STORES’ EMPLOYEES’ HOURS

Grey River Argus, 11 February 1938, Page 11

STORES’ EMPLOYEES’ HOURS

UNCERTAINTY OVER LAST YEAR’S LEGISLATION. DEPARTMENT EXPLAINS POSITION. [Per Press Association]. WELLINGTON, February 10. The Department of Labour states that its attention has been drawn to the press report of a Trades Hall meeting to discuss the wool, grain, hide and manure stores’ employees’ award, recently made by the Arbitration Court. The Department says that there appears to be some misunderstanding on the part of the workers covered by this award regarding the effect of the Government’s 1936 legislation. To clarify the position, the Department explains that the Shops and Offices Act and the Factories Act do not apply to the workers covered by this award, and one must refer to the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Act, 1936, to determine whether the Government’s legislation has been contravened. Section 21 of this Act provides that, where, by Court order, the maximum number of hours to be worked in any week (aS| fixed by award or agreement ini force at the passing of the Amendment Act) is reduced, then the rates of pay fixed in the award or agreement shall, if necessary, be increased, either directly by the Court, crl indirectly by the operation of the order, so that the ordinary rate of weekly wages of any worker bound by the award or agreement shall not be reduced .by reason of the reduction made in the number of his.working hours. It should be noted that this provision applies only in respect of awards and agreements that were in force on the passing of the Amendment Act. Since the passing of the legislation, two awards have been made in this industry. The first, which is dated May 3, 1937, was one fixing a forty-four hour week, which had been agreed upon by the parties in Conciliation Council, and in respect to such awards, there is nothing in the legislation to prevent the Court from reducing the wages, if, having regard to all of the circumstances, it thinks it equitable to do so. In the award recently made, the principle of the forty-hour, five-day week has, in effect, been conceded to the workers, and although four hours pn Saturday are at ordinary rates, they may, when a new award is being sought, ask, in Conciliation Council or before the Court, for this rate to be increased to the ordinary overtime rate.