F.—l.

Rereading. The general regrading of the Service, which was due to be carried out in 1934 but was postponed on account of the stringent economic conditions then prevailing, was undertaken during the year and made effective as from the Ist April, 1937. As a result of the regrading the maximum salary for Clerks and Telegraphists has been raised from £295 to £305 per annum, with provision for first-class officers to proceed without special examination qualifications to a maximum of £335 per annum with an intermediate step at £320. The maximum salary of officers such as postmen, exchange clerks, linemen, and chauffeurs, which was previously fixed at £240 per annum, has been raised to £260 with an intermediate step at £250. The salary of tradesmen, which was previously £265 per annum, was raised to £275, with provision for leading tradesmen to proceed to £305 per annum. A number of other more senior officers of the Second Division who were not promoted were granted a grade increase of £10 per annum. Improvements were also effected in the interests of female officers of the Second Division as a result of the maxima of the salary scales being raised. The majority of officers in receipt of salary below the maxima for the rank and file also benefited in consequence of improvements to the salary schedules. A change worthy of note was the reduction of one year in the period during which a clerical worker reaches his maximum salary. In addition to the alterations in grade salaries, 2,478 promotions were arranged. This was done after a thorough review of the salary value of officers eligible for advancement had been undertaken by the Promotion Board. In order to assist the Board in its work the Department's Inspecting staff was augmented temporarily by the appointment of fourteen special reporting officers, all of whom were specialists in the work of the Branch in which they were required to investigate conditions and report upon the services of the officers interviewed. Where promotions were involved the selection of the officers advanced was made by the Promotion Board in accordance with the provisions of the Post and Telegraph Act, 1928, merit being the deciding factor. As part of the general policy of improving conditions of employment in the Department, the wages paid to temporary and casual employees were reviewed and increases granted in a number of cases. Minimum Wage for Officers of Adtjlt Age. In conformity with Government's policy of fixing minimum rates of remuneration for adult workers, female officers of twenty-one years of age and over, irrespective of length of service, received a minimum remuneration of £95 per annum as from the Ist January, 1937. The position of junior male officers whose promotion was unavoidably retarded during the depression years and whose salaries were low in relation to their ages was further considered by Government during the year, and it was decided that from the Ist April, 1937, the minimum remuneration for an adult officer with five years' permanent service would be increased from £200 to £205 per annum, that £215 per annum would be the minimum remuneration for an adult male officer who had completed six years' permanent service, and that, for the purposes of computing the minimum remuneration, message-boy service in excess of three years would be deemed to be permanent service. Classification List. The Department has had in mind for some time the desirability of a rearrangement in the setting of the departmental list of officers published annually, and in the list issued in connection with the regrading, action was taken to sectionalize and subdivide the whole of the Second Division. Classes V and VI of the First Division also were subdivided. It is felt that with the rapid growth of the staff the system of classifying into two main groups with their respective classes is unwieldy and that a more detailed preparation is better suited to present-day requirements. A perusal of the new classification list will clearly indicate the advantages of the change made. Officers will now be able to obtain a clearer perception of their respective positions and to discern more readily the officers with whom they are actually in competition for promotion. Appeal Board. The Post and Telegraph Appeal Board, under the chairmanship of Mr. E. D. Mosley, Stipendiary Magistrate, Wellington, sat on one occasion during the year. Appeals totalling 310 received from 104 officers were adjudicated upon with the following results : Allowed, 3 ; allowed by consent, 5 ; withdrawn, 39 ; did not lie, 23 ; disallowed, 240. On the recommendation of the Board, two officers were given the same salary and grading as the officers appealed against. Abolition of Appeal Pee. Under section 59 of the Finance Act, 1937, the fee of 10s. 6d. fixed by section 54 of the Finance Act (No. 2), 1933, for appeals made to the Post and Telegraph Appeal Board was abolished as from the Ist December. Amendments to the Staff Regulations. On the 22nd December a number of amendments to the Staff Regulations were made. The amendments to the regulations dealing with qualifications for promotion had the effect of raising the maximum salary to which an officer may proceed without passing the Controlling Officer's Examination or its equivalent. For officers of the First Division the maximum was fixed at Class VI instead of Class VII. In the case of officers of the Second Division, the necessity for passing the Controlling Officer's Examination was confined to those desiring promotion to certain specified positions and to other positions that may from time to time be decided by the Director-General.

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