RECORDKEEPING

Many of the actions at a contact point involve records; these records may consist of various forms and records of actions. Many of those records are required by official directives. Some examples areas follows:

l Pages of the service record

l Personnel advancement requirements

l Entries on the leave and earning statement (LES)

l Forms required for starting or stopping allotments

l Postal money order forms

l Forms required for transportation of personal effects

l Performance evaluation forms

l Applications for Navy correspondence courses

If you are performing your duties satisfactorily, you will know how to fill out the forms and records of action appropriate to the services you provide-or how to help the customer fill them out. You will know the required number of copies and what their distribution should be.

In processing records, all that you need to do to give the customer satisfactory service is to perform your regular duties correctly. Strive to keep accurate records. Making a mistake can cause trouble for yourself as well as for others who must process your paperwork.

However, mistakes are likely to result in much more trouble for the customer than for you.

KEEPING RECOMMENDED RECORDS

You keep some required records as governed by official directives. However, you keep some required records that are not governed by written directives. The following are examples of some records you must keep even though you have no written directives:

l l l

Educational counseling record-You make an entry in this record each time the customer receives counseling or takes any new action, such as enrolling in a course or taking a test.

A personal reference-You keep this record of names, offices, and phone numbers for sources of information and assistance.

Handwritten notations-You keep handwritten notations as a record of an interview with the customer and future actions to be taken.

MAKING PROPER DISPOSITION OF RECORDS

Proper disposition of records is just as important as keeping clear, complete, and accurate records. No matter how good your records are, they are of no use if they aren't filed correctly.

Official directives or the instructions printed on the record often tell you what its disposition should be. Then your duty is merely to make sure you follow those instructions. Rarely does a good reason exist for losing an allotment request or failing to place personnel advancement requirements in a member's service record. Neither does a good reason exist for failing to insert a service record page into a record folder or for making proper distribution of the copies.

Some records don't provide a distribution list; however, making the right distribution of the record is still important. The following are examples of how you should make some routine distributions when no list is provided:

l You should file a copy of correspondence pertaining to a Navy member in that member's service record as well as in the general file.

l When holding forms for future action, you should attach a note to them indicating what action is required and when.

l You should make notes in a tickler file or on a calendar to remind you when to take certain types of actions.