The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1942. DEALING WITH ABSENTEEISM

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 34, 4 November 1942, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1942. DEALING WITH ABSENTEEISM

Some figures relating to the prevalence of absenteeism in local factories recently published may come as a surprise to many people. The conditions that tend to make it inevitable in Great Britain do not obtain here, except in one or two branches of industry, and it would in all likelihood be found that this handicap to production is not marked in those exceptions. Where 'an industry is working long hours and people are engaged on tasks to which they are unaccustomed a fairly high degree of absenteeism must be expected. Some of the new women workers in Britain, it has been stated, are physically incapable of standing the strain of regular attendance, and careful inquiry has shown that in many instances the failure to report for work has been due to exceptional circumstances and not to any lack of will on the part of the employees. In one of the local cases mentioned, the factory works a 40-hour week and the loss of time due to the absence of employees has been approximately 10 per cent, of the total possible attendance. Of the 2600 hours of' overtime worked one-half would be. required to make good the loss of production through absenteeism in ordinary hours. In another factory the overtime in the course of three months totalled 3362 hours, but the ordinary time lost' came to over 5000 hours in the same period. There could hardly have been any increase in production if the lost time is offset against the overtime or any progress in overtaking arrears. The Select Committee of the House of . Commons, which made an investigation of the causes of absenteeism at Home, made this statement: “The complaint is that in many cases, though not in all, the officials responsible for dealing with absenteeism do not fully exercise the powers, with which they are entrusted under the Essential Work Orders.” Action has been taken since then, and not' long ago a man who had often been absent from his work, and persistently late in arriving, was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment, ihete are numerous instances where ample reason for absence can be shown but they do not constitute the problem. It is the deliberate absence that is the difficulty. The experience of the Mother Country has led the authorities to the conclusion that a measure of discipline is essential and they have taken steps to exercise it.