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Staff Record Cards
Description
Unique IDAS-0081Start date1st January 1895Start date qualifierNo DateEnd date1st May 1994End date qualifiercircaFormatCardDescriptionOn 20 April 1900, the Town Clerk made general recommendations to Council on the standardisation and reorganisation of corporate services. These recommendations included each employee (other than labourers) being medically examined and passed as fit before being admitted to the service, a fixed maximum and minimum salary for each position on the staff, each employee to have a specified annual holiday on full pay, and the employees to be divided into categories of labourer, general, clerk, professional, and special.
It was probably in conjunction with these new procedures that the Staff Cards were created. The series consists of three sets of cards which each have a different format.
CARD SET 1
The first set (boxes 1-6), were probably started in 1901 but some cards were backdated several years. The cards in the first set are yellow and orange and record the name, date, office (title), department, rate of pay, sick pay allowance, nature of illness, length of absence, amount paid, remarks, age, marital status, number and age of dependents, and the date they ceased to work for Council. These cards ceased to be used around 1920, when a new format was introduced, but it contains entries up to 1922.
CARD SET 2
The change to another set of staff cards around 1920 could have originated from a resolution of Council in 1919 to introduce uniform rules for all staff regarding sick pay, holiday pay, overtime and retirement allowances. This second set of staff cards (boxes 7-52) covers permanent and temporary staff for the years 1920-1962. The green staff cards are for temporary staff. Each card contains the name, date (card opened), date of birth, rating (title), department, rate of pay, remarks, holiday pay, nature and period of illness, signature of employee, date and reason they no longer work for Council, and occasionally the address. For some employees the information on their previous card was copied onto these cards.
CARD SET 3
In December 1960, Alderman C Wallace recommended to the Town Clerk that the Finance Committee consider creating a department to coordinate, unify and centralise all matters relating to personnel management and control. The suggestion was acted on by Council and CA 90, Industrial and Personnel Department, was created in 1961.
The third set of cards dates from 1962, just after the formation of the new department, until 1988. However, for some of the cards, information back to 1917 has been copied from previous cards. These cards are larger in format and incorporate the pay numbering system introduced at that time. They record the name, date of birth, pay number, service number, signature, annual holidays, workers compensation and sick pay and accident leave, commencement date, classification, grade or year, department, margin per week, resignation or termination date and reason for leaving Council, authority and remarks. Some of the cards record disciplinary matters. The cards are stamped to show when employees were transferred to other Council such as South Sydney Municipal Council, Leichhardt, and Woollahra, or to authorities such as the Sydney Markets Authority. However, there are no stamps to show which staff were transferred to South Sydney City Council on 31 December 1988.
The third set of cards (boxes 1-71 transferred in September 1997) ceased to be the primary record in June 1988, when the computerised personnel system, "P29" was introduced. However, the cards are annotated until 1994 to show when the employee left Council. From 1988, new cards were raised only for temporary employees (CRS 943) and permanent employees (employed since June 1988) who have made a worker's compensation claim. Some of these cards are for employees transferred to Sydney City Council from South Sydney Municipal Council in 1982 when the two Councils were amalgamated.
Boxes 59-66 of the consignment received in September 1997 were labelled as "terminated employees". Most of the cards are of staff terminated on 31 December 1988, but there are also cards for staff terminated in 1983, and from 1988 until 1996. Boxes 67-71 were labelled "South Sydney terminated" and appear to be cards of staff who worked for South Sydney Muncipal Council but were not current employees at the time staff were transferred to Sydney City Council in 1982.
Some details of employees' names, positions and salaries that pre-date this series, can be found in series AS-0011, Finance Committee Minutes, as each year the Finance Committee would vote on salary increases. Series AS-0022, Reports of the Finance Committee, also contains correspondence from officers' seeking salary increases.
Start Date: c. 1901
End Date: c. 1994Relationship legacy dataCREATED BY: Industrial Relations Department AG-0013 (08/02/1971 to 31/12/1988)
CREATED BY: Industrial and Personnel Department AG-0090 (20/03/1961 to 07/02/1971)
CREATED BY: City Treasury Department I AG-0012 (01/01/1901 to 19/03/1961)
CREATED BY: Human Resources AG-0029 (01/01/1989 to 01/05/1994)
RELATED TO: Employee Service Files AS-0675 (01/01/1961 to 01/05/1994)
RELATED TO: Personnel and employee management and services AY-70 (01/01/1901 to 01/05/1994) LanguageEnglish (eng)
It was probably in conjunction with these new procedures that the Staff Cards were created. The series consists of three sets of cards which each have a different format.
CARD SET 1
The first set (boxes 1-6), were probably started in 1901 but some cards were backdated several years. The cards in the first set are yellow and orange and record the name, date, office (title), department, rate of pay, sick pay allowance, nature of illness, length of absence, amount paid, remarks, age, marital status, number and age of dependents, and the date they ceased to work for Council. These cards ceased to be used around 1920, when a new format was introduced, but it contains entries up to 1922.
