“TIME AND WAGES BOOKS MUST BE KEPT”

Northern Advocate, 30 November 1937, Page 9

“TIME AND WAGES BOOKS MUST BE KEPT”

-MR G. N. MORRIS, S.M .

i The licensee of the Settlers' Hotel, i Oscar H. Jones, was proceeded against, by the Inspector of Factories at the ■ Whangarei Police Court yesterday for j employing F. Jennings and H. M. Mc- | Gregor for more than eight hours : c.aily and for failure to pay such as- , sistants the prescribed overtime rates. I He was also charged with failure to i keep r, wages and time book in whim I were properly recorded the hours dur- | ing which the men were actively em- [ ployed.

j Mr C. P. Collins, inspector of fac-

, lories, said the men concerned were ! night porters. Although they did not I have routine duties during the 2 a.m. Sto 5 a.m, period, they were required ! to answer the bell. The inspector de- | scribed, the manner in which the time book had been kept; as “gross care- | lessness.” It showed that the porters worked consistently six hours 40 | minutes daily each day of the week, whereas on one occasion eight and alialf and on another four and a-half

hours had actually been worked “Technical Breach Only.”

Mr L. A. Johnson (for Jones): This is a purely technical breach only. Surely the employer is not expected to wait up from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. to see whether the porters don't work. There is a notice in the staff-room that, in the event of overtime being worked, employees must lodge a claim within 24 hours.

“It is to the personal advantage of porters to get out of bed and attend to the wants of guests who arrive home late. Tips increase correspondingly with the lateness of the hour. The porters are only too willing to do this, which is outside the scope of their engagement.”

Mr Johnson drew attention to the fact that over the period of six months mentioned in the mform'ation, overtime in respect to one porter amounted to £2/18/ and 8/6 in the other instance, The company had no intention to evade its responsibility, and the overtime had been cheerfully paid. With reference to the time book, Mr Johnson said that time sheets were properly filled in by the staff. These should be entered up in the wages and time book when employees drew their pay every Tuesday, but the clerk, owing to pressure of work, had failed to do this, Not Deprived of Wages, Reference to the time sheets showed that the total number of hours as set out in the award had been worked and the correct.wages had also been paid. At the time, Mr Jones had been in hospital. Mr Johnson said that the case was not one where employees had been deprived of wages, and, as the circumstances were quite unusual, he asked that it be treated leniently.

Mr G. N. Morris, S.M., said that the first charge was not a very serious breach. He inflicted a fine of £1 and 10/ costs. ‘•'The keeping of time and wage." books throughout the North is treated in a rather perfunctory manner,” the magistrate said, “and. I have to regard cases of that nature very seriously before treating them leniently.” On the second charge, defendant was fined £2 and 10/ costs.