1094
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 29

ever, be granted if the absence of the officer would be undesirable
or inconvenient as regards the working of the office in which he
is employed. Such special leave to be in addition to the ordinary
leave of absence. Application for this leave is to be made to the
Secretary, through the usual channel, and is to be accompanied
by a report whether it can conveniently be granted.

234. The movements of Postmasters or their subordinates, in
commencing or concluding leave, must be reported to their respective Chief Postmasters. This instruction applies to all absences,
unless on business of the Department; and when an officer takes
his annual leave as part of sick-leave a separate advice must be
forwarded for each description of leave. An officer failing to
report himself on the expiration of any authorized leave must be
reported as absent without leave, and he will be liable to suspension with forfeiture of pay, or to dismissal, or to be otherwise
dealt with, as the circumstances of the case may warrant. Advice
of leave-movements must not be made by telegram, unless the officer
departing for or returning from leave is a Postmaster.

235. On the arrival of a relieving Postmaster for relief duty,
a Postmaster is to hand over charge of the office as soon as possible, not necessarily in business hours. The relieving Postmaster
will be expected to report any failure on the part of the Postmaster to carry out this instruction.

236. On Form P.O. 65 (“List of Absentees”) a weekly statement of absentees must be sent to the General Post Office by Chief
Postmasters, Telegraph Engineers, and Officers in Charge. There
is no necessity for sending separate advices on form P.O. 146 to
the General Post Office; but the form may be used between sub-offices and chief post-offices.

237. In every case of reporting any absence of officers by
the weekly list or otherwise care must be taken to see that the
full initials of officers are given, and the reference numbers quoted
correctly. Where an officer is granted special leave an indication
of the nature of the leave should be furnished, as, for example,
“special, quarterly,” “special, bereavement,” &c. Leave by substitute or in lieu of overtime need not be included in the weekly
return, which must be forwarded to the General Post Office
promptly.

238. Chief Postmasters must, by means of the necessary codes
given in Rule T. 2, telegraph the dates when a Postmaster, or an
officer performing duties for another Department, commences leave
and returns to duty, at the same time giving the name of the
relieving officer, and also stating whether there is a bank-deposit
account at the place or not.

239. In case of absence from illness or accident for any
period extending beyond two days a medical certificate on form
P.O. 267 is necessary, but Postmasters or Officers in Charge may
require that a certificate be supplied forthwith. The certificate
must state the nature of the illness or accident. When being forwarded to the Secretary the certificate must be covered by form
P.O. 106, and the form headed with the name of the officer absent,
his official designation, and where stationed. The date of commencement of the sick-leave to be stated, and also, where practicable, the date when the leave ended.

240. Officers unable to resume duty on account of sickness
must report the state of their health every Saturday morning,
and they must not absent themselves from duty for any time
longer than is absolutely necessary. A medical certificate must
accompany each weekly report. When a medical certificate is not
forthcoming from an officer on sick-leave, the request for a certificate must be made to the doctor by the patient, and not by his