Document OEnDeqpZeYqJG7V31dmwzy4xe

AIRMAIL. P.A.147. Australian Blue Asbestos Limited mines * mills wittenoom. w.a. PRIVATE. The Managing Director, SYDNEY.N.S.W. 18 William street PERTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA G.P.O. BOX NO. 968 M TELEPHONE 02239 V 2nd June, 1949. Dear Sir, > PERTH OFFICE STAFF - Duties: Formerly, the C.S.R. Co. Office staff performed numerous duties, properly the func tion of our own Company. Latterly, as we have become better equipped to do so, we have assumed most of these responsibilities, commencing with the ledgers, now kept at the Mine. Our accounts were once checked and examined in detail by C.S.R. office, not without its own Staff problems, whereas now our own staff, possessing first-hand knowledge of the details, pass them for payment. The Perth Engineeife initials, as interim authority for payment, pending the arrival of goods at Wittenoom and the Manager's final sanction, is now sufficient evidence of correctness for the Accountant, C.S.R., to counter sign the cheque. This has reduced an unavoidable time-lag and inconvenience to both offices. An improved staff position has made this prac ticable. Our Perth Office now has two responsible C.S.R. Officers, Messrs. Wallace (Perth Engineer) and Parry (Accounts). In addition we have a male clerk and two typistes. Shortly, it will be- further improved by the addition of an employment officer. We submit that, in principle, we should endeavour to take over any A.B.A. office work that remains with C.S.R., and consider that we are now in a position to do so. It will help both staffs. Further, it is likely that our Perth office will move as soon as accommodation can be found. We think that, while retaining the close liaison that exists, we should not leave until the last minute the disentanglement of our own routine office work from that of C.S.R. * ` LJ Those duties remaining with C.S.R. are under the ' - - two headings discussed below, and we seek your approval -ij^^/t^ke ;them over. Our recommendation is not inconsistent with C 1336 The Managing Director, S|DM.________ ;j .S.'.V. P-A.147. 2nd June, 1949. what the Manager has v/ritten in his 673* A copy of this letter has been forwarded to him, end. the matter discussed with Mr. Brcadhurst. who agrees. Mo1. Bank Account: No.3* Bank Account is already operated by us"J the- signatories being the writer and the Berth Engineer. The r'o.l. account however is signed by the writer but countersigned by the Accountant, C.S.R. When accounts are paid in Perth office, this account carries the bulk of the work. \ Y.re suggest that this authority be revoked and instead 1 the Secretary sign as formerly, Mr. Parry countersigning (or, in Ihis absence, the Perth Engineer). Mr. Parry already prepares the accounts for payment and draws the cheques. We suggest that he be permitted to counter sign them as part of the same process. 25 names Salaries: Our Monthly Salary List now contains Until recently this was prepared by our Senior Typiste. Then, it was necessary for a careful check to be made by the Accountant, C.S.R., for amount due, allowances, deductions for E.P.F., Tax, etc., because we could not expect our own records to be sufficiently complete or reliable without adequate staff. This situation has changed. Mr. Parry has estab lished a system almost identical with that kept by the Accountant, C.S.R., this form being convenient for preparing the list. Correspondence authorising variation is passed to them both. In other words, the work is duplicated, and we con sider the C.S.R. records and check no longer necessary. We do not see the need now for staff records to be kept by C.S.R., even of those five C.S.R. Officers seconded to us. These details are in Mine correspondence and passed again to you by the Manager in his annual Staff List. You may prefer that C.S.R. retain their 3.P.F. passbooks. In such case C.S.R. could write them up from a copy of our E.P.F. half-yearly return. A decision on this matter might perhaps have been made locally, except that we recall the Managing Director, while on a visit about twelve months ago, expressing the desire that, for the moment, the procedure remain unchanged.