2010
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 60

may be paid without being first referred to the Secretary for authority. All other claims for overtime of any nature whatever, including overtime for special work at the Christmas and New Year periods, must be submitted to the Secretary for authority to pay.

(b.) Great care must be exercised by the officers preparing and checking overtime claims at the offices concerned to see that the claims are strictly in accordance with the regulations and that the computations are correct. Claims for duty worked in excess of forty-four hours must be for the period from Monday to Saturday, both days inclusive. The hours of overtime worked on Sundays and holidays must be entered in the space provided on the abstract, and in all claims the annual salary and rate per hour are to be shown in addition to the total number of hours worked.

(c.) Overtime is to count only from the time officers are required to be on duty and up to the time of ceasing duty. Overtime will not be paid for any time except that during which the Department requires an officer to be in attendance. Vigilance is necessary to ensure that no officer is detained on overtime longer than is absolutely necessary, especially on Sundays and holidays.

(d.) All claims for payment at overtime rates must be placed upon one abstract for each branch of the service. Thus there will be one abstract for postal duty, one for telegraph duty, and one for telephone-exchange duty. Controlling and checking officers are to see that this rule is strictly adhered to, and that each voucher is complete.

(e.) The claim of an officer omitted from an abstract must be submitted, before payment, to the Secretary, with an explanation of the cause of the omission.

(f.) Any claim which is not in accordance with the foregoing rules must be supported by a statement from the local controlling officer and approved by the district controlling officer. It is the duty of the latter officer to challenge all irregular claims and to see that the regulations are complied with before countersigning.

(g.) Vouchers must be certified by the local controlling officer and countersigned by the Chief Postmaster, District Telegraph Engineer, or Superintendent, as the case may be. Certifying officers will be held responsible for any irregular payments detected in vouchers paid before audit.

ERRORS AND IRREGULARITIES.

107. Postal or telegraph errors that have to be reported in accordance with rules and regulations must be reported without delay. Errors that can equally well be dealt with by post are not to be reported by telegraph. Complaints about telegrams (errors, delays, &c.), after being acknowledged, are to be sent to the Secretary (Telegraph Division) for investigation. Serious breaches of duty and breaches of discipline are to be specially reported to the Secretary (Staff Division). Any Postmaster or other officer failing to act promptly in accordance with the foregoing instructions will, in addition to being fined, incur the serious displeasure of the Secretary.

108. Error-papers are to be treated as under:—

(a.) Each error-paper is to be headed with the name of the officer and the office concerned, and at the end of the quarter the papers are to be arranged alphabetically in order of offices and of officers, and the quarterly schedules written up therefrom.

(b.) In the case of an irregularity which is specially reported to the Head Office, the names of the office and officer, together with all particulars required for the quarterly report, are to be noted on a separate sheet of paper.