DRIVERS' HOURS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22917, 21 December 1937, Page 22

DRIVERS' HOURS

CLAIM FOB PENALTY INTERPRETATION SOUGHT ACTION BY DEPARTMENT Whether motor drivers attached to a factory working 40 hours a week wer# themselves entitled to a 40-hour week was a point raised in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, when the inspector of awards, Mr. .C. I*. Smith, claimed a penalty of £lO from the Auckland Gas Company, Limited (Mr. Alderton). It was claimed that the company employed certain drivers in excess of 40 hours a week, and failed to pay for all time worked in excess of 40 hours at the rate of time and a-half the Motor and House Drivers' Award rates.

The company contended that in an application granted under the factories Act permission had been given for drivers employed in and about the works to be employed for 44 hours, but the department contended that with the exception of two drivers the men were not employed in and about the works, but away from them. Question for Arbitration Court Mr. Smith said ho was not pressing for a penalty, but wanted a judicial interpretation. The magistrate, Mr. C. K. Orr Walker, said lie would hear the evidence and ask the Arbitration Court for a ruling. It would be of no use for him to give a judgment, as an appeal would be lodged immediately, whichever side won. G. C. Augustin, an inspector of factories, handed in evidence as to the wages and hours worked by 10 men specifically mentioned in the claim, for a period from December 21, 1936, to November 30, 1937. Witness said the employees of the company were covered by approximately 12 awards, some of which provided for a 40-hour week. The Department's View To Mr. Alderton witness said that the Labour Department considered that if a factory worked 40 hours a week its drivers were entitled to a 40-hour week. If one section of the factory worked 42 and another 40 hours, witness considered the drivers would be regulated by the section to which they Mere attached mostly. Mr. Alderton said the whole matter would be discussed in the Arbitration Court after Christmas. George Thomas Lovett, time-keeper employed by the company, gave evidence as to the number of the staff in the various departments which worked a 40-hour week. A number of the drivers concerned gave evidence as to what work they did inside and outside the premises of the company. The hearing was adjourned until this morning.