Employment of Persons in a Civil Capacity in Connexion with the Department of Defence Regulations (Amendment) (Cth)

STATUTORY RULES.

1924. No. 9.

 

REGULATIONS UNDER THE DEFENCE ACT 1903–18, SECTION 63.

I, THE GOVERNOR‑GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Defence Act 1903–18, to come into operation as from 19th July, 1923, except where otherwise stated.

Dated this twenty‑second day of January, 1924.

FORSTER,

Governor‑General.

By His Excellency’s Command,

E. K. BOWDEN,

Minister of State for Defence.

 

Regulations for the Employment of Persons in a Civil Capacity in connexion with the Department of Defence.

Amendment.

Regulation 4 is cancelled, and the following inserted in lieu thereof:—

“4.—(1) The hours of attendance to be observed by officers shall be from 9 a.m. to 4.45 p.m., with an interval of one hour for luncheon, except on Saturdays, when the hours of attendance shall be from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

(2) The hours of attendance of Artisans’ Labourers and similar classes shall be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an interval of one hour for luncheon, except on Saturdays, when the hours of attendance shall be 8 a.m. to 12 noon.

(3) Where the nature of the work or the location of the office will not, in the public interest, admit of the general observance of this regulation, the Chief Officer shall recommend, and the Secretary shall prescribe, the hours of attendance.”

Regulation 5 is cancelled.

Regulation 23 (1), paragraph 1, is cancelled, and the following inserted in lieu thereof:—

“23.—(1) Overtime shall be paid at the rate of time and a half, and the hourly rate shall be ascertained as under:—

C.1240.—Price 3d.

 

Regulation 23 (3) is amended by deleting the figures “£400”, and inserting in lieu thereof the figures “£450”.

To operate from 27th September, 1923.

The scale of allowances set out in Regulation 24 (1) is cancelled, and the following inserted in lieu thereof:—

Salary.	Allowance.
	s.	d.
£750 and over.....................................................	4	0
£500 and under £750...........................................	3	0
£400 and under £500...........................................	2	6
Under £400.........................................................	2	0

Regulation 36 is amended by deleting therefrom the first paragraph, and paragraphs (a), (b), and (c), and inserting in lieu thereof the following:—

“The following shall be the scale of travelling allowances:—

Salary.	Allowance, First Two Weeks’ Residence in same place in—				Allowance, Alter Two Weeks’ Residence in same place in—				Hourly Rate.
	Capital Cities.		Other than Capital Cities.		Capital Cities.		Other than Capital Cities.
per day.		per day.		per week.		per week.
s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.	s.	d.
£372 and under.....................	14	6	12	0	42	0	35	0	1‑24th of daily rate or 1/168th of weekly rate.
£373 to £450.........................	15	6	13	0	48	0	40	0
£451 to £550.........................	17	6	14	6	60	0	50	0
£551 to £650.........................	19	6	16	6	72	0	60	0
£651 and under £800.............	22	0	18	6	84	0	70	0
£800 and under £1,000..........	25	0	21	0	96	0	80	0
£1,000 and over....................	30	0	25	0	(a)		(a)

(a) As  may be approved from time to time by the Secretary.

36.—(a) The minimum travelling allowance payable to officers acting as members of an Appeal Board or a Board of Inquiry shall be at the rate of 15s. a day.

(b) That in the case of an officer or employee regularly employed on relieving duties the following shall be the scale of allowances:—

Salary.	Allowance per week.
Over £372..........................................................................		45s.
£372 and under...................................................................		35s.

To operate from 27th September, 1923.

(c) Where officers or employees are required to reside at Military Camps in the country in the performance of their duties, and are provided with subsistence without lodging, or lodging without subsistence, the Secretary may reduce the prescribed travelling allowance.

Regulation 37 (2) is cancelled.

Regulation 40a is renumbered to be “40b”, and the following new regulation “40a” is inserted:—

Travelling Time.

40a. For travelling time an officer or employee shall be paid at ordinary rates, subject to the limitations hereafter stated.

 

(a) Travelling time for the purpose of this clause means time necessarily spent by an officer or employee who is on duty away from his usual station in travelling in excess of his usual hours of duty for the day.

(b) It includes the time during which an officer or employee has to wait for trains at a junction station and in waiting for trains or other scheduled conveyances between the advertised and actual time of departure.

(c) It does not include any time of travelling in which an officer or employee is required to perform any duty.

(d) It does not include the time spent in travelling by sea; nor in a train between 10.30 p.m. and 7 a.m., where a sleeping berth is provided.

