§ 40. Mr. CHARLES DUNCANasked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that four hours overtime per week was worked by the telephone district office staff at Barrow-in-Furness for the first four months of 1912, for which payment has not yet been made; whether he is aware that this overtime was due to the under-staffing of the district office at Barrow-in-Furness, and that immediately the attention of the Department was called to the matter the practice ceased; whether he is aware that all over time worked under similar circumstances at Canterbury and Dover was paid for in full; if so, will he state why this particular discrimination should be exercised against the employés in Barrow-in-Furness; and whether he will inquire into the matter with a view to its rectification?
§ The ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Captain Norton)I have looked into the case to which the hon. Member refers which was brought under the notice also of my right hon. Friend's predecessor. The scheduled hours of attendance of the clerical staff in the telephone district offices are forty-eight a week gross. The regulations of the Post Office provide, however, for the grant of a half-holiday on Saturday when the state of the work permits, but when a half-holiday is allowed, overtime performed on other days of the week can only be paid for if the work causing the overtime was not such as should have been performed on the Saturday. In the Canterbury (late Dover) district the overtime was reported to be necessitated by general pressure, due to reorganisation, and payment for all of it could therefore be made under the regulations. At Barrow, however, the overtime was due to accumulation of arrears, and a proportion of these arrears were due to non-performance of work on Saturday afternoons, and consequently payment could not be made for overtime in respect of those arrears when a Saturday half-holiday was taken. The staffs in both districts have been paid for all attendance in excess of forty-eight hours a week. There was for a time some shortage of staff at Barrow; but the overtime was not entirely due to this cause; additional staff has since been authorised.