RE-EMPLOYMENT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3048, 9 April 1917, Page 8

RE-EMPLOYMENT

, PLANS FOR DISABLED TASK FOR PENBIONS MINISTER. A. comprehonsivo scheme for the training and re-employment of disabled soldiers will form an important part of thfe plans of the new Pensions Minister, writes tho London correspondent of the "Manchester Guardian." The . general outlines are, I understand, already settled, and the various Departments concerned are buey working out the details. The main object, of course, is to design machinery byv which as many, discharged soldiers 'as possible can be quickly absorbed into ordinary industrial life, with, tho fair prospect of permanent employment. Aβ an essential preliminary, a very careful inquiry has been made throughout the country to ascertain exactly what industrial processes offer the possibility of employment to partially disabled meu. A large amount of information has been collected, and a schedule of suitable employment, covering a large variety of processes is now nearly complete. This inquiry is being carried out jointly by the Minietry of Labour and the War Pensions Statutory Committee. Experiments aro being undertaken to show, for example, what work is within the powers of a man with only one arm, so that no time shall be lost in settling such a man into his place in industry. Suqh institutions as St. Dunstan's Hospital for the Blind and the Rochamptpn Institute for the Disabled have already done valuable service in training men for special occupations. This process will lie enormously extended. It has been found that there are a very large number of processes in which men who have lost a limb or who suffer from partial paralysis or shock can bo usefully engaged. Certain processes in the preparation of leather, linotype work, electrical' switchboard operators—these arc a few of hundreds of avenues open to the disabled. Lessons from France. ■ In this connection attention is being given to what has been done since the war in France in adapting maohinery, by the addition of levere, so'that it can be manipulated by maimed men. French ingenuity has done wonders in altering engineering maohinery in this way, and there is no reason why we should not make use of these French inventions (chiefly in use in munition factories) in many.of our ordinary industries. The next step will he to set up advisory committees of employers and. trade unionists to supervise the employment of disabled men in the chosen industries. There will be a national committee of the kind for each trade in wjhich it is expected to employ large numbers of disabled men. It is hoped.that by carrying out the scheme with'the, co-operation of the whole industry permanency of employment will be assured.. .

The Ministry of Labour intends to deal with the all-important point of wages by setting up in twenty .of tho largest centres—Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, etc. —advisory boards consisting of' employers, trade unionists, and representatives of- the Local Pensions Committee. The function of those boards j will bo to assess the wages of the disabled men in accordance- with th'eir earning capacity, altogether irrespective of the amount of their pension. In no instance will the pension be deducted from the man's wages, otherwise, : of course, tho door would 'he opened to sweating and other abuses.

In this matter the now Royal Warrant will introduce important changes. Under the old Royal Warrant a disabled man earning full wages ivas in danger; of losing his pension. ■ It is anticipated that under the new scheme there .will be a flat rato pension for disability wliich will not be affected one way or the other by what the man is afterwards able to earn in industry. Tli© principle to bo followed is that the wages are fixed on earning capacity and the pension on disability, and the pension will not be taken into account in fixing the wage. ' ; The successful working of this arrangement will depend largely on the extent' to which the trade unions lend their support. Obviously in some cases the disabled man. will be paid less than the standard rate. In others.the discharged soldier will be earning more than he did before' the war—reckoning in his pension.. This decision to estimate earning capacity quite indcucndently of the penson is an extremelv important alteration of principle. Technical Advisers. It is expected that under the new arrangements pensions will be granted to disabled men conditionally upon their receiving special treatment to rsstore the use of limbs or-training to fit them for work. Some such arrangement is necessary to check malingering: -Part of, the scheme may, be the selection of experts in technical processes in the various .localities, such as principals of technical schools or trade union officials, who will have the task of advising disabled men before they are discharged from the military hospitals on the kind of'training they need. Without such help the soldier will be in great difficulty in choosing from tho hundreds dF occupations open to him that one where he can best uso his diminished nowers.

At present, while the machinery for training disabled soldiers is at last getting to work, thero are very few -men available for training. Most .of the men who have been discharged.' from the army who can work at all have cither been taken back into their old occupations or have found it easy in the present labour shortago to find new employment. A great many are working on munitions. The Ministry of Munitions have a special training department at Whitehall Gardens, to which the local war pensions committees send applications for men to be trained;

Tho new scheme outlined above is intended to meet the conditions after tho war when there is no shortage cf labour and no munition work. It will then be less easy for disabled soldiers, even with all the efforts of private charity, to support themselves at n trado. Within the next few weeks a very large number of disabled men will he leaving the hospitals, and it is to , be. hoped that they will get the benefit of tho new system..

The ..weak point in. the organisation at present is tho fact that there is , no means of bringing the- discharged soldier into touch with it. What happens now is that when a man is discharged from the 'Army he receives a card from the military authorities giving the address of the/ local war pensions committee, and advising him to roport-himself to it. In practice; very few disabled men take tho trouble to seek the help of the committees. The best ira.7 of keeping tlio soldier in touch 'with tho local organisation would be for the War Office to supply the Ministry of Pensions with the particulars of' every soldier discharged from tho Army.