole” as that phrase has been understood and applied.
  Finally, respondent urges that the Board’s order imposes upon it a penalty which is beyond the remedial powers of the Board because, to the extent that unemployment compensation benefits were paid to its discharged employees, operation of the experience-rating record formula under the Louisiana Act, Dart’s La. Gen. Stat., 1939 (Cum. Supp. 1949) §§ 4434.1 et seq., will prevent respondent from qualifying for a lower tax rate. We doubt that the validity of a back-pay order ought to hinge on the myriad provisions of state unemployment compensation laws. Cf. Labor Board v. Hearst Publications, 322 U. S. 111, 122-124. However, even if the Louisiana law has the consequence stated by respondent, which we assume arguendo, this consequence does not take the order without the .discretion of the Board to enter. We deem the described injury to be merely an incidental effect of an order which in other respects effectuates the policies of the federal Act. It should be emphasized that any failure of respondent to qualify for a lower tax rate would not be primarily the result of federal but of state law, designed to effectuate a public policy with which it is not the Board’s function to concern itself. Republic Steel case, supra.
  Our holding is supported by the fact that when Congress amended the National Labor Relations Act in 1947, the Board had for many years been following the practice of disallowing deduction for collateral benefits such as unemployment compensation. During this period the Board’s practice had been challenged before the courts in only two cases, and in both the Board’s position was sustained. Labor Board v. Marshall Field & Co., 129 F. 2d 169; Labor Board v. Brashear Freight Lines, 127 F. 2d 198. In the course of adopting the 1947 amendments Congress considered in great detail the provisions of the earlier legislation as they had been applied by the Board. Under these circumstances it is a fair assumption that by reenacting without pertinent modification the provision with which we here deal, Congress accepted the construction placed thereon by the Board and approved by the courts. See Helvering v. Reynolds Co., 306 U. S. 110, 114-115; Brewster v. Gage, 280 U. S. 327, 337; Norwegian Nitrogen Prod. Co. v. United States, 288 U. S. 294, 313-315.
  The judgment is reversed and the case remanded for enforcement of the Board’s order without the objectionable modification.
  It is so ordered.
  Mr. Chief Justice Vinson took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
  We note that some states permit recoupment of benefits paid during a period for which the National Labor Relations Board subsequently awards back pay. E. g., In re Skutnik, 268 App. Div. 357, 51 N. Y. S. 2d 711. Recoupment in such situations is a matter between the State and the employees.
  3 N. L. R. B. Ann. Rep. 202, n. 11 (1938); 4 N. L. R. B. Ann. Rep. 100, n. 25 (1939); 11 N. L. R. B. Ann. Rep. 50 (1946).
  Ample evidence of this may be found in the Committee reports accompanying the bills which were the basis of the comprehensive 1947-Act. See H. It. Rep. No. 245, 80th Cong., 1st Sess.; S. Rep. No. 105, 80th Cong., 1st Sess.
instruction: What follows is an opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States. Your task is to identify the federal agency involved in the administrative action that occurred prior to the onset of litigation. If the administrative action occurred in a state agency, respond "State Agency". Do not code the name of the state. The administrative activity may involve an administrative official as well as that of an agency. If two federal agencies are mentioned, consider the one whose action more directly bears on the dispute;otherwise the agency that acted more recently. If a state and federal agency are mentioned, consider the federal agency. Pay particular attention to the material which appears in the summary of the case preceding the Court's opinion and, if necessary, those portions of the prevailing opinion headed by a I or II. Action by an agency official is considered to be administrative action except when such an official acts to enforce criminal law. If an agency or agency official "denies" a "request" that action be taken, such denials are considered agency action. Exclude: a "challenge" to an unapplied agency rule, regulation, etc.; a request for an injunction or a declaratory judgment against agency action which, though anticipated, has not yet occurred; a mere request for an agency to take action when there is no evidence that the agency did so; agency or official action to enforce criminal law; the hiring and firing of political appointees or the procedures whereby public officials are appointed to office; attorney general preclearance actions pertaining to voting; filing fees or nominating petitions required for access to the ballot; actions of courts martial; land condemnation suits and quiet title actions instituted in a court; and federally funded private nonprofit organizations.
