THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15337, 22 July 1915, Page 4

THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

EVASION OF THE ACT.

TEMP OK AIM* CLERKS.

PLAIN CRITICISM

(SPFXIAI. TO "THE PRESS.") 'WELLINGTON. July 21. Some interesting statements regarding breaches of the Public Service Act appear in the third annual report of the Public Service Commissioner, which was presented to the House to-day. The. Commissioner i>oiiits out that he is required by the Act to call attention to -any breaches or evasions of ihe'Aet. "While, nothing oi" sufficient importance lias occurred which, he says,' would justify th? statement that there has been any direct breach of the provisions of the Act, attention must be called to the fact that iii more than one department there have been attempts to evado ttof spirit of the Act and the .regulation*. These have been confined to irregularities in the method of employing temporary officer*;. The following are instances :— (1) The-permanent head of a department engaged four temporary clerks without authority, in the belief, it is supposed, that ht> was empowered to charge their pay to a. vote other than salaries. Oniric to the arrangement between the Audit Department and this office., this was promptly observed. (2) The permanent- head of a department who hae authority to engage labourers, expressed his intention, if t3*e Commissioner did not-provide a clerk to engage a man as a labourer and give him clerical work. The request for a clerk was the result of the retirement of a labourer who had been performing clerical work unknown to tho Commissioners. (3) An officer who was given autliority to engage a temporary, clerk, employed his own son, although he had b2en expressly forbidden to do so. (4)' An officer engaged his daughter cs a temporary clerk, without any authority to engage temporary clerical assistauce. The amount of wages paid was surcharged against the officer concerned. • ■ .. . Tho Commissioner goes on to Bay: — "Matters such as these cannot be regarded as trivial. The- whole aim of the Public Service Act is that there should he an ordered arrangement of employment in the. Public Service under which it can bo made clear to Parliament what is expected in clerical and other assistance and, moreover, that every eligible person who applies for employment should have a right to consideration. To employ clerks nominally as labourers defeats the first, and the employment of the near relative of an officer is not calculated to do justice to applicants in general. There is, of.course, nothing to prevent the son or daughter of an officer being appointed as tho result of a competitive examination, but the Commissioners in such cases insist that the appointment, should not be in the .same office, and. if possible, not in the t-.nmo department as that in winch the parent is employed." Tu,regard to. stores, the report says: "U emulation.-, have been made requiring permanent heads to givo the matter of inspection of stores tho closest attention, yet with tho exception of one department, tho Commissioners have not been advised (as provided bythe regulations) that a satisfactory system of inspection has been followed." Tho report has the following para--Wnnh in * regard to the attendance of offirers: —"From their own observation and information which has been received, tho. Commissioners regret to state that the attendance of many of tho officer? in departments is far from satisfactory. Though attendance books are j requested to be kept, and provision made for supervision by responsible i officers, yet the Commissioners have evidence to, show that accurate records in' many cases are not maintained by the officers 'whose duty it is to do no. Notwithstanding that the regulations require that no officer shall, except on official business, or by express perniis-" sion of the permanent head or head of the branch, leave his office during office hours, without entering the period of such absence W n °t- on official business) in the attendance- book, it has corao under notice that this has-been done with frequency by certain officers. The attendance books thus afford no true record of the actual timo many officers are engaged on official duty. .Such evasion of duty is reprehensible in its«.lf besides giving rise to unfavourable cWticisni of the Service generally."