(e) It includes time spent in travelling on transfer in all cases where transfer expenses are allowed excepting where such transfer involves promotion which carries increased pay.

(f) No claim for travelling time shall be admitted unless the travelling time exceed one half‑hour in any one day.

(g) No claim for travelling time shall be admitted for more than five hours in any one day.

(h) Officers in receipt of a salary exceeding £400 per annum shall not be entitled to claim for travelling time.

A “day” means from midnight to midnight.

Regulation 42 is amended by deleting the figures “£216” and inserting m lieu thereof “£336.”

To operate from 27th September, 1923.

Regulation 45, paragraph 1, is cancelled, and the following inserted in lieu thereof:—

“Payment of cost of removing furniture and household effects shall be subject to the following limitations:—

Officers’ Salary.	Maximum Amount Allowed.
Under £300.............................................................		£35
£300 to £600...........................................................		40
Over £600...............................................................		50

Regulation 47 (1) is amended by inserting the words “The Twenty‑fifth day of April; and “after the eighth line.

Regulation 47 (3) is amended by deleting the words “Anzac Day (25th April)” wherever they occur.

Regulations 55 (1) and (2); 56 (1), (2), and (3); 57, 58, and 59 are cancelled, and the following new regulations inserted in lieu thereof:—

55.—(1) Applications for leave of absence on the ground of illness shall be supported by the certificate of a duly qualified medical practitioner, except in the case of single‑day absences, not exceeding three in any twelve months, when, unless otherwise directed by the Chief Officer, the production of a medical certificate shall not be necessary.

(2) Where sick leave is otherwise granted without the production of a medical certificate, such leave shall be without pay.

 

56.—(1) In the case of the illness of an officer or employee, the Chief Officer may, on production of satisfactory medical evidence, grant the officer or employee leave of absence upon the following conditions:—

(a) The basis for determining the terms on which leave of absence may be granted on account of illness shall be ascertained by multiplying one week on full pay, two weeks on half pay, and four weeks on third pay by the number of completed years of the officer’s or employee’s service.

(b) To determine the leave, if any, for which an officer or employee is eligible under this regulation, the leave that has been granted during his service at rates of full pay, half pay, and third pay respectively, shall be deducted from the periods ascertained under the provisions of paragraph (a) of this regulation;

Provided that, in the case of an officer or employee who was appointed before the commencement of this regulation, the leave of absence to be deducted shall be the leave of absence granted within seven years preceding the date of commencement of this regulation, together with any leave granted since such date.

Provided further that no deduction shall be made in the case of a returned soldier in respect to leave granted within three years after the date of his discharge from the Expeditionary Forces.

(c) After deduction has been made as provided in paragraph (b) of this regulation, the periods remaining at each rate of pay shall be the periods of leave for which the officer or employee is eligible at the date of application;

Provided that the maximum period allowable with pay in respect of any continuous absence through illness shall be fifty‑two weeks.

(d) Where an officer or employee has exhausted all leave allowable with pay he may be granted leave without pay:

Provided that in respect to any continuous period of absence, leave with pay and without pay shall not exceed seventy‑eight weeks.

(e) In any case where an officer or employee has not completed twelve months’ service, he may be granted such proportion of one week on full pay, two weeks on half pay, and four weeks on third pay as his service in completed months bears to twelve months.

(2) Upon, the commencement of this regulation, a record shall be made as soon as practicable, calculated as provided in this regulation, of the leave for which the officer is eligible, and such record shall be amended from time to time as becomes necessary by recording any further leave granted the officer and the leave for which he is still eligible in accordance with his length of service.

57.—(1) Where an officer or employee has been absent through illness for thirteen weeks continuously, and application for further leave is made, the Chief Officer may, subject to these Regulations, provisionally grant further leave, but all such applications with supporting evidence of illness shall be forwarded to the Secretary for determination.

(2) The granting of such further leave shall be subject to the officer or employee being examined by a Commonwealth medical officer or other medical practitioner approved by the Secretary.

 

58. If any officer or employee is absent from duty on account of illness and such absence has extended beyond thirteen weeks continuously, he shall not be permitted to return to duty unless and until the Commonwealth medical officer, or other medical practitioner approved by the Secretary, has certified that he is fit to resume work;

Provided that where an officer or employee resumes duty after a lesser period than thirteen weeks’ continuous absence, due to illness, the Chief Officer may, if he is of opinion that the officer or employee is not fit to resume duty, direct him to submit himself for examination by an approved medical officer or practitioner, and if the examination discloses that the officer or employee is unfit to resume duty, the Chief Officer shall grant such further leave of absence on account of illness as the medical report indicates as necessary.

