HOLIDAY BONUS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 132, 1 December 1938, Page 10

HOLIDAY BONUS

RELIEF WORKERS

LEAVE WITH PAY

DETAILS ANNOUNCED

Arrangements which have been authorised in connection with the granting of Christmas and New Year holidays and the payment of a Christmas bonus to relief recipients were announced today by the Minister of Labour (the Hon. H. T. ] Armstrong). It is estimated that be- t tween 8000 and 9000 men will be 1 concerned in these concessions, the < bulk of them being those on sick pay. i Mr. Armstrong said that the bonus would be £2 for married men and £1 * for single men, payable to all those i men. who actually receive relief or are < engaged under one of the under- j mentioned schemes in the week ending December 3, 1938. The bonus for < youths employed on the gold pros- i pecting scheme would be 15s. i (a) Scheme No. 5 workers em- t ployed on a rationed basis, i.e., less ( than 40 hours per week. j (b) Men in receipt of sustenance and sickness allowances. l (c) Gold prospectors, including t men and youths employed on developmental work other than those employed full-time (40 hours per week or more) at standard rates of ( pay. t (d) 4a workers on own farms. (c) Men receiving sustenance al- , : lowances under the Small Farm c Plan. i ELIGIBILITY. l "All men who actually receive relief assistance (including sick pay or com- £ pensation) under one of the above- r mentioned schemes in the week ending i December 3, 1938, are entitled:to receive the bonus," said Mr. Armstrong. "This will include those sustenance recipients who, in ordinary circumstances, would qualify but who, on account of excess earnings in the previous week, do not actually receive any relief in the week ending December 3. The bonus is still payable, although the worker may not continue to receive relief after the week ending December 3. "Any person who registers and be- ( comes eligible for relief for the first < time after the week ending December t 3 is not eligible to receive the bonus. "Any person who reregisters and be- J corned eligible for relief in any of the ' weeks ending December 10, 17, and 24, is eligible to receive the bonus if he had actually been in receipt of relief j under one of the above-mentioned schemes at any time within a period of three months of December 3, 1938 (viz., between September 4 ( and December '3, 1938). CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR HOLIDAYS. , "In addition to the Christmas- bonus, j the Government has decided . that all ] workers employed on the, under-men- ] tioned schemes are to be granted two ] weeks' paid holiday in.respect of the \ weeks ending December. 31, 1938, and j January 7, 1939:— 1 (a) Scheme 5 workers employed a on a rationed basis, i.e., less than 40 I hours per week. } (b) Gold prospectors employed un- i der Scheme 15, including those on J developmental work except where they are employed for full time at 1 standard rates of pay. * (c) Workers employed in clerical J and other capacities in local body j offices, relief depots, etc. x "All Scheme 5 works will be closed ( down on Wednesday, December 21, , and will repoen on Monday, January . 9. Any men who would normally be . required to report for Scheme 5 work on Thursday or Friday, December 22 , and 23, will be paid in advance for , these days as if they had worked. Pay- ( ment for the holiday weeks will be i made to Scheme 5 workers, gold pros- , pectors, etc., prior to Christmas. i SUSTENANCE ALLOWANCES. "Regarding those men in receipt of , sustenance, payment of the allowances due for the weeks ending December 24, 31, and January 7 will be made , prior to Christmas," said the Minister. "In addition, it has been decided ] that no declarations of earnings will J be required from sustenance recipi- '< ents in respect of the weeks ending December 24 or 31, and any private earnings which the men may be able to earn in either of these two weeks will be entirely ignored when assessing their future allocations. Earnings in the week ending January 7 will be taken into account in the usual manner when assessing the sustenance allocations for the week ending January 14. "A somewhat similar concession has been arranged in respect of Scheme 5 workers in that when the allocations due to them for the weeks ending December 31 and January 7 are being computed, any prior earnings by way of salary or wages which would ordinarily have been taken into account will be ignored, and the men will be granted their full allocation less any adjustment that may be necessary on account of capital assets or regular income. This will place the Scheme 5 workers on a somewhat similar basis to sustenance recipients in regard to payment for the holiday weeks. FULL WAGE SUBSIDY. "With regard to those full-time subsidised standard works where my Department provides a full wage subsidy, the w^rks will be closed down for the weeks ending December 31 and January 7. The men will be paid the holiday pay they ace entitled to receive under the governing awards or agreements, based on their service up to December 31, 1938. If, in any case, the awards or industrial agreements governing the v employment of men on these full-time works provide for lower payments over the Christmas period by way of holiday payments than what the men would receive by way of full sustenance according to their conjugal classification, for two weeks, arrangements will be made to make up any difference to the workers concerned. "Workers employed fui time at standard rates on the gold prospecting scheme, and also those men employed under the control of county councils on the ragwort eradication scheme, will be treated in the same manner as regards the holiday concession as those workers employed on full-time standard works where the Department provides a full wage subsidy. "Where men are employed by individual farmers on the eradication of ragwort, arrangements have been made for the work to be suspended during the weeks ending December 31 and January 7, and the workers will be paid sustenance for each of these two weeks. PARTLY-SUBSIDISED WORK. "In the case of workers employed full-time on subsidised standard works where the Department's subsidy represents only portion of the weekly wages, the approved subsidy from the Em-