which for full-time work shall yield not less than the minimum and wages. essential for the "necessary cost of proper living, as determined by a minimum wage commission or other similar official board." During a period of learning they may be rated as learners and paid accordingly. The length of the learning period should be fixed by such commission or other similar official board, on educational principles only. Placement and employment supervision. There shall be a central agency which shall deal with all juvenile employment problems. . . Employment certificates. — Provision shall be made for issuing employment certificates to all children entering employment who are under 18 years of age. Compulsory attendance laws. - Full-time attendance officers adequately proportioned to the school population shall be provided in cities, towns, and counties to enforce the school attendance law. ... Factory inspection and physical examination of employed minors. The number of [factory] inspectors shall be sufficient to insure semi-annual inspection of all establishments in which children are employed, and such special inspections and investigations as are necessary to insure the protection of the children. Provision should be made for a staff of physicians adequate to examine annually all employed children under 18 years of age. Some addi tional standards. Factory inspection tion. women in industry. 111. Standards governing the employment of women1 Closely related to the question of child labor is the employment Increasing of women in industrial establishments. While most students agree of the probimportance that the employment of women ought to be safeguarded rather lem of than actually prohibited, nevertheless such employment may give rise to problems fully as grave as those arising from child labor. During recent years the proportion of gainfully employed women in the United States has been increasing steadily, and the question of their protection in industrial pursuits is attracting more and more attention. In 1918 the United States Department of Labor drew 1 From the United States Department of Labor, Standards for the Employment of Women in Industry. Bulletin No. 3, Washington, 1918. The hours of labor for women in industry. up the following standards governing the employment of women in industry: STANDARDS RECOMMENDED FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN (In the following outline the italic type in the text indicates those provisions which are held to be of the most vital importance.) I. Hours of Labor 1. Daily hours. No women shall be employed or permitted to work more than eight hours in any one day. The time when the work of women employees shall begin and end and the time allowed for meals shall be posted in a conspicuous place in each work room and a record shall be kept of the overtime of each woman worker. 2. Half holiday on Saturday. Observance of the half-holiday should be the custom. 3. One day of rest in seven. Every woman worker shall have one day of rest in every seven days. 4. Time for meals. At least three-quarters of an hour shall be allowed for a meal. 5. Rest periods. 6. Night work. No women shall be employed between the hours of ten P.M. and six A.M. II. Wages Wages. Working conditions in establishments employing women. 1. Equality with men's wages. Women doing the same work as men shall receive the same wages with such proportionate increases as the men are receiving in the same industry. . . 2. The basis of determination of wages. Wages should be established on the basis of occupation and not on the basis of sex. The minimum wage rate should cover the cost of living for dependents and not merely for the individual. III. Working Conditions 1. Comfort and sanitation. State labor laws and industrial codes should be consulted with reference to provisions for comfort and sanitation. Washing facilities, with hot and cold water, soap and individual towels, should be provided in sufficient number and in accessible locations to make washing before meals and at the close of the work day convenient. Toilets should be separate for men and women, clean and accessible. Their numbers should have a standard ratio to the number of workers employed. Workroom floors should be kept clean. Dressing rooms should be provided adjacent to washing facilities, making possible change of clothing outside the workrooms. Rest rooms should be provided. Lighting should be arranged that direct rays do not shine into the workers' eyes. Ventilation should be adequate and heat sufficient. Drinking water should be cool and accessible with individual drinking cups or bubble fountain provided. Provision should be made for the workers to secure a hot and nourishing meal eaten outside the workroom, and if no lunch rooms are accessible near the plant, a lunch room should be maintained in the establishment. 2. Posture at work. Continuous standing and continuous sitting are both injurious. A seat should be provided for every woman employed and its use encouraged. It is possible and desirable to adjust the height of the chairs in relation to the height of machines or work tables, so that the worker may with equal convenience and efficiency stand or sit at her work. The seats should have backs. If the chair is high, a foot rest should be provided. 3. Safety. Risks from machinery, danger from fire and exposure to dust, fumes or other occupational hazards should be scrupulously guarded against by observance of standards in state and Federal codes. First aid equipment should be provided. Fire drills and other forms of education of the workers in the observance of safety regulations should be instituted. . . . - IV. Home Work 1. No work shall be given out to be done in rooms used for living Home work. or sleeping purposes or in rooms directly connected with living or sleeping rooms in any dwelling or tenement. ... 