Recommended Optimum Hours in Australia'

WEEKLY hours ranging from 40 to 56, according to type of work, were recently recommended by the Industrial Welfare Division of the Australian Department of Labor and National Service, as the optimum for regular and continuous employment.2 These hours were arrived at after study to determine what hours would give the greatest output continuously, that is, for 6 months or longer, in work requiring different degrees of physical or mental effort. The recommended scale was as follows:

Weekly hours

Laboring or muscular work (done entirely by physical exertion of the worker) -

144-45 48

Nonautomatic machine work requiring physical exertion.Work requiring constant attention but little muscular exertion, i. e., semiautomatic (and some automatic) machine work, most process work... 248-52 Work requiring only intermittent attention and not physical exertion, i. e., some automatic machine work: Men.. Women

35

56 52

2.40-48

Shorter hours should be worked under specially arduous conditions, e. g., in high temperatures. 2 The maximum depends on the degree of concentration required.

Hours of juveniles.-Juveniles, that is, boys and girls under the age of 18 years, should not be asked to work over 44 hours a week regularly. If they are employed with men and women whose workweek is longer, that circumstance does not constitute a sufficient reason for permitting juveniles to work in excess of 44 hours. If necessary, part-time labor should be employed to man the machinery after the juveniles have completed 44 hours of work weekly.

Hours of men and women.—The report states that there is no reason for hours of men and women to differ, except that women should not be employed regularly for over 52 hours a week.

Shifts, averaging of hours, etc.-It is concluded that averaging of weekly hours will not reduce output seriously. Within reasonable limits, and to meet technical requirements, hours may be lengthened for a few weeks and correspondingly reduced for an equivalent period. On the 3-shift system, unless required by technically continuous production, hours should not exceed 52 weekly.

On broken shifts, half of the break should be added to actual working time in computing the maximum length of the broken shift. By this means, allowance can be made for the loss of rest and free time caused by the longer spread of hours.

Hours on specific kinds of work. In the opinion of the Department, labor engaged on heavy manual work in construction, navvying, or industry probably could not work over 44 or 46 hours weekly without an actual decline in production. Under particularly arduous condi

1 Data are from a report (No. 524) by Nelson Trusler Johnson, United States Minister, Canberra. Under the National Security (Hours of Work) Regulations, effective on November 30, 1942, total weekly hours are limited to 56 for males over 18 years of age and to 48 for males under that age, with the exception of 3 weeks in any 3 months, when longer hours are permitted in cases of emergency. The regulations are concerned with overtime, however, and were not intended to imply that 56 hours would be the most efficient for regular and continuous working.

tions, such as in high temperatures, less than 40 hours a week might produce the maximum output.

Muscular work includes many types, and on some assembly work (frequently done by women) there is little obvious physical exertion, but frequent movements of the arms and hands are required. Considerable dexterity is necessary and "it is probable that maximum output in this class of work will not be attained if hours are increased beyond 46 per week."

Nonautomatic machine work requiring physical exertion-for which a maximum of 48 hours per week is suggested-is common in machine shops. Work on the capstan lathe is typical. On such a lathe the operator must pay close attention to the machine throughout working hours, and must make a series of rhythmic muscular movements, some of which may require a good deal of exertion.

On semiautomatic machines in machine shops, the operator removes finished articles and inserts new ones. If this work consumes only part of the worker's time, 52 hours are deemed to give the best output. Where the worker has charge of several machines of this type, so that continuous concentration is required to tend the machines in turn, the working week should not exceed 48 hours. Also, when raw material is fed into a moving dial or belt, the speed of which usually demands a high degree of mental and visual concentration on the part of the operator, 48 hours should be the maximum.

The tasks described in the preceding paragraph, as well as most assembly work, fall in the classification "requiring constant attention but little muscular effort." For assembly work, recommended maximum hours are 48 to 52 weekly, according to the amount of concentration required. Other work that should be limited to such hours is done in the metal trades and in transport.

On automatic machinery that requires intermittent attention, the chief function of the operative is to see that the machine is fed with raw material. If the machine is of the hopper-fed type in which large quantities of materials are fed in at infrequent intervals, output should be constant per hour. In practice, when hours are excessive, more spoilage occurs, and, as work of this kind is uninteresting, the absenteeism rate rises if hours are increased beyond an average of 56.

