Holidays with pay are now a legal reality forʻa great number of British workers. The Holidays with Pay Bill was passed in the House of Commons on July 22. More than 8,000,000 workpeople in Great Britain already receive holidays with pay; now, as a result of the legislation laid down by the new Bill, more than 2,000,000 additional workers are entitled to holidays with pay. These 2,000,000 workers affected by the Bill are employed under wage-regulating authorities such as Trade Boards—of which there are 47, covering large and small industries—and Agricultural Wages Committees. The Bill is an enabling measure rather than a compulsory one, and leaves the actual arrangements for holidays to the discretion of the authorities concerned. The period for a holiday with pay laid down by the Bill is not more than one week, exclusive of any holiday or half-holidays to which a worker is entitled under any other enactment. No provision is made in the Bill for domestic servants—the majority of whom already receive holidays with pay—because it is considered that this class of workers would be more appropriately dealt with in the general legislation which will follow later if required. Such general legislation will be considered in 1940, when the programmes arranged as a result of the present Bill will be reviewed. It is expected, however, that during the intervening period voluntary agreements will have covered most of the field. The number of such voluntary agreements is rapidly increasing. Today it is estimated that about 3,750,000 wage-earners are covered by voluntary agreements, as compared with some 1,500,000 about a year ago.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.