§ MR. J. P. FARRELL (Longford, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury will he explain why, of the three classes of the Customs Department, one, the 266 waterguards, is compelled to work eight hours each Sunday without receiving any pay, whilst the landing officers get 12s. for every two hours worked on Sundays; and will he cause an inquiry to be made, so as to put the remuneration on a more equal basis.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINThe character of the various duties of the waterguard renders it imperative to have officers in attendance on the arrival and departure of vessels at uncetain periods, and it is therefore a condition of the waterguard service that such duties have to be performed at any hour of the day or night or on any day, including Sunday. Candidates for appointment as boatmen are informed in the printed particulars issued that their hours of employment extend over Sundays, whenever required, and that the extent of such Sunday employment varies according to local conditions. No overtime is allowed, and the men join the department on that understanding. The liability of clerical and landing officers to employment on Sundays is not part of their conditions of service, and is comparatively rare. Such attendance is usually given at the special request of the shipowners, etc., who pay the overtime.