seeking a sufficiently all encompassing word.

Greetings,

Nikolaus

Don't know what happened, but my last answer disappeared when I tried to add another note. But anyway... don't have the energy to retype everything I wrote.

So, in a nutshell, it sounds like it's in the spirit of statute labor, which is closely related to corvee labor. It was common in the 19th century in the form of required and often unpaid work levied on behalf of the goverment or higher authority. These terms are in relation to manorial labor, or what is also known as involuntary/indentured servitude or forced labor... but that can also in an entirely different context.

So the last note that I wanted to make was in relation to the term "statutory service", which I posted above.

The first reference uses it somewhat in context when it states:

"There should be no doubt, however, about one aspect of the postal service's e-business strategy. The USPS needs free rein to use the best available electronic communications technology to build the kind of postal information platform that will help it fulfill its statutory service mandate."

So in summation, all the suggestions I made were:
Statute Labo(u)r
Corvee Labo(u)r (Services)
Statutory Service(s)

The references:
(English)
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/statute
http://www.jeffreyshenry.co.uk/Business_Support_Services.asp
http://www.britannica.com/search?query=statute
(Dutch)
http://www.bbr.nl/gebruik/lasten.html
http://scholieren.samenvattingen.nl/search/open/8416520/

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Note added at 2003-01-08 22:54:45 (GMT)
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forgot one reference...
http://www.geocities.com/nedindie/H.htm

This was in relation to my idea that \"heerendiensten\" was spelled wrong and had an extra \"e\". The website states...


\"Herendiensten waren verplichte diensten opgelegd aan de inheemse bevolking, ten behoeve van z\'n heer, van de overheid of de gemeenschap. De VOC schakelde inheemsen o.a. in bij het werk in / aan haar forten, en in pakhuizen. In de 19e eeuw werden herendiensten vooral verricht bij de wegenbouw en waterwerken. Per jaar moest een bepaald aantal dagen gewerkt worden zonder betaling: per streek en periode verschillend. Vanaf de 2e helft van de 19e eeuw ging de herendienst geleidelijk over in de heffing van een hoofdgeld, oftewel de betaling van belasting.\"

...which was to support my suggestions on \"Statute Labo(u)r and Corvée Labo(u)r\" as manorial services.

I'm guessing here.
Every company has to meet certain statutory requirements each year, i.e annual returns, statistical returns, etc.
These services are provided for the needs of the Government and are provided at no cost to the Government.
Could it be a cute revival of the term 'heerendient' when the citizen had to provide certain services to his liege lord at his own expense?
A bit quaint to say the least.