choices: Army and Air Force Exchange Service Atomic Energy Commission Secretary or administrative unit or personnel of the U.S. Air Force Department or Secretary of Agriculture Alien Property Custodian Secretary or administrative unit or personnel of the U.S. Army Board of Immigration Appeals Bureau of Indian Affairs Bureau of Prisons Bonneville Power Administration Benefits Review Board Civil Aeronautics Board Bureau of the Census Central Intelligence Agency Commodity Futures Trading Commission Department or Secretary of Commerce Comptroller of Currency Consumer Product Safety Commission Civil Rights Commission Civil Service Commission, U.S. Customs Service or Commissioner or Collector of Customs Defense Base Closure and REalignment Commission Drug Enforcement Agency Department or Secretary of Defense (and Department or Secretary of War) Department or Secretary of Energy Department or Secretary of the Interior Department of Justice or Attorney General Department or Secretary of State Department or Secretary of Transportation Department or Secretary of Education U.S. Employees' Compensation Commission, or Commissioner Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Environmental Protection Agency or Administrator Federal Aviation Agency or Administration Federal Bureau of Investigation or Director Federal Bureau of Prisons Farm Credit Administration Federal Communications Commission (including a predecessor, Federal Radio Commission) Federal Credit Union Administration Food and Drug Administration Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Federal Energy Administration Federal Election Commission Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Federal Housing Administration Federal Home Loan Bank Board Federal Labor Relations Authority Federal Maritime Board Federal Maritime Commission Farmers Home Administration Federal Parole Board Federal Power Commission Federal Railroad Administration Federal Reserve Board of Governors Federal Reserve System Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation Federal Trade Commission Federal Works Administration, or Administrator General Accounting Office Comptroller General General Services Administration Department or Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Department or Secretary of Health and Human Services Department or Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Administrative agency established under an interstate compact (except for the MTC) Interstate Commerce Commission Indian Claims Commission Immigration and Naturalization Service, or Director of, or District Director of, or Immigration and Naturalization Enforcement Internal Revenue Service, Collector, Commissioner, or District Director of Information Security Oversight Office Department or Secretary of Labor Loyalty Review Board Legal Services Corporation Merit Systems Protection Board Multistate Tax Commission National Aeronautics and Space Administration Secretary or administrative unit or personnel of the U.S. Navy National Credit Union Administration National Endowment for the Arts National Enforcement Commission National Highway Traffic Safety Administration National Labor Relations Board, or regional office or officer National Mediation Board National Railroad Adjustment Board Nuclear Regulatory Commission National Security Agency Office of Economic Opportunity Office of Management and Budget Office of Price Administration, or Price Administrator Office of Personnel Management Occupational Safety and Health Administration Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission Office of Workers' Compensation Programs Patent Office, or Commissioner of, or Board of Appeals of Pay Board (established under the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970) Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation U.S. Public Health Service Postal Rate Commission Provider Reimbursement Review Board Renegotiation Board Railroad Adjustment Board Railroad Retirement Board Subversive Activities Control Board Small Business Administration Securities and Exchange Commission Social Security Administration or Commissioner Selective Service System Department or Secretary of the Treasury Tennessee Valley Authority United States Forest Service United States Parole Commission Postal Service and Post Office, or Postmaster General, or Postmaster United States Sentencing Commission Veterans' Administration or Board of Veterans' Appeals War Production Board Wage Stabilization Board State Agency Unidentifiable Office of Thrift Supervision Department of Homeland Security Board of General Appraisers Board of Tax Appeals General Land Office or Commissioners NO Admin Action Processing Tax Board of Review