88
Approval of allowances and leave.
145. A number of cases are received from Departments claiming prescribed allowances and leave and in most cases the reply takes the form of a standard memo which is individually typed.
146. Cases which require routine approval, either the originating document should be endorsed “Approved", signed and despatched, or where the document has to be retained in the Branch then a pre-printed approval form should be used and the file appropriately endorsed.
Reporting arrival of officers.
147. Heads of Departments notify this Branch when an officer first arrives or returns from leave. This Branch then prepares memos to the Director of Audit and Accountant General.
148. It is recommended that the Department's notification should be prepared in triplicate, and copies forwarded to the Establishment Officer, the Director of Audit and the Accountant General respectively.
Examinations.
149. Heads of Departments report by memo when their officers are ready to sit for examinations. This Branch then prepares a memo to the Board of Examiners, despatches, and takes no further action.
150. It is recommended that Heads of Departments should notify the Board of Examiners direct.
Letters of appointment.
151. When the Secretary of State recruits an officer for service with this Govern- ment, the terms of service are agreed between the parties, an appointment offered and accepted or refused. On arrival in the Colony, the new recruit is given a letter of appointment which is unlikely to contain terms differing from those offered by the Secretary of State.
152. It is recommended that letters of appointment setting out the terms of service should no longer be issued by a Colonial Government and that action should be taken by the Colonial Office for officers recruited outside the Colony as is now taken by the Crown Agents in the case of officers recruited by them.
Staffing of departments.
153. It should be the responsibility of this Branch to ensure that the number of staff directly employed in each Department is neither more nor less than actual require- ments.
154. This Branch now gives its decision based almost entirely on the facts. presented by a Department, and the same procedure is followed by the Finance Branch who approve additional expenditure for staff. While this method may be satisfactory for day-to-day staff complementing, it is necessary for periodical staff surveys to be made to ascertain and obtain a report on the following facts:
(1) The Department's objectives and functions.
(2) The volume of essential work of the unit under review.
(3) The capacity of the staff, their volume and speed of output.
(4) Existing procedures and whether conforming with official instructions.
(5) Staff requirements for existing and future anticipated volume of
essential work.
These facts can best be obtained after a physical inspection is made by trained observers.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.