MANPOWER CONTROL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 May 1942, Page 3

MANPOWER CONTROL

* CHECK ON NON-ESSENTIAL EMPLOYMENT. FURTHER STATEMENT MADE BY MINISTER. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. In a further statement last evening by the Minister of National Service, Mr Semple, it is made clear that any undertaking which has been declared essential in terms of Regulation 9 of the National Service Emergency Regulations is not affected by the new restrictions which were announced yesterday preventing the engagement oi workers in certain classes of shops and factories without the prior consent of a district manpower officer. “There are several points regarding the definition of shops as laid down in the Shops and Offices Act, 1921-22,” said the Minister. “A shop means any place where goods are exposed or offered for sale to the public, or where any part of the business of a shop is carried on, and includes canvassing for orders, delivery of goods, and other outside activities carried on by the staff of a shop. Licensed hotels, petrol stations, auction marts and hairdressing saloons are all included within the scope of the present Order.” The above explanation follows on the gazetting of a regulation which empowers the Minister to direct that no employer to whom this direction applies shall engage or attempt to engage any worker except with the consent of the district manpower officer. The object of this step is to stop the practice of enticement of workers from comparatively essential work into non-essential industries. Enticement, it is stated, usually results from a concerted action by the gaining employer and the worker concerned. In order to avoid the occurrence of widespread offences in locations where they would not easily be detected or brought to the notice of the district manpower officer, and in view of the fact that enticement is mainly confined to the main centres, it has been decided to limit the application of the present action to employers within the boundaries of the b’oroughs or urban areas within which district manpower officers' headquarters are situated.