CARD SET 2
The change to another set of staff cards around 1920 could have originated from a resolution of Council in 1919 to introduce uniform rules for all staff regarding sick pay, holiday pay, overtime and retirement allowances. This second set of staff cards (boxes 7-52) covers permanent and temporary staff for the years 1920-1962. The green staff cards are for temporary staff. Each card contains the name, date (card opened), date of birth, rating (title), department, rate of pay, remarks, holiday pay, nature and period of illness, signature of employee, date and reason they no longer work for Council, and occasionally the address. For some employees the information on their previous card was copied onto these cards.
CARD SET 3
In December 1960, Alderman C Wallace recommended to the Town Clerk that the Finance Committee consider creating a department to coordinate, unify and centralise all matters relating to personnel management and control. The suggestion was acted on by Council and CA 90, Industrial and Personnel Department, was created in 1961.
The third set of cards dates from 1962, just after the formation of the new department, until 1988. However, for some of the cards, information back to 1917 has been copied from previous cards. These cards are larger in format and incorporate the pay numbering system introduced at that time. They record the name, date of birth, pay number, service number, signature, annual holidays, workers compensation and sick pay and accident leave, commencement date, classification, grade or year, department, margin per week, resignation or termination date and reason for leaving Council, authority and remarks. Some of the cards record disciplinary matters. The cards are stamped to show when employees were transferred to other Council such as South Sydney Municipal Council, Leichhardt, and Woollahra, or to authorities such as the Sydney Markets Authority. However, there are no stamps to show which staff were transferred to South Sydney City Council on 31 December 1988.
The third set of cards (boxes 1-71 transferred in September 1997) ceased to be the primary record in June 1988, when the computerised personnel system, "P29" was introduced. However, the cards are annotated until 1994 to show when the employee left Council. From 1988, new cards were raised only for temporary employees (CRS 943) and permanent employees (employed since June 1988) who have made a worker's compensation claim. Some of these cards are for employees transferred to Sydney City Council from South Sydney Municipal Council in 1982 when the two Councils were amalgamated.
Boxes 59-66 of the consignment received in September 1997 were labelled as "terminated employees". Most of the cards are of staff terminated on 31 December 1988, but there are also cards for staff terminated in 1983, and from 1988 until 1996. Boxes 67-71 were labelled "South Sydney terminated" and appear to be cards of staff who worked for South Sydney Muncipal Council but were not current employees at the time staff were transferred to Sydney City Council in 1982.
Some details of employees' names, positions and salaries that pre-date this series, can be found in series AS-0011, Finance Committee Minutes, as each year the Finance Committee would vote on salary increases. Series AS-0022, Reports of the Finance Committee, also contains correspondence from officers' seeking salary increases.
Start Date: c. 1901
End Date: c. 1994Relationship legacy dataCREATED BY: Industrial Relations Department AG-0013 (08/02/1971 to 31/12/1988)
CREATED BY: Industrial and Personnel Department AG-0090 (20/03/1961 to 07/02/1971)
CREATED BY: City Treasury Department I AG-0012 (01/01/1901 to 19/03/1961)
CREATED BY: Human Resources AG-0029 (01/01/1989 to 01/05/1994)
RELATED TO: Employee Service Files AS-0675 (01/01/1961 to 01/05/1994)
RELATED TO: Personnel and employee management and services AY-70 (01/01/1901 to 01/05/1994) LanguageEnglish (eng)
Access
Public access statusRestrictedPublic access noteAccess Notes:Access to the cards of deceased employees is available through the Archives. Pending a formal agreement with the Personnel unit on access rules, this is on a case-by-case basis.
Restriction Category:[e] Restricted by administrative agreement
Restriction Category:[e] Restricted by administrative agreement
Identification and Arrangement
Source system ID81System of arrangementAlphabetical
Disposal
Disposal statusArchived
Data Quality
Legacy dataRegistered by: Gunnel Bellviken
Registered date: 16/08/1985
Amendments: Tim Robinson June 1986
Sarah Peet 19 June 1990
Angela McGing 16 September 1997
Angela McGing 19 June 2007
Last amendment date: 19/06/2007
Other Disposal Instruments: GDA 10 for Local Government Records
Bridging aids:
System of arrangements: Alphabetical
Series control status: Record items (to 1920 only) are listed in Archives Investigator
Repository:
UpdatedDate: 29/06/2007
UpdatedUser: Jun 29 2007 10:54AM
Registered date: 16/08/1985
Amendments: Tim Robinson June 1986
Sarah Peet 19 June 1990
Angela McGing 16 September 1997
Angela McGing 19 June 2007
Last amendment date: 19/06/2007
Other Disposal Instruments: GDA 10 for Local Government Records
Bridging aids:
System of arrangements: Alphabetical
Series control status: Record items (to 1920 only) are listed in Archives Investigator
Repository:
UpdatedDate: 29/06/2007
UpdatedUser: Jun 29 2007 10:54AM
Relationships
Source systemBusiness operation system (BOS); Archives investigatorRelated seriesEmployee Service FilesCreating agenciesHuman ResourcesCity Treasury Department IIndustrial and Personnel DepartmentIndustrial Relations DepartmentRelated activitiesPersonnel and employee management and services
Registration
Staff Record Cards [AS-0081]. City of Sydney Recollect - UAT, accessed 04 Aug 2025, https://cosauat.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/62944