Evening star., 1941-04-06
No Need 10 Extend
Basic Work Week,
Fleming Asserts
Wage Hour Administrator
Denies Labor Law
lmpedes Defense
By OLIVER MCKEE.


peding production of defense ma
terials, Brig Gen. Philip 3. Fleming
vage-hour administrator, declared
yesterday he saw no reason for eX-
tending the basic 40Ehour work week.
Studies recently made at his re-
quest by the Bureau of Labor Sta
tiStics, he revealed, show that pay
ment of overtime wages lis more
than counterbalanced by the in
creased utilization of plant facilities
and the absorption of fixed overhead
expenses in larger volume of pro-
duction.
In the light of the data assembled
by bureau experts. the payment of
overtime wages, as required by the
law. is neither handicap to defense
production nor a justification for
higher prices, Gen. Fleming said.
Production of defense materials can
be stepped up, he pointed out, by
extending the work week from 40 to
48 hours, with the payment of over
time or by the employment of two,
three or four shifts. In either case,
the result should be increased cor
porate earnings, on the basis Of the
present and prospective volume of
defense orders.
Effect of Law Discussed.
'The wage and hour law does not
prevent overtime Gen. Fleming
said. The overtime penalty is not
unjust to the manufacturer, for
studies by the Bureau of Labor Sta
tistics show that corporate earnings
tend TO increase with the greater
production resulting from raising
the number of working hours from
40 to 48 a week. The overtime re-
uuirement is not unWiSe from the
social point of view, for the reason
that it tends to spread employment" !"
With the payment of overtime, the
defense manufacturer, on a 48-hour
week, is paying for 50 hours at the
basic rate, and production, theo-
retically, would be increased 20 per
cent, Gen. Fleming pointed out. Be-
cause of the fatigue factor that en-
ters the equation after man has
been working longer than the stand
ard 40-hour work week. experts eSti-
mate that lengthening the work week
to 48 hours actually increases pro-
ductlon by only 16 per cent.
BY keeping machines in operation
continuously. or almost continuously
through the week, and by employing
two, three or four shifts. output OF
war materials can be greatly in
creased, Gen Fleming said. With
more shifts. he said, American in
dustry will utilize existing machinery
to the maximum. thus reducing the
amount of additional machinery
needed. A shortage of machine tools
and other machinery is one of the
bottlenecks in the defense program.
More Men Needed.
Though the use of more shifts
will make it necessary for industry
to hire and train additional workers.
and though learners, initially, will
add to the cost of defense industries,
this cost will be soon absorbed, Gen,
Fleming said, in increased output.
BY permitting the payment of lower
than standard wages to learners,
and by ruling that time spent by
workers in schools training them for
higher skills is not to be included
as hours worked" the Wage and
Hour Division, he said, is encouraging
industry to train and hire new work
ers for the defense program.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has
tust completed two studies for Gen.
Fleming The first is an analysis of
the effect on corporate earnings of
the payment of overtime wages The
second is an analysis of the effects
of overtime payments on the gross
margin of sales.
The following industries were
covered by the first study: Coke
oven products: copper producing
and manufacturing; engine, turbine,
waterWheel and mindmill manu-
featuring; lead and zinc manufac-
turing; leather, boots and shoes:
mems and boys clothing; motor
vehicles: steel castings, and the saw,
f1le and hand tool manufacturing
industries.
In only one of these nine indus
tries-steel CastlngS-would a a.
hour week, with the payment of
overtime result in a reduction in
net profit the bureau reported In
the eight other industries, the
report says, corporate earnings
would be larger, and the payment of
the required overtime wages would
be more than counterbalanced by
the increased utilization of plant
facilities, and the absorption of
fixed overhead expenses in a greater
volume of production.
Second Report Reviewed.
The second study covered seven
industries agricultural tractors
and machineries; aircraft; auto
mobile parts and accessories; knit
goods; machine tools: petroleum
producing and refining. and rubber
products.
In five of these industries. the
gross margin on sales would be
greater with the week heightened to
48 hours. while in two industries,
the margin would be slightly lower
the bureau said. The report set
forth two other conclusions: First.
that overtime payments are more
than absorbed by the added
gross manufacturing profit earned
through the longer work week. and
second that increased prices are not
needed to maintain corporate earn
ings of industries paying overtime
between 40 and 48 hours per week.