112. Results of minimum wage legislation 1 One method of protecting women and children in industry is through minimum wage legislation. The essential feature of a minimum wage law is that it provides that in all or specified occupations certain 1 From the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Labor Review. Washington, March, 1921; pp. 17-20. Origin and of minimum wage legislation in the United States. individuals may not be employed at less than a designated wage. The development first minimum wage statute in this country was enacted by Massachusetts in 1912, but so rapidly did the movement spread that by 1921 more than a dozen states had minimum wage laws on their statute books. In every case, such legislation applies only to the employment of women and children, men being exempted from the operation of this type of law. In 1919 the United States Department of Labor conducted a survey of minimum wage legislation in the United States in order to discover its effects. The following is an extract from the report of the Department: Extent of the survey conducted by the U.S. of Labor in 1919. [What is the attitude of the employers toward the law? The agent of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Department of Labor], in his tour of ten states was, of course, able to interview only a fracDepartment tional part of the employers affected. However, the aggregate amounted to above 260, with more than 62,000 women and minors in their employment. The number of employers who expressed actual opposition to the law was almost negligible, though some were vigorous in their denunciation of it. The great majority accepted the law as a declaration of state policy and declared themselves ready to comply therewith, while many went beyond this and expressed cordial approval of its principle and purpose. Attitude of employers toward the minimum wage law in San Fran cisco Thus, taking a run of expressions in San Francisco as they were obtained, a department-store employer said that he had no objection to the law, that it worked no hardship, that the girls were interested to make good, and that the law was a great help in developing standards. The next visit was to a 5 and 10 cent store in which the law was said to be satisfactory, causing conditions which tended toward stability. Next a large department store reported the law "has an effect to stabilize and standardize employment, this being one of the chief accomplishments of the law"; "have had no dismissal or reduction in twelve months on account of incompetency." Next a smaller department store (275 females) reported it "not objectionable," while the women "think it greatly worth while." Next a department store: "Is splendid, rates certainly not too high," and it was believed that employers generally favored the law. One of the largest stores: "Such a law is the only thing to have"; another department store: "Regard it most favorably"; cannery: "Is satis factory"; ... chocolate factory: "Want Federal law to protect against interstate competition"; glacé fruits: "No objection to law, but should be general"; candies: "Has good effect"; lithograph company: "Law no check on business"; . . . clothing factory: "Attitude is favorable, though the law should be general"; shirts and overalls: "Is a good thing"; 5 and 10 cent store: "Approve of the law, but should be general"; knit-goods factory: "Find it better to pay above minimum, though think the law has no effects on the quality of the workers"; clothing factory: "Law no check on business"; millinery: "No objection to law since it treats all alike"; bags: "Law is good thing, as it holds out prospect ... of advance to those who stay through learning period"; This complete roster of the places visited in an important city and in in which union conditions only partially prevail is believed to be other cities. fairly representative. . . . Expressions found in the "Twin Cities" of Minnesota run as follows: "Law not desirable though it has a good effect for low-grade establishments"; "rate reasonable now but may be too high under other conditions"; "no objection"; "all right for skilled, but makes rate for learners too high and advances too rapid"; "law all right"; "law is acceptable"; "tends to stabilize and gives self-respect to workers"; "approve the law, rates might be higher"; "dislike it very much"; "glad to have it"; "help is better and more contented"; "have been hurt and no help"; "not liked, paternalistic"; "law is all right"; "all right, but learners' rates too low"; "are ahead of law and intend always to comply"; "is all right and might go higher"; "attitude favorable"; "approve the law and could stand higher rate if uniform"; "keep ahead of law"; "principle is good"; "gladly comply"; "hearty coöperation" 1"; . . . tude of organized labor. Organized labor was, for the most part, found to be favorable to The attilegislation of this type, the claim being made in several states that the act was "organized labor's bill." State conventions have gone on record in favor of the measures and their adequate enforcement, so that the occasional criticism made to the effect that the law was bad, because it led the women to depend on it rather than to organize, must be discounted as not indicating the general opinion of union labor on the subject. |