Employers And The Basic Wage

Southland Times, Issue 23182, 24 April 1937, Page 6

Employers And The Basic Wage

The effect of the basic wage legislation on juvenile employment was discussed by Mr H. P. Kidson, rector of the Otago Boys’ High School, in a report to his board which was summarized in a Press Association message yesterday. Mr Kidson has found that a far larger proportion of boys are leaving school before reaching the age of 17 years. Inquiries from employers, he said, were now almost always accompanied by a stipulation that the boys should not be over 16 years of age; and if this attitude persisted it appeared* that the only boys remaining at school beyond 16 would be those entering the professions, the Public Service; or such few occupations as remained ungoverned by awards. While he recognized that the basic wage legislation had been the immediate cause of this situation, he blamed employers “for not making the best of it” either because they did not understand what was happening or because “they are really afraid of adding even a small amount to their costs.” The charge is scarcely a fair one. Employers are well aware that a boy of 16 does not make as good a tradesman or clerk as a boy of 19; in some callings particularly his too-early departure from school will place him at a disadvantage always. But they have to meet the situation realistically. They must hesitate before taking on youths who will have to be paid £3 16s a week long before the work they can do is worth such a wage. The payment of this wage on any scale, moreover, means in most cases considerably more than a small addition to labour costs. If they continued to engage older boys many employers would find the wage bills for their junior staffs doubled, or even trebled, within a short period. It should be remembered that the basic wage is not the only handicap that has been placed on employers in the last 12 months; conditions of work have been restricted in every direction, hours have been reduced, wages increased. They cannot fairly be asked to carry also the luxury of over-paid juniors. Apprenticeship contracts, it is true, override the basic wage, but there are too few of them to affect the general position. Also, many industries which have the task of training their employees find apprenticeship impracticable. The Government’s “blanket” legislation alone is responsible for the serious position which Mr Kidson has described; and if such a course becomes necessary, the Government should be sufficiently brave and long-sighted to amend it.