Health of the War Worker
1942-04 1942 1940s 44 pages The latest Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories gives some examples of production in relation to length of hours. We can only quote two: In a factory in which some 650 men and 100 women are employed, the men worked for 64 hours a week spread over seven days f...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
London : Labour Research Department
April 1942
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/640C1C4F-B60F-40A8-A506-766687DD751D http://hdl.handle.net/10796/C4238AB7-E8AB-45DA-9AE1-69BBFEA2B708 |
| Summary: | 1942-04
1942
1940s
44 pages
The latest Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories gives some examples of production in relation to length of hours. We can only quote two: In a factory in which some 650 men and 100 women are employed, the men worked for 64 hours a week spread over seven days for a considerable period. Absenteeism records showed that often as many as 100 workers were absent on any particular day. It was decided to reduce the hours to 56 and to stop work on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Absenteeism was halved at once and is steadily declining and the output has not suffered. In a factory in which males only were engaged, and those over 18 were employed for weekly periods of from 72 to 84 hours and in some cases no day off was allowed over long periods, absenteeism increased and frequently on any one day from 15 per cent to 25 per cent of the persons employed were absent. The firm decided to reduce the hours to 56 and to give a week-end break between 12 noon on Saturday and 7 a.m. on Monday. The absenteeism became almost negligible. The workers thought that their wages would decline, but this was not so and production actually increased. (Annual Report of Chief Inspector of Factories, 1940. H.M. Stationery Office, 4d. Cmd. 6316) Hours of Women and Young Workers The length of hours worked by men in this country is, with but few exceptions, not controlled by law, such control as there is being the result of union action. The hours of women and juveniles are, however, controlled under the Factories Act, which lays down that women and young workers under 18 must not work more than 9 hours a day or 48 a week (except that they may work 100 hours overtime a year or 6 in a week in as many as 25 weeks in a year): and their hours of work must not be before 7 a.m. or after 8 p.m. Under the General Emergency Order these restrictions on hours may be relaxed by permission of the Factory Inspector in any factory engaged on important war work; and most munitions factories to-day have obtained permission to operate under one or other of the Emergency Order Schemes allowing longer hours. Before the management get permission to operate such a scheme, the Factory Inspector should consult with the workers' represent- 25
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |