The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1912-08-30
PROFIT SHARING.
Facts About Workings Of Co. 7srtnsr-
shlp Senemes In Grsst Br-taLn.

BE- Facts About Workings Of Co. partner
p. ship Schemes In Great Britain.
The a5or department o. the Britis
. board Of trade has been engaged 70
Z some time 10 Investigating profit Shar
. Ing and copartnership systems II
Great Br.tatn The 100 schemes Of
this sort examined have shown a great
variety 10 their method Of operation.
The following brief summary Of the
facts brought out 50 far Is taken rom
the omela. government Labor Gazette
In tie majority Of cases the total
amount allotted for distribution among
the employees as bonus Is a h1ed pro
portion OF the profits but IN q small
number OF cases participation stops 81
certain point With profit sharing
gas companies the bonus depends on
the price Cf gas The reserved lin
tt e.. the point at which the par
tlclpation Of the employees begins-is
In a few cases known to be based not
on the actual profits earned In the |
years Immediately preceding the intro |
ductIon OF the profit sharing scheme, !
bHt on an amount below these profits. +
There are q few cases Of 10 per cent /
Of the profits being allotted as the /
share Of the employees. A case OF |
per cent is mentioned and another IN
which the share OF the employees IS |
~ per cent up to certain sum and |
per cent In excess OF It, Where a |
reserved limit is mentioned the pro |
portion " the surplus profits above |
this limit which. SO far as is known, |
is appropriated to the payment Of |
bonus. varies from up to 30 per cent,
well over one third Of the schemes in
question allott!ng the latter percent
age, and nearly one-third giving from
~ to % per cent
BY far the most common method
adopted Is to divide the bonus fund be-
tween the participants In proportion to
the amount which each has earned
Overtime is excluded In few cases.
overtime and piece work in a consid
era bic number Of schemes In some
cases all the employees without dis.
bonus fund, but in many Instances par
Is confined to persons who
possess certain qualifications. the most
frequent Of which Is certain length
of service, varying from six months to
seven years, the most frequent named
being one year. In certain Instances
conditions are attached to participa-
ton, by far the most frequent Of which
Is the signing Of a contract OF service
for a stated period, generally twelve
months, this contract providing that
wages shall not be reduced during the
time specified.
Generally one-half Of the bonus is
paid in cash. the remainder being cred
tied to thrift fund available to pro
vide provident benefits for the EN-.
ployees ,as a rule Individually. but in
some cases collectively, this fund being
usually deposited at interest with the
employers.
As a rule, to which there are impor
tant exceptions, the shares owned by
the employees give them the ordinary
voting powers, but IN only six out OF
100 cases dealt with are the employees
represented on the board Of directors
There exist, however, under very
large number Of profit sharing schemes
Joint committees composed Of employ
ers and employed, whose functions. al
though OF a consultative nature only,
cannot be considered as other than I'M.
portRnt.