D.—4

28

Booked off duty for less than eight hours on duty sheet: Two hours standing-time and time worked immediately before and immediately after break counted continuous. At foreign station— Booked off for less than eight hours through late running of trains : Three hours' standing-time. Booked off duty for less than eight hours on. duty sheet: Total time between shifts regarded as standing-time, and time worked immediately before and immediately after break is counted as continuous. Estimated cost per annum for standing-time and wet weather (Maintenance Branch) time is :— £ Locomotive Branch .. . . .. 32,369 Maintenance Branch . . . . 27,049 Signal and Electrical Branch .. .. 2,984 Traffic Branch .. .. .. .. 1,350 £63,752 Standing-time is counted from arrival at to departure from engine-shed points. Time required for coaling, watering, turning, drawing, trimming, and getting ready before going out again is included in the standing-time, also the time the engines are standing in sheds and the men are not employed in duties such as cleaning engine, drying sand, or in doing other shed-work. Allowances and Leave. —As regards the Locomotive Running Branch the system of payment by mileage is in operation, under which the pay of the enginemen is calculated on a mileage basis where that is more advantageous to the men. This arrangement involves an increased expenditure of £2,500 per annum. An allowance of ten minutes per day is given to guards and engine-drivers for attending to correspondence, at a cost of £6,800 per annum. Allowances approximating £1,000 per annum are made in respect of apprentices on passing certain examinations. Fitters, boilermakers, and other tradesmen employed at, the running-sheds receive an allowance of 6d. per day, which represents an expenditure of £1,100 per annum. The payment of Is. per day is granted where employees are engaged on what is known as " dirty " work. A meal allowance of 2s. is paid to employees who are on duty for a continuous period of not less than eleven hours, involving an expenditure of £14,000 per annum. Originally this wa,s paid, only to members who were absent from their headquarters for periods of eleven hours or over from time of booking on duty. The application of the regulation was later extended to apply to all members, and made applicable in cases where the member returned to his home station, but was not booked off for a meal. The application was later on further extended, and it has for some years past been applied to all men on duty continuously whether at home or foreign station. We are of opinion that this present system is costly and unsatisfactory, and that the arrangements should be reviewed, and actual out-of-pocket expenses only should be paid. An extra 2s. per day is paid to boilermakers when engaged on boiler-inspection work, costing £1,000 per annum. An extra day's leave on pay is granted to gangers as compensation for attending to correspondence and time-sheets in relation to their gangs. This costs £470 per annum. Gangers and surfacemen are granted one day off per month in lieu of time spent inspecting track, and in suburban areas each member of the gang is granted alternate Saturday afternoons off. This costs £20,000 annually. The annual leave for members of Division IT is as follows : Members with less than ten years' service, six working-days per annum ; members with, not less than ten years' service, nine working-days per annum. In addition, members of Division II are granted the departmental holidays as in the case of Division I. Approximate annual cost of leave (permanent staff only) : £77,000.