ABSENTEES FEW

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30338, 14 January 1964, Page 10

ABSENTEES FEW

Christchurch Factories Absenteeism was light in most Christchurch factories when they reopened after the Christmas-New Year holiday break. Most large factories reported fewer than half a dozen workers absent yesterday. In a few instances absenteeism was higher, particularly in industries where large numbers of married women are employed./ The personnel manager of Lane, Walker, Rudkin, Ltd. (Mr F. Percy), said that the factory had about 100 women employees absent out of 1500 employees. Most of the absentees were married women with children who were still on their annual school holidays. Many of these women absentees would be back at work tomorrow, said Mr Percy. All of the women, he said, would be back by next Monday. The engineering firm of C. W. F. Hamilton and Company, Ltd., had 45 men out of its 280 factory staff absent last Thursday and Friday, said the company’s personal manager (Mr J. Hoyle), but by yesterday the factory had no absentees. “It looks as if a few of our men were having too good a time to get back for the t*wo working days last week,” Mr Hoyle said. “They were not going to come back just for two days.” Another engineering firm, Andersons, Ltd., with nearly 300 men, had no absentees yesterday, said the company’s personnel manager (Mr F. van de Borch).

“We pay a full week’s wages on Wednesday,’’ he said. “The men are keen to get the money after the holidays.” The town factory manager of Millers, Ltd. (Mr R. P. Duncan), said that of a staff of about 200 only 20 were away yesterday when the factory reopened. “If our factory had opened at the end of last week, it would have been a different story,” he said. “We might have had only half the staff back.”