PUBLIC OFFICERS’ FAULTS

Gisborne Times, Volume XLV, Issue 3989, 23 July 1915, Page 7

PUBLIC OFFICERS’ FAULTS

EVASION v>F THE- ACT.

THE TEMPORARY CLERKS. PLAIN CRITICISM. (By Telegraph— Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, July 22. Some interesting statements regarding “breaches of the Public Service Let’’ appear in the third annual reI port of the Public Sendee Commis- : sioner, which was presented to tlie flonse yesterday. The commissioner points out that ho is required by the Act to call attention to any' breaches or evasions ot the Act. ‘While nothing of sufficient importance has occurred,”, he says, '‘which would justify the statement that there has been any direct breach of the provisions of the Act, attention must be called to the fact that, m more than one Department, there have been attempts to evade the spirit of the Act and regulations. These have been confined to irregularities in the method of employing temporary officers.” Tlie following instances are given : (1) The permanent head of a department engaged four temporary clerks without authority in the belief, it is supposed, that lie was empowered to charge their pay to a vote other than salaries. Owing to the arrangement, between the Audit Department and this office this was promptly observed. {-) The permanent head of a department who has authority to engage laborers, expressed his intention, if the commissioner did not provide a clerk to engage a man as a laborer and give him clerical work. The request for a clerk was the result of the retirement of a laborer who had been performing clerical work unknown to the commissioners. (3) An officer who was given authority to engage a temporary clerk employed his own son, although he had been expressly forbidden to do so.

* (4) An officer engaged his daughter as a temporary clerk without any authority to engage temporary clerical assistance. The amount of the wages paid was surcharged against the officer concerned. The commissioner goes ou to say : “Matters such as these cannot be regarded as trivial. Tlie whole aim ot the Public Service Act- is that there should be an ordered arrangement ot employment in the Public Service under which it can bo made clear to Parliament-what is expended on clerical and other assistance and, moreover, that every eligible person who applies for employment should have x right to consideration. To employ clerks nominally as laborers defeats

he 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 the result of competitive examination, but the commissioners, in such cases, insist, that the appointment should not be in tlie same office and, it’ jiossible, not in the same department as that in which the parent is employed.” in regard to stores, the report says :

“Regulations have been made requiring permanent heads to give the matter of inspection of stores the closestattention. A T ct, rvith the exception of one department, the commissioners have not been advised (as provided by the regulations) that a satisfactory system of inspection has boon followed.”

Tiie report lias the following para.graph in regard to the attendance of officers: “From their own observation and information which lias been received, the commissioners regret to state that the attendance' of many of the officers in departments is far from satisfactory. Though attendance books are required toi be kept and provision is made for supervision by responsible officers, yet the cemmisionors have evidence to show that accurate records in many cases are not maintained by the officers whoso duty it is to do so. Notwithstanding that the regulations require that no officer shall, except on official business or by express permission of the permanent head or head of the branch, leave his office during office hours wiihnnt entering the period of such absence (it not on official business) in the attendance book, it has come under notice that this has been done with frequency by certain officers. The attendance hooks thus afford no trim record of the actual time many officers are engaged on official duty. Such evasions of duty is reprehensible in itself, besides giving rise to unfavorable criticism of the service generally.”