RELIEF WORKERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 December 1938, Page 8

RELIEF WORKERS

HOLIDAYS AND BONUS AT CHRISTMAS ANNOUNCEMENT BY LABOUR MINISTER. OUTLINE OF CONDITIONS. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. Arrangements authorised in connection with the granting of Christmas and New Year holidays and the payments of a Christmas bonus to relief recipients had been announced by the Minister of Labour. Mr Armstrong said the bonus would be £2 for married men and £1 for single rnen, payable to all those men who actually receive relief or are engaged under one of the undermentioned schemes in the week ended December 3, 1938: — (A) Scheme No 5 workers employed on a rationed basis, i.e., less than forty hours a week. (B) Men in receipt of sustenance and sickness allowances. (C) Gold prospectors, including men and youths employed on developmental work, other than those employed full time (forty hours a week or more) at. standard rates of pay. (D) Scheme 4A workers on their own farms. (E) Men receiving sustenance allowances under the small farm scheme. The bonus for youths employed on the gold prospecting scheme will be fifteen shillings. All men who actually receive relief assistance (including sick pay or compensation) under one of the abovementioned schemes in the week ending December 3 are entitled to receive the bonus. This will include those sustenance recipients who in ordinary cirstances would qualify, but who on account of excess earnings in the previous week do not actually receive any relief in the week ended on December 3. The bonus is still payable although the worker may not continue to receive relief after'the week ended December 3. Any person who registers and becomes eligible for relief for the first time after the week ending December 3 is not eligible to receive the bonus. Any person who reregisters and becomes eligible for relief in any of the weeks ending December 10, 17 and 24 is eligible to receive the bonus if he had actually been in receipt of relief under one of the above-mentioned schemes at any time within a period of three months of December 3. In addition to the Christmas bonus, the Government has decided that all workers employed under the undermentioned schemes are to be granted two weeks’ paid holiday in respect of the Weeks ending December 31 and January 7:~ (A) Scheme No 5 workers employed on a rationed basis. '(B) Gold prospectors employed under scheme 15 including those on developmental Work, except where they are employed full time at standard rates of pay. (C) Workers employed in clerical or other-capacities’in local, body offices, relief depots, etc. The Minister said it had been decided that; ,no declarations of earnings would 'Be' required from sustenance recipients in respect of the weeks ending December 24 and 31, and any private earnings in either of these two weeks would be entirely ignored when assessing their future allocations. A somewhat similar concession had been arranged in respect to Scheme No 5 workers. Mr Armstrong gave ‘details of the holiday- payments to men employed under subsidy schemes and said that arrangements had also been made with respect to men employed by individual farmers on the eradication of ragwort, workers employed full time on subsidised standard works where the Department's subsidy represents only a portion of the weekly wages, employees of sports bodies, charitable institutions and men who have gone off relief to become freezing works employees. Similar transport concessions to those made last year will be granted men employed under the gold prospect- i ing scheme.