صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

General
Results of
Minimum
Wage
Legislation.

From the experience of minimum wage legislation in this country and abroad it is possible to draw valuable conclusions on the operation of the Acts and their effects on wages, on employment, on labour organisations and on industry as a whole. These have been indicated already in the case of the Trade Boards Acts, and as they are fairly representative of the results of other legislation, only a brief summary is necessary.

Wage rates have been appreciably increased, and this alone, so far as it has guaranteed workers a decent standard of comfort hitherto denied them, would be a sufficient justification of the legislation. The official reports for Victoria show that the average wage of 13 trades rose 16.5 per cent. in 5 years, compared with 7.6 per cent. in the 5 years before the wages boards were set up. In 6 trades a decline in wages changed to a rise. The Industrial Commission of the U.S.A. reported that in 24 stores, 1,758 women received less than $10 weekly before the award of minimum rates; afterwards only 561 received less than this sum. * The frequent criticism that the minimum tends

to become the maximum has not been borne out, for the average rate of payment in the trades affected has been proved to be above the legal minima-in America and Australia as well as in Great Britain.

It was frequently contended that the minimum wage would cause unemployment, because employers would be unable to pay the specified rates, or because they would be induced to replace adult workers by apprentices. Unemployment on account of inability to pay the stipulated rates has been caused only to a very small extent, and it may reasonably be argued that, as a general rule, a business

* Commons and Andrews, Principles of Labor Legislation, p. 210.

which depends on sweating the workers for its existence is parasitical, and that its disappearance is for the ultimate good of the community. As for replacement by apprentices, there is usually a maximum percentage of learners allowed, e.g. 15 per cent. in many Trade Board regulations. Trade unions, too, usually stipulate a maximum proportion. In nearly all cases the effect of this legislation on industry has been distinctly beneficial. Not only has the efficiency of the worker himself increased, but the employer has been stimulated to improve the organisation of the business, and eliminate waste in several directions. The fear that cheaper labour abroad would cause foreign competitors to capture the market has not, on the whole, been borne out. The Board of Trade stated before the war that it was "not aware of any tendency of manufacturers to transfer their business to foreign countries." Many employers have favoured minimum wage legislation since they find that the real labour cost (i.e. measured in terms of output) has not materially increased, while they have welcomed the elimination of the "hole in the corner" employer, who not only sweated his own workers but also, by cutting the prices, tended to depress the rates of payment in other firms.

Finally, it had been anticipated in some quarters that a State granted and enforced minimum would prejudice the trade union movement, in that the workers would find that their conditions could be improved independently of labour organisations. But here again the fear has not been justified. Trade union membership has constantly increased, while many of the unorganised trades have taken advantage of the higher rates imposed by the State and have formed unions. The main reason for their absence or inadequacy in the past had been the inability of the workers to afford a sufficient contribution, and this deficiency was now largely remedied.

§ 3. THE PAYMENT OF WAGES.

So far attention has been given to the factors governing wages as a whole, but nothing has been said regarding the calculation of the actual wage rates. Though the method of payment is not as important, from the standpoint of the social student, as the general principles underlying the remuneration of labour, a little may be said to indicate the chief systems of wage-rate determination and the peculiar problems they present. The simple classification of payment by time and by piece is the most important, and may be considered first.

Payment by Time.

Time rates are more common than piece rates in the transport and distributive trades, clerical work, agriculture, and other occupations in which conditions are peculiarly favourable to payment by time. These conditions may be shortly noted. Where the quality and the quantity of the work are difficult to measure, as for example in general surveillance, or where the work is of unusual character, such as repair work, time wages are usually more practicable. In instances where the work requires careful and accurate application, and undue haste might cause serious loss, or where delicate and expensive material and machinery are used, time rates are again preferred. Similarly, where the work is the joint product of two or more people, it is often found more expedient to pay on a time basis, though piece rates under a gang" system are not uncommon. Lastly, time rates are desirable where the work is liable to interruption through no fault of the worker-e.g. in agriculture and building, where the weather influences working conditions.

The advantages of time rates arise largely from these conditions. There is little temptation for a man to

"C scamp "his work (though the precautions against this in a piece rate system are frequently very effective). Time rates make for simplicity and reduce the expense of clerical work, while they make for better feeling among the workers who are not put, as it were, on a competitive basis. The worker's income is also likely to be more regular.

The main objections to payment by time are that, as the incentive provided by piece rates is absent, the total output of work is liable to suffer, and that more supervision is necessary. Thus the real cost of the labour may be high. In so far as piece earnings are a better guide to a worker's efficiency than time earnings (though the extent to which they provide this index tends to be over-estimated) the employer is enabled to select the more efficient men for superior work.

Payment by Results.

Piece rates are common in the textile, pottery, iron, steel, tinplate and other industries in which the conditions are suitable to this method of remuneration. These conditions are of course the reverse of those indicated in connection with time rates. Where the work is standardised and measurable in quality and quantity, and where a specific amount of effort can be relied upon to result in a given amount of product, piece rates are usually preferred. The method is also adopted where supervision is expensive or difficult-e.g. in homework.

The employer favours payment by results in that he pays in proportion to the work done. He particularly prefers this method if he finds that extra output reduces the standing charges per unit produced, and thereby makes for greater economy. To the extent that piece rates mean higher earnings and less supervision over time-keeping and intensity of labour, workers prefer this method to time rates, provided that they have an efficient organisation which prevents the employer from " nibbling" the rates.

The temptation of the employer to reduce the piece rate when he finds that efficient workers are earning high wages, and especially if he can get the work done more cheaply by non-union labour, is a serious difficulty which a system of payments by results, if it is to be successful, has to overcome. Collective bargaining is frequently effective in guaranteeing to the workers that if they produce more than the average they will not suffer in consequence by having the rate per unit cut down. In order to guard themselves against paying excessive rates of remuneration, yet to guarantee to the workers that the rates will not be undercut, many employers have introduced a system of premium bonuses, according to which the remuneration increases with output, but in a diminishing ratio. These methods will be considered later.

Other disadvantages of piece rates are suggested by the relative advantages of time rates. In the desire to increase his earnings, a man may be tempted to " scamp" his work, but as effective safeguards on the quality of the work are usually provided by a system of keen inspection, this drawback should not be magnified. Another difficulty lies in the calculation of a satisfactory piece rate, one which is to guarantee to the ordinary workers a decent standard while remunerating the more efficient workers according to their output.

The

Determination
of Wage
Rates.

It cannot be too strongly emphasised that time rates and piece rates must necessarily be calculated with some reference to each other. A time rate must directly or indirectly be based on the average amount of work to be done in the time. For example, in a time rate system there is usually provision for an "under rate" for aged or other slow workers. Similarly a piece rate must bear a relation to the length of time taken.

« السابقةمتابعة »