22

II.—PRIVATE  FIRMS  AND  COMPANIES.

thus  credited  for  provident  purposes  is  usually  one-half.( a )  In  a
few  cases( b )  the  provident  fund  is  supplemented,  or  even  entirely
supported,  by  sums  representing  the  bonus  due  to  employees  who
have  not  fulfilled  certain  conditions  to  entitle  them  to  participate
individually.

Purposes  to  which  Provident  Funds  are  applied.
Provident  schemes  may  generally  be  divided  into  two  classes,
viz.  :  (1)  those  in  which  a  common  fund  is  established  for  the
benefit  of  employees,  and  (2)  those  in  which  separate  amounts
are  credited  to  individual  employees.  In  the  case  of  (1)  the
purposes  include  provision  for  the  necessities  arising  from  sickness, ­
  old  age,  disablement,  and  death,  and  also,  in  the  case  of
female  employees,  for  a  marriage  dowry.  Instances  of  schemes
making  provision  for  sick  allowances  are  Nos.  5,  9,  25,  and
43.  Provision  for  the  payment  of  superannuation  grants  is  made'
by  Nos.  9  and  25.  Provision  is  made  against  disablement  by  No.  9
and  for  the  payment  of  a  sum  on  the  death  of  the  participant  by
Nos.  5,  9,  and  25.  Provision  for  marriage  is  made  in  the  case
of  female  employees  by  Nos.  5  and  35.  In  cases  where  the  deferred
bonus  is  the  individual  property  of  employees,  definite  provision
is  made  in  some  instances  for  the  payment  of  the  amount  accumulated ­
  on  the  attainment  of  a  certain  age(°)  or  after  a  certain  period
of  service^);  while  it  is  provided  in  other  instances( 0 )  that  the
deferred  bonus  may  only  be  withdrawn  in  special  approved  circumstances. ­
  In  the  case  of  No.  30  the  money  set  aside  is  for  a
sick  club,  the  balance  at  the  end  of  each  year  being  distributed
among  the  employees.  Some  gas  companies,  while  not  retaining
the  “withdrawable”  half  of  the  bonus  (see  p.  63)  for  definite
provident  purposes,  try  to  ensure  that  it  shall  be  so  retained  by
warning  employees  against  regularly  withdrawing  this  half;  some
companies( f )  say  that  if  employees  do  not  save  their  bonuses  as
intended  they  will  be  removed  from  the  list  of  participants’,
while  othersfo)  say  that  breach  of  this  rule  may  lead  to  their  profitsharing
  schemes  being  discontinued.

( a )  One-half  in  the  case  of  Nos.  5,  11,  20,  24,  39,  41,  55,  82,  93,  96,  98,  99,  105,
107,  108,  111,  123,  132.  In  the  case  of  No.  23,  the  proportion  is  two-thirds,
while  it  is  one-third  in  the  case  of  No.  29,  one  quarter  in  the  case  of  No.  30,  and
one-tenth  in  the  case  of  No.  49.  In  the  oase  of  No.  91  the  whole  of  the  bonus
is  to  be  regarded  as  held  for  provident  purposes  after  a  £10  share  in  the  undertaking ­
  has  been  purchased  by  bonuses.
( b )  See  rules  applying  to  Nos.  25  (pp.  36-38),  49  (pp.  49-52),  and  78
(pp.  46-49).  In  the  case  of  No.  43  the  provident  fund  is  accumulated  from  the
bonuses  due  to  employees  with  less  than  12  months’  service,  or  who  leave  before
the  expiration  of  the  year  for  which  the  bonus  accrued  ;  while  with  No.  87  the
bonus  due  to  employees  who  leave  during  the  year  is  credited  to  a  Sick  Fund.
The  provident  fund  is  supplemented  by  the  bonuses  due  to  casual  hands  in  the
case  of  No.  5.

(°)  This  varies  from  55  in  the  case  of  No.  37,  60  for  men  and  55  for  women
in  the  case  of  No.  30,  60  in  the  case  of  Nos.  29  and  41,  to  65  in  the  case  of  No.  23,
and  70  in  the  case  of  No.  20.  No  age-limit  is  laid  down  by  No.  11,  money  being
paid  when  employee  is  considered  pensionable.
( a )  Defined  as  25  years  by  Nos.  20,  23,  39,  and  30  years  by  No.  29.
(")  Nos.  5,  24,  27,  55,  91,'  108,  132.  ( f )  Nos.  82,  93,  105,  107.