Evening star., 1925-03-26
Job HUNTERS TELL
OF Agency ABUSES
Nurse Describes Wild Goose
Chase Taken on Borrowed
Car Fare.

/
| ence in search of typical case
| against an employment agency here
| to test the law regulating the fees
such bureaus may charge, The Star
was furnished today with an instance
| of one business mans experience with
| these agents.
Although now the manager Of an
| important department in the Wash
| fngton office of one of the largest
business bureaus in the United States,
| this man sought a position himself
only a few years ago through an en-
ployment agent. He had just return
| ed from France. where he had seen
| action in the Tank Corps
| Upon applying to the agent in ques-
ton and paying his % registration
| foe he was sent to position that Of
| fered him SIS month. When his en-
ployer learned that he had been asked
to give rs per cent of his first months
| salary to the employment agency the
former advised him not to do 1t.
| Just able to meet his own living ex-
penses on his limited salary, the re-
turned soldier followed the advice of
! his employer and was "dunned" by
the agent for several months, he said.
Then he found better position,
| through his own initiative, that made
him a rather extensive employer of
help himself
Fee Demand Ends.
Letters demanding payment of the
fee suddenly ceased, and soon a very
lfelicitous letter came from the same
agent, expressing the hope that he
would refer to the bureau any young
men or women who applied for help
and whom he could not place person
ally. No further mention was made
of the unpaid fee.
You can readily understand" the
new manager declared, that 1 stu
diously avoided recommending the
bureau to any jobless men or women
fact, they once sent me a girl. 1t
happened that I needed the help she
offered and gave her a position.
Il saw in less than a month that
| she could not fill the position and had
to ask her to leave. She then ex-
planned that she had paid the agency
25 per cent of her first four weeks
| salary. Our Salary to her only
amounted to SIS month, and L
agreed with her that she had a very
legitimate kick coming. ! was help
less, however.
I think that is a phase of this con-
troversy that should be placed before
the public. What about the employees
the bureaus place who can't fill the
bill and must be discharged That
one young woman, at least, received
no refund 1 came to see you of my
own volition to give this side of the
story, too"
Nurse Sends Complaint.
A letter received by The Star this
morning recounted the experience of
nurse who placed herself in the
hands of an agent. She said she was
| persuaded to write after reading
something of the employment bu-
reau's side, as printed in The Star of
Tuesday. In part her letter follows:
Il would like to ask one or two
questions and make one or two state
ments.
Does a properly conducted busi-
| methods?
Upon the 7th of February I
registered at a business bureau, as a
practical nurse, stating that l usually
took care Of the sick, but that If
nothing in that line was available
would take care of children rather
| than do nothing. There being no
call for a sick nurse, 1 was sent to a
house in northeast to look into an
application for a nurse to care for
twin babies, at a salary of $40 a
| month, with the understanding that
if 1 accepted the position 1 should
pay the bureau $3.50 a week for the
first four weeks, or $40.
Money All Gone.
This certainly is not a profess
sional position. Decidedly domestic
Upon looking into the conditions
did not accept the position, but
| waited for something better. 1 did
not call at the office every day, as
could not afford either car fare or
to pay for phone calls every day.
But I did call in both ways quite
often, only to be told that there was
nothing open either as a child nurse
or to care for the sick.
Yesterday (Tuesday), having spent
my last penny and having but two
car tokens, 1 felt that 1 must make
one more attempt, so 1 went to the
office of this bureau, where 1 was
handed a piece of brown paper with
an ad, cut from some newspaper in
such a manner that both the date
and the name of the paper from
which 1t was taken could not be told
with the statement from the secre-
tary that was all she had to offer me.
There was one call for a nurse,
and I was advised to answer it imme-
diately. Noticing that there was no
date on the paper / asked the young
lazy TO CHI up the tine
, Home for Incurables on Wisconsin
avenue) and find out If help was still
needed. The young lady called up
| in the following manner: We called
up about help few months ago. Do
you still need nurses?
After short conversation I was
told that a place was waiting and
that l should go right out and apply.
l had to borrow car fare and upon
meeting the head nurse, with whom
have an acquaintance, l was told
that when she was called on the
phone from the bureau that she had
told the secretary that she did not
need any one at present but that she
was glad to interview nurses any
time, as often there were unexpected
openings and that they were glad to
find people to fill them.
Upon returning to my boarding
house I found that another practical
nurse with whom I room had been
treated in the very same manner,
being sent to the very same place a
week or two earlier in the season by
the very same bureau"
"a cTIIIc ABE TAKEN