MORE “MONDAYITIS”

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 444, 27 May 1937, Page 6

MORE “MONDAYITIS”

EFFECT OF LONGER I WEEK-ENDS Factory Experiences “Mondayitis” hfis increased with the replacement of the day-and-a-half week-end by the two-day weekend in the experience of some WeL lington factory executives araoug whom inquiries were made by the Dominion. The malady take & < forms and has causes unexpected to those not in touch with manuflacturing industries.

The forewoman of a soft-goods factory said that she had found there were more absentees on Mondays since the introduction of the five-day week than previously. The extent to which girts in factories absent themselves from work, either from choice or because of illness, is* surprising. On Monday, for example, in this particular establishment, which employs between 135 and 140 women and girls, eight went home from work and five did not attend at aIL Serious-- hindrance in-the work of th© factory had been caused through substitutes' less experienced in a particular task having -to take an absent worker’s place. On Monday the factory was down to its third substitute on a particular machine —a girl who wa s comparatively inexperienced in its operation and eo slow that She was her employer’s Hast resort. The manager likened such an occurrence to a series of defections from a key position ,in a football team. More Time to Sunbathe. A lot of absence was due, he said, to the independence of girls, who took time off, losing pay, of course, but not thinking of the inconvenience they caused in the factory- The -twoday week-end seemed to tempt girls into taking an extra day more often than the shorter week-end had done. Sunburn received aft week-ends had been a serious cause of girls being absent, arid with a longer wek-end and greater opportunity for excessive sunbathing he expected to have more trouble of that Mature.

An executive in a factory which had been working the short week before it became compulsory in the trade, but which had had to raise wages when it*was introduced, was certain that the increase in wages had decreased' the efficiency of the workers on Monday mornings, inducing a tendency to minor accidents.; Young men and women were inclined to overdo sport and recreation, which higher wages facilitated, and felt the effects after their holiday. "The njajority of girls need comparatively little «to keep them, and when they get higher pray they require more time in which to spend it,” he said. “Of course, they are not all the samp. There is the homely girl and the dancing girl.” The remark that the short week had certainly caused a return of married women to yark was made by the manager of & clothing factory, where it was stated, however, that no decrease in efficiency on Monday morning had been noticed. The improve, ment in business conditions at first allowed grls to marry and allowed married women to leave work, but the introduction of the five-day week had nla.de work more attractive, allowing sufficient time to be spent at home while rponey wa<? being earned. Without the married women the factory would have been suffering a very severet labour shortage.