ANZAC DAY WAGES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18458, 23 July 1923, Page 9

ANZAC DAY WAGES.

HOURLY WORKERS' LOSS. 1 ";' •- f .l' ; ; ,::fe-^..-- : '''' ■■■ -""- DISMISSIAIi' ■OF , APPEAL. '■;:[ ARBITjRATiON COURT DECISION. The Arbitration ; Court has dismissed the appeal: of line I Inspector of JVwards at Wellington 'against the decision of Mr. F. K. ; Hunt, S.M., who held that th© Federal Boot. '■ Company had not committed a '-'breach in not paying; four female workers, ; whose wages were computed on an hourly basis,' for Anzac Day. On. that day no ;• work was done in the factory, and the ; workers were not' paid. At the hearing of ; the case counsel for the respondents stated • that the . employees Were not 'notified:' that the factory would be closed ,on Anzac Day. The manager was in attendance, but none of the employees arrived, taking it for granted that no work would.be done. On behalf of the inspector, it was submitted that the engagement was a weekly hiring, and the employees were .entitled to '': payment. Counsel for respondent contended" that Anzac Day was in all respects a Sunday; And was not a holiday; the award provided for a 44-hours' week, and deductions were permissible in respect. to Anzc Daiy. The magistrate gave judgment for the. defendants. Mr. Justice Fnizer, president of the Court, in giving the Court's decision, said that in the absence of a special provision in an award, no deduction in respect of Anzac Day or a holiday could be made from a wage payable to weekly workers. The present workers were not weekly workers, and, apart from the provisions of the Factories Act, there was nothing in the award or elsewhere to prohibit deductions being made from their wages ;in respect of holidays; while, in the case of Anzac Day, there was no prohibition at all against time lost being deducted from their weekly earnings. The effect of the legislation under which Anza'c Day, though not felling on a Sunday, was 'to be observed .as a Sunday, was that hourly and daily workers lost wages for that day, except in cases where the .provisions of the Factories Act or an award of the Court required those workers to be paid in ML Weekly workers, in the absence of any provision permitting deductions to be made; did not lose wages in respect of Anzac Day. It appeared to the Court to be undesirable that such a situation should arise, for, unless remedied by legislation, it will lead to Anzac Day becoming a bone of contention between- the two classes of workers. If Anzac Day were observed on a Sunday this difficulty would not occur. *