FINANCIAL AID

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 April 1943, Page 4

FINANCIAL AID

FOR DIRECTED WORKERS SUFFERING LOSS DETAILS OF NEW SCHEME. OUTLINED BY MINISTER. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The Government has now set in operation a scheme whereby persons who suffer loss are assured of remuneration as a result of their direction to work of national importance and may claim financial assistance. The Minister of Industrial Manpower, Mr McLagan, explaining the scheme, said: “Up to the present, manpower officers have as far as possible avoided issuing direction orders in circumstances where a loss of income would result, but the Department could not meet further demands for industrial mappower and at the same time continue to avoid it. Provision has now been made for granting assistance to persons who suffer a reduction in assured remuneration.”

This, he added, applied to all who by direction, were obliged to sacrifice their normal permanent employment. The provisions did not apply to persons who were unemployed or whose employment was on the point of running out at the time of the direction, or to seasonal workers following their normal seasonal rotation. This assistance was based on assured remuneration only. Overtime, which in most cases was a variable and rather fortuitous source of remuneration, was excluded. The actual remuneration, exclusive of overtime, secured each week in the new job would be measured against the average weekly remuneration, exclusive of overtime,! prior to the direction. Adjustments would be made where necessary to meet any actual advantages or disadvantages derived from such factors as board and lodging provided by employers, travelling time, or travelling expenses provided by employer, and special payments, provided these payments were not in respect of conditions that ceased to apply. Assistance granted in respect of each week would also be adjusted for hours of absence, and in cases of deliberate malingering might be completely cancelled. The amount of assistance would not exceed a weekly rate of £2 for males and £1 for females, and in any case assured remuneration .plus assistance must not exceed £8 weekly for males and £5 for females, this of course being exclusive of overtime. Assistance was being made available as from April 1, 1943, and claims might be instituted by a personal call at a manpower office. Payment's would be made by four-weekly periods and the first payment would be available about six weeks after the commencement of the first week for which assistance was payable. I