Lower Grade £60, rising by increments of £5
per annum to £105.
Higher Grade £110, rising by increments of
£5 per annum to £150.
There are also a few higher appointments. Women are, however, under a particular disability in that they must wait for a vacancy in the Higher Grade before passing on beyond £105, whilst in the case of the Men Clerks there is no such stoppage, officers being allowed to proceed straight on, if certified efficient.
It will, no doubt, have been observed that the post of Women Clerk is the highest in the Service open to women by competitive examination, and with the exception of some sixteen or eighteen appointments in the Board of Education, Women Clerks have hitherto been recruited for the Post Office alone. They are now being recruited from this examination for the National Health Insurance Commissions. The exclusion of Women Clerks from the numerous State Departments such as the Home Office, Local Government Board, Inland Revenue, etc., is mainly traditional, as they are not excluded by the wording of the Order in Council of 10th January 1910 (paragraph 5, Part I.) which states that
"all appointments … shall be made by means of competitive examinations according to regulations framed, or to be from time to time framed by the Commissioners, and approved by the Treasury, open to all persons(of the requisite age, health, character, and other qualifications prescribed in the said regulations) who may be desirous of attending the same…."
In this passage the word "persons" is interpreted to mean men only, but as other professions are yielding to the pressure of modern economic conditions and are opening their doors to women, it is time that the State considered the advisability of profiting by the services of women eminently fitted to perform clerical, organising, and administrative duties, many of whom may possess the special qualifications needed for the work in various Government Departments.
The present limitation of the employment of women, and their lack of prospects of advancement constitutes a serious grievance. Whilst many avenues are open to men to improve their condition in the early years of service, if they possess the necessary ability and enterprise, women have no such opportunities, and have practically no chance of advancement except by way of supervision in their own grade. Moreover, if we look at this question from the point of view of advantage to the community, we find that the present mode of staffing the higher posts of the service from the male sex narrows the field of selection. It is in the interests of the public that the best type of officer should be secured, and not merely the best male available, and the unrestricted admission of women to the higher classes in the Civil Service, and their payment on the same terms as men would make for the greater efficiency of the Department, by securing the services of highly qualified women, who at present are not attracted by the small salaries and the meagre prospects offered. It must also be realised by heads of families that they have a right to expect that the service of the State—a dignified, secure, and independent profession—should be open to their daughters as well as to their sons. Furthermore, as the revenue, out of which the salaries of Civil Servants are paid, is collected from women as well as from men, women should have an equal right to earn those salaries.
Economy in working and simplification of administration would be attained by abolishing the separate examinations, and allowing men and women to enter for the same examinations on equal terms.
There are certain advantages attached to service under the State, which are taken into account when salaries are fixed, but the value of these privileges to the staff is frequently over-estimated by the outsider. For instance, security of tenure and the prospect of a pension at retirement, often act as a deterrent to clever and enterprising officers who, but for the sacrifice involved, would throw up their appointment and seek more remunerative and promising employment outside. Again, the medical attendance provided by the Post Office is, in the case of the women employed in the Headquarters Departments, only available in practice when they are well enough to attend at the office to wait on the Medical Officer there. In theory, every employée is entitled to the services of a Medical Officer at her own home in case of serious illness, but, in fact, the Women Medical Officers are too few to be able to give the necessary individual attention. As an instance of this, it may be stated that to one Department, numbering 1,800 women, the part time of one doctor only, is allotted.
Other advantages are a steadily progressing scale of salary, provided that efficient service is rendered; annual leave with pay; a reasonable working day—seven hours for the clerical force and the typists, and eight hours for the other classes; in most Departments payment is made for overtime; a pension on compulsory retirement after ten years' service, except in the case of women retired on marriage, when a gratuity is given after six years' service, amounting to one month's salary for every year of service up to twelve years. A compassionate allowance is also given on the same basis for both sexes, in cases where an officer is compelled to retire through ill-health before completing ten years' service. Sick pay is granted up to a maximum of six months on full pay and six months on half pay. The full period of leave is not, however, always allowed before retirement. It is given only at the discretion of the Department, if there is a chance of complete recovery; officers have no definite claim to it. Although these are distinct advantages to the staff, it must not be overlooked that it is essential for the State to offer some inducements of this kind, in order to obtain a staff more or less permanent who will regard their employment as a career. It is most important for the proper conduct of a Government office that the officials should have a lasting interest in their work, and a share in the successful administration of the Department.
Women Civil Servants are under the Superannuation Act of 1859 as regards their pensions, and receive an amount equal to one-sixtieth of their annual salary at retirement, for every year of service. Under the Courtney Scheme of 1909, the basis of calculation is one-eightieth instead of one-sixtieth, and the reduction in the pension is compensated by a cash payment at retirement, or, in the event of death occurring whilst in harness, a cash payment is made to the next-of-kin. Women secured their exclusion from the provisions of the latter scheme at their own request, as it was felt that the larger pension was of more value to them than the cash payment at death or retirement; moreover their pensions were already too small to admit of further diminution.