59.—(1) If the Chief Officer has reason to believe that an officer or employee is in such a state of health as to render him a danger to his fellow officers or the public, he may require the officer to obtain and furnish a report as to his condition from a duly qualified medical practitioner, or may require him to submit himself for examination by a Commonwealth medical officer or medical practitioner named by the Chief Officer.

(2) Upon receipt of the medical report the Chief Officer may direct the officer or employee to absent himself from his duties for a

 specified period, or, if already on leave of absence, direct him to continue on leave for a specified period, and the officer or employee’s absence shall be regarded as absence on leave owing to illness.

59a. The rate paid for public holidays occurring during absence on leave shall be the same as that allowed for the period of leave in which the holiday occurs.

59b.—(1) No leave shall be granted with pay on account of illness caused by the misconduct of the officer or employee, or in any case of absence from duty without sufficient cause.

(2) Where the Chief Officer, or any officer approved by the Chief Officer, has occasion for doubt as to the cause of the illness or the reason for the absence, he may instruct a medical practitioner to visit and examine the officer or employee, or may direct such officer or employee to attend on a medical practitioner for examination.

(3) If the report of the medical practitioner is not favorable to the officer or employee concerned, or if the officer or employee is not available for examination at the time of the medical practitioner’s visit without, in the opinion of the Chief Officer, reasonable cause therefor, a fee for the examination or visit shall be charged against the officer or employee and be deducted from his salary.

(4) The fee for examination if conducted at the medical practitioner’s rooms shall be 10s. 6d., but if the medical practitioner is required to visit the officer the fee shall be £1 1s.

Provided that where the distance travelled would, in the opinion of the Chief Officer, warrant a greater fee than £1 1s., such fee may be paid as is arranged between the Chief Officer and the medical practitioner.

(5) The fee shall be paid to the medical practitioner unless he be a permanent officer of the service, when it shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue.

(6) An officer or employee shall submit himself to medical examination, when required to do so, by a medical practitioner selected by the Secretary.

Regulations 63 (1) and (2); 64, 65, and 66 are cancelled, and the following new regulation is inserted:—

63. Where a temporary officer or employee sustains injuries of such a nature as to incapacitate him from the performance of his duties, the provisions of the Commonwealth Workmen’s Compensation Act 1912 shall apply and be read as if the Act were amended in the following manner:—

(i) The words “Two thousand pounds” be substituted for the words “Five hundred pounds” in Section 1 (a) (i).

(ii) The words “gross negligence or” inserted in Section 4 (2) (b) after the word “his”.

(iii) The words “such weekly payment not to exceed Forty shillings” omitted from paragraph (1) (b) of the First Schedule.

Regulation 87 is cancelled, and the following new regulation inserted in lieu thereof:—

87.—(1) Temporary employees who are returned soldiers may be granted leave of absence on account of illness, subject to the following conditions:—

(a) The employee shall apply in writing, stating the cause of absence.

(b) Where the employee has not completed twenty‑six days’ actual duty, the Chief Officer, if satisfied that the absence is due to illness, may grant the employee leave of absence without pay.

(c) Where the employee has completed twenty‑six days’ actual duty, the Chief Officer may, if satisfied that the absence arises from illness due to causes beyond the employee’s own control, grant leave of absence with pay at the rate of one day for each twenty‑six days of service in respect to which no sick leave with pay has been previously granted, subject to the production of a medical certificate when the absence exceeds one day or the employee has been previously absent for one day on two or more occasions.

(d) Not more than twelve days’ sick leave with pay shall be granted in any twelve months.

Provided that where satisfactory medical evidence is produced that the illness originated from active service, the Secretary may determine the conditions under which leave shall be granted.

(2) Temporary employees who are not returned soldiers may be granted leave of absence on account of illness with pay on the following conditions:—

(a) That application, shall be made in writing stating the cause of absence, and when absence exceeds one day or the employee has previously been absent for one day on two or more occasions, such application will be supported by a medical certificate.

(b) That the employee has been continuously employed, and for a period of not less than twelve months.

(c) The leave shall be at the rate of one day for every twenty‑six days actual duty, but not more than six days shall be granted with pay in any twelve months.

 

Printed and Published for the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by Albert J. Mullett, Government Printer for the State of Victoria.