2986

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

[No. 78

annual leave is to be deducted for every period of quarterly leave actually taken by him as follows :-

Quarterly Leave taken. Annual Leave due.
Nil ... ... ... 14 working-days.
14 working-days ... ... ... 10 ,,
28 ,, ... ... ... 7 ,,
42 ,, ... ... ... 4 ,,
56 ,, ... ... ... Nil. ,,

9. Punctuality in Attendance.—Every officer, of whatever grade, must be in attendance and ready to take up his or her duties punctually at the time appointed. Late attendance will be dealt with according to regulation. The time of assuming and of leaving duty must be entered at the time correctly in the attendance-book. No officer may go off duty without the permission of his or her controlling officer.

10. Absence from Duty.—No officer may be absent from duty without leave except in case of illness, when notice in writing, with information as to the nature of the illness, should be sent to the controlling officer with the least possible delay. Should the absence extend beyond two days a medical certificate on the prescribed form should be supplied.

11. Medical Certificate.—Nothing in the preceding regulation is to be taken as affecting the Department’s right to demand a medical certificate for any absence on the plea of illness of however short duration, or to require an absentee to see a medical man or woman of the Department’s choosing.

12. Record of Private Address.—Officers must record in the book kept for the purpose their private addresses and any changes therein.

13. Exchange of Duty.—No exchange of duty or performance of duty by substitute will be permitted without permission having first been obtained in writing from the proper officer, with whom will lie the responsibility of seeing that the business of the exchange is not likely to suffer by the alteration. The exercise of exchange and substitute privileges by any one officer shall be restricted to three times per week, except in special cases, which are to be submitted to the Inspector of Telegraph Offices. No cadette will be permitted to perform duty as a substitute for another in addition to her own duty in excess of one hour on any one day.

14. Privileges within the limits above set forth are not to be withdrawn or suspended without the authority of the Secretary.

15. Time-off Allowance.—To obviate any cadette performing more than six days’ work per week, the “time-off” allowance for Sunday duty is, save in exceptional circumstances, which are to be reported to the Secretary, to be given in the week containing the Sunday on which the duty has been performed.

16. Prompt Attention to Calls.—Prompt attention must be given to the calls of subscribers. Calls to report fires or accidents are to be given precedence of other business. At exchanges open at night switchboards must be patrolled by the Attendant in Charge at intervals of not longer than five minutes, and the opening of shutters not previously noticed be carefully looked for.

17. Discipline.—Attendants on switchboard duty are required to face the board at all times, and to fix their attention on their work. Their first duty is to attend to calls on the sections to which they are assigned, but when their work admits of it they must be ready to assist on adjoining sections should circumstances require it.

18. Listening, except for wholly official purposes, to conversations passing along the wires is positively forbidden under pain of dismissal. To ascertain if a conversation is finished, a momentary “tapping” and the hearing of a single syllable will suffice. Controlling officers must report every breach of this regulation.

19. Conversation between attendants at the switchboard, with subscribers, with other exchanges, or with bureaux is not to be indulged in apart from what may be necessary for the transaction of official business. Disregard of this instruction is to be reported to the Officer in Charge, who, if the offence is not a first one, will forward the report, with his recommendation, to the Inspector of Telegraph Offices.

20. In the case of an officer being asked for by telephone, he or she may, if the matter is an important one, be allowed to go to the instrument. It is to be clearly understood, however, that the occasion must be a really urgent one, and that except under such circumstances neither Supervisors nor cadettes are to use the telephone for private purposes. This rule does not apply to the use of the sitting-room telephone during rest “spells.”

21. Any visitor calling at an exchange for an officer is to be referred to the senior Officer in Charge, who may at his discretion permit the interview. As a rule, however, callers should be informed that officers cannot be seen during their hours of duty.

22. Cadettes will not be permitted to wear large bows or otherwise to dress their hair in a manner to obstruct the Supervisors’ view of their faces or of the switchboard. Cadettes wearing their hair hanging down must wear it plaited whilst they are at the switchboard. Neatness in dress is necessary, and the wearing of sleeves with tight-fitting cuffs will be compulsory. Blouses or dresses not having such cuffs can be made conformable to this regulation by the wearing of overcuffs which can be pulled on and off. These overcuffs may not be wide or baggy, and must be at least 4 in. deep. No bangles of any description, or long chains, are to be worn during office hours. Handbags are not to be brought into the switchboard-room at exchanges where lockers are provided for cadettes. Parcels are not to be brought into the switchboard-room, nor is the time of Supervisors to be taken up in receiving them on behalf of members of the staff. Letters or parcels addressed to numbers, or otherwise than in ordinary form, will not be received at exchanges. It is preferred that correspondence be addressed to cadettes’ own homes. Gifts made by subscribers to telephone exchange cadettes are to be made through the senior woman in charge, and individual gifts, excepting such trifles as a pair of gloves, are not to be