All types of visual inspection and office work are classified as work that is predominantly mental, on which a maximum working week of from 40 to 48 hours is recommended. The Department believes that no good result is attained by requiring hours in excess of 48 on this kind of work unless it is of a most routine type. For work requiring close concentration the working week should be much shorter-not over 40 hours. The explanation is that the fatigue resulting from such work is produced by mental exertion and monotony. A clerk who concentrates on the same task all day cannot retain his efficiency as long as a person who does a variety of things.

551712-43- -11

Changes in Cost of Living in Large Cities, August 1943

FRESH vegetable prices continued seasonally lower from mid-July to mid-August and resulted in the third consecutive monthly decline in the cost of living for city workers-a drop of one-half of 1 percent. Food prices as a group were down 1.3 percent, and more than balanced smaller increases during the month for other goods and services. Since the decline in food prices began, in May, the average family food bill for staples has fallen 4.1 percent and the entire cost of living by 1.5 percent. On August 15 the index computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics stood at 123.2 percent of its 1935-39 average.

Food prices were high in August notwithstanding the summer declines. They averaged about 9 percent above August 1942, and nearly 47 percent above the low levels prevailing just before the outbreak of war in Europe in August 1939. This August the sharp price declines for fresh fruits and vegetables averaged 7 percent, but they were considerably greater in some cities than in others. The price of cabbage fell nearly 25 percent during the month, sweetpotatoes and apples 17 percent, green beans 15 percent, onions and white potatoes 10 percent, and spinach 8 percent; there were smaller reductions for carrots and lettuce. However, fresh vegetables remained at comparatively high levels, about 33 percent above August 1942 and more than 90 percent above August 1939.

There

Aside from fresh produce, the most important declines in August were for fresh fish, the prices of which have been rising steadily to more than double pre-war levels. Under a new OPA ceiling regulation, there was a decline during the month of 3.5 percent. were also declines for meats, amounting to 0.8 percent for beef and veal, 0.9 percent for pork and 1.1 percent for lamb, representing continued adjustments to an OPA "cut-back" which reduced prices in the previous month. The only other important food price movements were a seasonal increase of 9 percent for eggs, an advance of 4.6 percent for tea, and a decline of about 2 percent for canned peas.

Differences from city to city in food price changes were unusually great from July to August. In northern areas price reductions were especially large, amounting on the average to 2.3 percent in New York, 2.9 percent in Detroit, and 2.8 percent in Bridgeport and Denver. In many southern cities, because of the earlier growing season, prices had already begun to increase seasonally.

Living costs other than food were on the whole moderately higher from July to August. Clothing prices rose 0.2 percent, the disappearance of lower price lines more than balancing clearance sales for certain summer goods. Housefurnishings and fuels and utility rates were higher by 0.1 percent. Miscellaneous goods and services rose 0.3 percent, because of higher charges by hospitals, motion-picture houses, and beauty and barber shops in 7 of the 21 cities surveyed.

TABLE 1.—Indexes of Cost of Living in Large Cities on August 15, 1943, and Previous Dates

1 Based on changes in cost of goods purchased by wage earners and lower-salaried workers in large cities. 2 Rents not surveyed in July or August.

TABLE 2.-Percent of Change1 in Cost of Living in Large Cities, in Specified Periods

1 Based on changes in cost of goods purchased by wage earners and lower-salaried workers in large cities. 2 Changes through June 15, 1943.

3 Rents surveyed at quarterly dates, March 15, June 15, September 15, December 15.

1

TABLE 3.-Percent of Change 1 in Cost of Living in Specified Periods, by Cities

1 Based on indexes of cost of goods purchased by wage earners and lower-salaried workers in large citie

TABLE 4.-Indexes of Cost of Living, by Cities, August 15, 1943

Based on changes in cost of goods purchased by wage earners and lower-salaried workers in large cities. Rents surveyed at quarterly dates-March 15, June 15, Sept. 15, Dec. 15.

Based on prices for 56 cities collected on the Tuesday nearest the 15th of the month.

4 Based on data for 21 cities.

Based on data for 34 cities.

TABLE 5.-Indexes of Cost of Living in Large Cities, 1935 to August 1943

1 Based on changes in cost of goods purchased by wage earners and lower-salaried workers in large cities. ⚫ Rents collected at quarterly dates--Mar. 15, June 15, Sept. 15, and Dec. 15.