SUBJECT: Delay
notices
1. Purpose. This memorandum transmits revised instructions that tell when delay notices should be sent.
2. Cancellation. NPRC 1864.103A is canceled.
3. Reason for revision. NPRC 1864.103 is revised to reflect the use of NA Form 13053, National Personnel Records Center Acknowledgment/Referral; and NA Form 13102, Interim Acknowledgment and Followup, in place of previous versions of those forms. The use of composed responses to advise of further delays is also explained.
4. Applicability. This memorandum is applicable to all correspondence and search personnel at both Page and Winnebago with the exception of General Reference Branch (NRPCR) and the Search and Control Section, Records Reconstruction Branch (NRPMR-S).
5. Instructions. The instructions for sending delay notices are contained in the attachment hereto.
6. Forms. This memorandum provides for the use of the following forms:
NA Form 13053, National Personnel
Records Center Acknowledgment/Referral
NA Form 13102, Interim Acknowledgment
and Followup
DAVID L. PETREE
Director
1. When to send delay notices.
a. Delay
notices can prevent complaints. NPRC employees should bear
in mind that delayed replies are often reported to our Central Office or
to a Congressional office. This causes embarrassment and expenditures
of time in making necessary explanations. A delay notice sent at
the appropriate time can prevent a possible complaint later. Send
a delay notice (NA Form 13053, National Personnel Records Center Acknowledgement/Referral,
MPR only; or NA Form 13102, Interim Acknowledgment and Followup, CPR only)
on an inquiry as soon as it is obvious that a delay will occur, but no
later than the end of the time periods specified below:
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b. Determining date of receipt. The technician determines the date of receipt from the color-code tag attached to the inquiry in accordance with the current edition of NPRC 1864.101. On priority written requests for which a color-code tag is not used, use the date of the first computer probe as shown on the Finding Aid Report (FAR) as the date of receipt. If this is not available, use any of the following: postmark, date of request, or date of the transmitting correspondence if referred here by another office. (If more than one of these is available, use the most recent date.)
c. Guidelines for determining if a delay notice is necessary. The determination as to whether a delay notice should be sent may be made by the receiving supervisor immediately upon receipt of the inquiry in the unit, including search units. The supervisor bases the decision on the amount of work on hand and the productive capacity of the unit. The decision may be made any time up to the end of the periods specified in subpar. 1a. Here are two rules to help determine when to send a delay notice:
(1) On inquiries for which the specified time period is 15 days or less, ALWAYS send a delay notice at the time any of the following actions are taken (if one has not already been sent):
(a) Inquiry is referred for verification search analysis.
(b) Pertinent information/records are requested from another source.
(c) Inquiry is transferred to another NPRC branch for processing, including transfers for organizational records searching.
(2) On inquiries for which the specified time period is more than 15 days, always CONSIDER sending a delay notice.
2. When to send second delay notices. Send a second notice explaining the circumstances causing the delay as soon as the following is determined:
a. The inquiry will not be answered within 20 calendar days (Records Reconstruction Branch excluded) of the date of the first notice.
b. The inquiry (in Records Reconstruction Branch) will not be answered when it is pulled from the suspense file (within 30 to 45 days) of the first notice.
3. Who is responsible. All supervisors are primarily responsible for ensuring that delay notices are sent. This includes the periodic examination of the workload. Each technician, once a case has been assigned, bears responsibility for keeping track of the length of time that the case remains uncompleted, and must send a delay notice if the time limits shown in par. 1 are exceeded.
A composed reply is sent if a delay notice has already been sent forward and additional time is needed to locate the record. The composed reply must give a complete explanation of the present status of the inquiry, reason for more delay, action taken so far to complete the inquiry, and the estimated completion of the inquiry.
4. Special instructions on follow-up (tracer) requests. Normally, delay notices are not sent on tracer requests. There are times, however, when a delay notice on a tracer will be necessary, e.g.:
a. There is some trouble in finding the record or information.
b. It is found that a delay notice was never sent on the original request. When this happens, cite both the inquiry and the tracer on the delay notice.
5. Documenting the action. It is extremely important that the inquiry be annotated in the lower right corner to show the date the delay notice was sent and the initials of the technician who sent it. If a composed reply is sent, retain a copy with the original inquiry.