A KNOTTY PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1389, 15 March 1912, Page 6

A KNOTTY PROBLEM

GRADINQ THB CIVIWSBRVJCE.

GROUNDS OF PISCONTEN.fi

THFTCASB OF. PEMALB -CLERKS,

The members of the Cirll Swrice are moro or less agog with excitement at the present time over the general classification scheme, which is being carried out under tho provisions o£ tho Public Service Classification and Superannuation Act, 1908. Briefly, tho position is that n board has been set up to classify positions in all tho State Departments, with the exception of the Kailway and Post and Telegraph Departments, which are already classified. The classification i-cheme is now at an interesting Btage. Today is the last day upon which appeals will ba received by the Classification Board, from officers who are dissatisfied with the grade in which they havo been placed under the classification scheme. Tho members of the Classification Board are:—The Hon. J). Buddo, Minister for Internal Affairs (chairman), Colonel Collins (Auditor and Controller-General), Messrs. H. .T. H. Blow (Uhder-Secretary for Public Works), G. Hogben (InspectorGeneral of Schools). J. Mackay (Government Printer), W. C. Kensington (JjnderSccretary for Lands), i l . G. B. Waldctrravo (Uiider-Secretary for Justice), P. >J. Popo (Secretary for Agriculture), J. Lomas (Secretary for Labour), and Dr. < P. Hay (Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals). The late Mr. Hugh Pollen -(L 11-der-Secrctary for Internal Affairs) was , a member of tho board up to the timo of his. death., Mo appointment has yet been mado to fill tho vacancy caused by Mr. Pollen's death, but it is considered probable that his successor in office (Mr. ■J. Hislop) may bo appointed.,. ' j Under the Act, which governs its operations, the board was instructed to classify "positions in the Public Service into three divHons, the first-division consisting ot 'rill positions carrying a salary of.-oyer and tho third.all positions to which a salary of less than .£5(10 attaches. The .second division 1 is, hroadly speaking, the "clerical division. In apportioning salaries to the various positions, the hoard Had to consider the Departmental expenditure authorised by Parliament during the last few years, and also the Amount of salary now attaching to the Svarious offices. • Provisional Classification. 'iA special Gazette was issued on Febni--liry 1:', containing the provisional classification drawn up by tho board. This simply allotted a stated number of officers in each class to each Department, and showed tho minimum and maximum •'salaries payablo in tho class. Appended /ito the provisional Classification . was a •hominal roll lot' officers, showing, the. '•ipoatiou in which each officer in' the service had been placed. Many of the 1 officers are dissatisfied with' their classification, and are lodging appeals as provided .under the Act. ' ' "Ono frequent ground of appeal, 6aiu 'a. member of tho Classification Board yesterday, "seems to lie that taken by ■•Viisn. who contend that they have better qualifications than the positions which -they fill call for, and that they should be graded in accordance with their qualifications. Tho board could not possibly 'adopt this view. A man may go cm board a ship holding a master's certificate, but if he wants a job as cabin-boy 'he must be content with cabin-boy's pay. •The board had to classify not men, but Wo wero instructed to set a i'i'air commercial value upon every position in tho service, and a clerkship' entailing duties of tho simplest character had to bo placed in an appropriate grade. Tho man filling such a position may have high qualifications, but that simply ■means that ho is eligible for promotion to higher position." "I want to point out," the same member of tho board remarked, "that tho board had nothing to'do with the compilation of the nominal roll of officers. Tho board carried out its duty by drawing up. tho provisional classification, in which so many positions in each class wero allotted to each department in the Public Service. Tho nominal roll which accompanies the provisional classification was- prepared solely by tho heads of departments, each of whom allotted positions to tho officers of his own department. Any officer appeaJing does so from tho decision of tho head of his department to tho whole board. This, wo contend, is a very real appeal indeed." Female Clerks. Many of tho objections raised by Civil Servants to details of tho classification scheme hinge upon questions only to be grasped by thoso having an expert knowledge of the working of the various departments, but in tho case of female clerks, some broad questions aro raised. In the llducation Department femalo clerks havo been placed -in a class which .will-entitle them to receive a maximum salary of i£2oo per annum, and in tho Treasury Department one femalo clerk has been placed in a class to which a • maximum salary of .C3OO has been allotted. In other Departments, notably the Public Works,- Government Life Insurance, and Labour Departments,- the maximum salary granted to any female clerk is ,2160. In one of. these Departments, at - least, there aro female clerks who receive salaries in excess of Xl6O, but they .have nevertheless been placed in a class i in which the nominal maximum salary is , £160. This is takeii by some of the i clerks concerned as indicative of an intention to make .EIGO the maximum salary obtainable, in' any. one of the DepartmEnts mentioned, by a femalo clerk who is not already in receipt of a larger salary. The limitation is , keenly resentful, and will 'be the subject of numerous appeals. Typistes in general are restricted to a maximum salary of JII6O per annum, and this also is considered by many of the girls and women concerned to be an unjust limitation. Or.o Departmental head who was spoken to yesterday frankly expressed view that the value of female clerks was strictly limited, and- that they should be restricted, iu some Departments at least, to a salary of .£I(i0 per annum, whatever their length of service might be. Iu support of this opinion, ho declared that women, though they carried--out routing duties efficiently, wero incapable, as a general rule, of satisfactorily filling positions which demanded any great amount of initiative. Then, again, he remarked, girls and women could riot be called upon to work overtime, which wns a serious inconvenient in offices sometimes called ■upon to hurriedly furnish returns for tho information of Parliament, or to carry out other emergency duties. On the othi.P hand, there are female clerks in the Civil Service who support, with considerable point and vigour, a demand for better-terms than aro represented in a maximum salary of MCO a year. As to tho allegation that women luck the initiative necessary, as a qualification, iu thoso v.iio fill the more important positions in the Civil Service, they contend that it is unfair to compare women who arc only trying to attain some standing iu tho service with men who havo held important positions for years. It is also stated, on their own belmlf, by some of tho femalo clerks, that much of the work in the public Departments is necessarily of a routine character, which women aro perfectly competent to perform, and which should ba rewarded with something butter than a mere pittance. Another consideration urged is that in some of tho Departments thoro is needless supervision by heads of branches whoso duties are more nominal than real. Ends of economy and justice might be served at 0:10 stroke, it is claimed, by making individual Civil Servants responsible for the sectional duties which they perform, and paying them salaries commensurate with their increased responsibilities. "The only fair arrangement," one femalo clerk remarked, "would be to place' women 011 an equality, us regards salary, with men similarly qualified, who are doing equal work. If wo were made individually responsible for our work we could be reduced to a lower grade if we failed to efficiently carry out our duties. I am sure that most, of'the femalo clerks would be glad to meet the test. If we carry out our work as well as the men we should be paid as much as they are. That is only lair." '