General Duties and Importance of a Secretary

Across every type discussed above, a secretary's day-to-day duties cluster around a common core, even though the legal weight attached to that work differs sharply between, say, a club secretary and a company secretary.

General duties common to all types of secretary

1. Correspondence — drafting, dispatching, receiving and filing letters, notices and communications on behalf of the appointing body.
2. Meetings — preparing and circulating notices and agendas, attending meetings, recording proceedings, and drawing up and maintaining accurate minutes.
3. Record-keeping — maintaining registers, files and documents (membership registers, minute books, statutory registers, correspondence files) in good order and readily retrievable.
4. Implementing decisions — carrying into effect the resolutions and decisions of the committee, Board, or employer that appointed the secretary.
5. Liaison and representation — acting as the point of contact between the organisation and its members, the public, government departments, or regulators, as the case requires.
6. Confidentiality — safeguarding information that has not been placed before the general membership, shareholders, or public.

Additional statutory duties for a company secretary, over and above the general list, include filing statutory returns and forms with the Registrar of Companies, ensuring compliance with applicable Secretarial Standards, certifying the annual return under the Companies Act, 2013, and advising the Board on corporate governance and compliance matters under Section 205.

Importance of the secretary …