Having thus booked the time, entry by entry, and day by day, the timekeeper at the conclusion of the week or fortnight, as the case may be, proceeds to cast across and enter in the column provided, the total time made by the employé during such period, and then forwards the book to the office.

Use of employe's

Each employé having been provided with a time board, enters on it, in accordance with the instructions received from his foreman, a record of how his day's time is spent, giving in two or three words or in symbols, the nature of his work, the number of the order (if for plant or buildings, called the working order number, if for manufacturing any commodities, the manufacturing or stock order number), and the time spent thereon.

time boards or record sheets.

These time records are perhaps most convenient it written on a form, which can be easily gummed at one end to a board. On these forms or time slips it is well to have two divisions ruled-the one for a record of ordinary time, the other for overtime.

Time re

posted to

Ledgers.

TIME RECORD SHEETS.

21

The records should be initialled by the shop foreman or leading hand, and after being so initialled copied by the time clerk into a Time Allocation Book. In a business in which the work is highly specialized, and in which the employé is engaged on one piece cords, when or form of work only, and on that for some Prime Cost considerable time, it is possible, and may be found advantageous, to use these time slips as the direct sources of entry in the Prime Cost Books * instead of the wages being analysed in the manner described later. It is essential that in either case the total entries made in the Prime Cost Books on account of wages should agree with the total wages expended. The Time Allocation Book previously referred to is cast up by the time clerk and forwarded, at cation Book. the end of each payment period, to the office.

Time Allo

Verification of time return.

The two records of time made, viz., the Time Book (as prepared by the timekeeper), and the Time Allocation Book (as entered from the workpeople's own records, which are initialled by the leading hand), are, when sent to the office, compared, and in cases where differences arise, explanations obtained by the Wages Book clerk from the employé or the timekeeper. Should the explanation then given not be satisfactory, or should it not be received in time, it is incumbent on the clerk making up the Wages Book to see that the employé, pending the settlement of the question, is paid only for the lesser number of hours.

A suggested form for a Time Allocation Book, which may be ruled so as to take the records for a week, fort

• See Chapter IV.

able to present themselves at the time office on commencing or finishing work, it is desirable to have an Out-works Time Record Sheet (Specimen No. 7), which the leading hand on

the premises where the work is being carried on is asked to sign as a guarantee of the time being correctly recorded.

This Time Record serves as an authority to the timekeeper for the necessary entries in his book. In the margin of that book it is stated that the time was made outside the factory or works, the place and date being also shown. The time clerk will treat this Time Record Sheet as equivalent to the Time Slip or Board previously alluded

to.

OUT-WORKS TIME RECORD.

OUT-WORKS TIME RECORD SHEET.-SPECIMEN No. 7.

23

N.B. In all cases where possible this sheet must be signed by the person for whom the work is being done, or his representative, and must be posted so as to reach the time clerk by

a.m., on

day.

To

(Reverse side.)

189

We shall be obliged by your seeing that the other side of this Time Sheet is correctly filled up as regards the time of arriving at and leaving your premises; and, having done so, by your signing the same.

Should you desire overtime to be made please enter in the "Remarks" column that it is done at your request.

As these regulations are made to prevent mistakes and abuses, we trust they will have your kind attention.

It is well to draw the special attention of the customer for whom work is being done outside the factory, to the request that he will note in the "Remarks" column any overtime made by his order, as many seem either to ignore or be ignorant of the fact, that the higher rate generally paid for overtime adds very considerably to the cost of the work.

The economic aspects of overtime in relation to fixed capital are dealt with in a subsequent chapter. For our present purpose it suffices to say that if the employer desires to keep a check upon, and to reduce to a miniReturn of mum, the overtime that is worked, he may overtime. require the foreman or leading hand to send him at the end of each period of payment a return of overtime made (Specimen No. 8).

This return is initialled by the foreman or leading hand to show that the overtime has been sanctioned, and the clerk making up the Wages Book, to whom the return is handed, sees that no overtime other than that shown therein is allowed to pass through that book.

Instructions might be given either to the time clerk or to the Wages Book clerk, or to both, to prepare a statement showing the amount spent on overtime in excess of the amount that would have been paid had the same work been done at ordinary rates.

This return might simply show the amount paid in excess in each trade or to each individual, or it might be in a more complete form, as shown in Specimen Ruling No. 9.

In factories where, owing to the solidarity of labour, a large number of men and women are unable to commence, or fully carry out, their work unless a smaller number of men or women of a particular trade are