APPLYING FIVEDAY WEEK

Southland Times, Issue 23141, 6 March 1937, Page 6

APPLYING FIVEDAY WEEK

Insurance Offices SOME INTERESTING PROBLEMS The new award covering insurance officers in most of the industrial districts of the Dominion provides for a five-day week, with no work on Saturdays—the first instance of an award covering a large section of office and mercantile interests enjoining a fiveday week. The published report of the award stated that its provisions came into effect on March 1, and it was at first expected that today insurance offices would be closed. Managers of Southland companies had been uncertain of the position yesterday until advice was received by the manager of one of the biggest companies that the rule fixing days of work would not, by agreement, come into force until March 15, although the wage scale would be .operative from March 1. On this advice, today fortnight will be the first free Saturday for insurance clerks. It was stated in the city yesterday that the award had brought to light some intricate problems, especially concerning the application of the fiveday week to offices only a part of whose business was concerned with insurance. One man, a public accountant, said he presumed that the position would be that his office would remain open on Saturdays, and that no soliciting for insurance would be done on that day. The position was very difficult, he said. There were many firms in the city with a number of employees doing part-time insurance work. In his opinion the position would best be met by such offices remaining open on Saturdays, but with those workers covered by the Insurance Workers’ Award, and doing insurance work only, given tiie day off. In his own office, he said, the employees, some of whom did part-time clerical insurance work, were covered by the ordinary clerical award which did not enjoin no work on Saturdays, and he did not see why the office should close. No canvassing for insurance would be done on Saturdays, and there were very few instances, he said, of people coming unsolicited into offices to ask for policies.