ANNUAL HOLIDAYS

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23315, 26 September 1945, Page 6

ANNUAL HOLIDAYS

An Amending Bill 1 Inclusion Of Insurance Agents (N.Z.P.A.) WELLINGTON. Sept. 25. Moving the second reading of the Annual Holidays Amendment Bill in the House to-night, the Hon. J. O'Brien said one amendment brought life insurance agents within the provisions of the Act, thereby giving them an annual holiday. Another clause made it imperative for a minimum of seven days’ notice of annual holidays to be given by an employer to an employee. Cases where employees were told of their holidays a day before were admittedly rare, but legislation was needed for the bad employer. Mr W. A. Sheat (National, Patea) said the Act had been operative for I a year .and while it was generally satisfactory there were some minor defects in addition to those with which the Minister was now dealing, and employers were anxious to make representations to the Labour Bills Committee in a hope that these small defects could be remedied during the passage of the present Bill. Mr Sheat asked why life insurance agents, in contrast to other insurance workers and in contrast to other commission agents, had been singled out for specific inclusion in this Bill, in the previous one and by an amendment passed last year in the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. He asked if the reason was that these workers had fonned a union, whereas other insurance agents were not unionised. Miss Mabel Howard (Government. Christchurch East) congratulated the Minister for including in the amendment the clause by which a worker was to receive seven days’ notice and holiday pav before each annual holiday. There had been, she said, a certain amount of antagonism shown toward an employee by an employer who did not want to pay wages until the employee returned from his holiday. Mr T. C. Webb (National, Kaipara) said the Act was still not binding on the Crown, and asked why had that promised amendment not been made. Case of Mothers Mr A. E. Armstrong (Government, Napier) said the Act provided a fortnight’s holiday for the paid workers of New Zealand, which was an achievement, but it did not ensure in any way that a housewife and a mother of a family—the woman who worked possibly the longest hours of anyone in the country—would be entitled to take a fortnight’s holiday. An Opposition voice: What is the member’s remedy for that? Mr Armstrong said he wanted to see ways devised by which a father and mother could go away for a fortnight’s holiday unencumbered by children. He did not suggest that children were normally an encumberance, but in the interests of the nation mothers should be enabled to get away from their children and enjoy a holiday each year. He hoped that when the building situation eased it would be possible to build children’s recreation centres and holiday schools where parents could leave their children in the care of properly trained nursing and educational staffs.

Mr Armstrong said he knew he had Ministerial colleagues who would help him further in this idea, and he believed every member of the House would assist him to get passed some amendment along the lines he suggested. Mr O'Brien, replying, said the Bill had had a fine reception. The reason for the application of the principal Act to industrial life assurance agents was that those agents were in a different category. They had to keep on collecting week in and week out and walked many miles a day, while some others merely took on insurance work as a sideline.

The Bill was read a second time and referred to the Labour Bills Committee. Before the House rose at 10.30 p.m. Mr Fraser was questioned by members of the Opposition as to the legislative programme ahead. The Prime Minister said that a Bill adjusting the voting system of the country should appear very shortly, while it was hoped the Bank of New Zealand Bill would be down before the end of the month. There w’ould also be a Social Security Amendment Bill. When Opposition members suggested that the programme would be arranged to enable the House to rise before the Labour Party conference was held in November, Mr Fraser said the business of the country was more important than that of any conference. He did not see that the session could end before the middle of November.