Montana labor news., 1936-06-25
Employment Offices Are
Under Security Law

largely upon the treatment which the
worker receives when he comes to the
benefit desk OF a public employment
office said r. Gordon Wagenet, Dir
ector of the Bureau Of Unemployment
Compensation Of the Social Security
Board, last night in an address before
the 24th annual convention of the In
ternational Association Of Public En-
%ployment Services.
The worker will want his benefits
promptly; and his right to benefit and
The duration and amount Of his benefits
must be quickly and accurately COM
puted by the administrative office and
be ready for delivery upon the date
due each week." MIR. Wagenet said.
AT the same time every opportunity
must be sought to find suitable work
Tor Inn. But the duties OF paying un-
employment benefits must not hinder
he employment office and displace the
primary and important tasl OF placing
him in a new job"
Mr.. Wagenet's subject was the place
Of the public employment office in the
Federal-State program of unemploy-
ment compensation inaugurated by the
Social Security Act. Liaison, he decl-
ared, is necessary between administra-
,ors Of unemployment compensation
and public employment offices. In
Washington the United States Edn-
%pioyment Service is cooperating with
The Social Security Board. This CO.
operation must be duplicated in the
States in a liaison between State adj
ministrations of unemployment COM
pensation laws and State employment
offices. The twofold job of paying
benefits to qualified unemployed work.
ers and finding jobs for them will en-
large and change the duties Of the
employment services in many ways, he
stated.
First he said, the number OF
workers using the unemployment Of
fices will greatly increase; therefore,
larger and better quarters must be
provided.
The registration Of all unemployed
claiming benefits will change the type
OF registrants at the offices. There
will be a greater proportion Of skilled
workers as compared with unskilled.
There will be better qualified workers
registering, because these new regis
trants will not be chronically unem-
ployed, but only occasionally unemploy-
ed after fairly steady periods OF EN-
ployment.
Unemployed workers who claim ben
fits will be required to register at least
weekly, maybe more frequently. This
periodic registration can be done by
a joint registration unit, and will be
arranged so that large masses can be
handled rapidly and smoothly.
Employers will call upon the en-
ploynent office more frequently, know
ing that qualified workers are regis
tered and available. AS business acti-
witty increases, employers will contact
the employment offices when they wish
= to recall former workers to work.
knowing that they have registered at
the office. This will give the employ
ment office personnel an opportunity
to make valuable contacts with en-
ployers for other needs.
Second, the procedures within m
ployment offices will need to be con-
siderably modified and changed to
make them suitable to the joint use
OF offices for compensation and place
ment functions. So far as possible
procedure should eliminate duplication
Of workers reporting and calling at Of
fices.
There must be some arrangement
for a joint control Of registration for
placement and for benefit claims. A
worker should not be required to call
first at one department and later at
another giving identical information at
each. All information that is needed
for both records should be taken at
a central intake department, the work
er then being referred to the employ
ment interviewer for his work record
data and to the compensation officer
for his claim. Careful planning OF the
layout OF premises and Of procedure
for mass control will be needed.
Third, there will be a great need for
better trained and additional numbers
OF placement officers. More highly
skilled interviewers will be necessary
for placement of great numbers Of
skilled workers. The United States
Employment Service will enlarge its
training program, | understand, and
will be helpful to the States in this
matter. There will be a real oppor-
tunity for careers in this field, because
employment offices will become in
creasingly important and more useful
in the community under the program
of unemployment compensation. The
employment offices undoubtedly will
be the center OF interest OF the entire
unemployment compensation activity OF
a state"
Mr.. Wagenet said that the NEST Ell
f~icientlv administered unemployment
compensation system is the one that
pays the fewest benefits; in other
words, one that most frequently and
most quickly places the unemployed
worker in a new job.
Employment, not unemployment
compensation" he declared, " is the
| real solution OF the problem OF UNI
. employment. The worker prefers a
full pay envelope to benefits that equal
! half his pay and come after a waiting
, period Of several weeks. The employ
er prefers to pay wages which mean
production and profits to him rather
! than have his idle workers living on
, benefits. But, whether the worker
gets unemployment benefits or a new