Overtime,False Returns,and Restrictive Practices: The Perception of an Industrial Pay System

Abstract

This study describes an industrial pay system established in the 1930s, which by 1956-the date of the study-had long been made obsolete by subsequent inflation and pay increases. It was, nevertheless, maintained in operation by the use of certain "patching" devices: unnecessary overtime, false returns, and restrictive practices. These were successful because, as analysis of the labor turnover showed, the men were interested only in the amount they earned, and not in their working conditions or in the time taken to earn it. The maintenance of the obsolete pay system by the use of such devices was not in the interests of either the management or the men but, for different reasons, they believed it to be. A common factor behind these beliefs was the failure of the management, the shop stewards, and the older men, at least, to perceive the extent and permanence of the changes which had taken place since the 1930s. This led to a common belief that the changes were merely temporary and that conditions would eventually revert to what they still considered as "normal. " The failure to perceive and accept the needfor change appeared to be related to the age and early experience of the management, the shop stewards, and many of the workers.