employees, hours and conditions of work, seasonal employment, and educational or welfare work were points of special consideration, but in connection with wages data on the cost of living of store women were also collected. The body of the report is divided into four sections: (1) Organization, (2) general working conditions, (3) wages, and (4) working girls' budgets. Under the head of organization is given a brief explanation of the nature of the duties of the various positions in the big department stores the superintendent, the buyer, the assistant buyer, saleswomen, junior salesgirls, stock workers, cashiers, inspectors and wrappers, packers, messengers, clerical workers, and the contingent and extra force. The volume of business in department stores is extremely irregular, varying by seasons, months, days, and hours of the day, and to meet this the numbers of the selling force must be correspondingly altered. The burden of this irregularity does not fall severely on the regular force, but so-called contingents or extras are employed for single days of the week or for a limited period on certain days in order to take care of the business during the busy periods. The situation will best be understood by quoting from the report: With the exception of millinery and coat and suit saleswomen, there is a fairly regular force in all stores which is augmented from September to Christmas and during March and April. Beyond this all extremes of business are met by summoning some of the vast army of casual department store workers with which the city is supplied. Except before Christmas, when all stores increase their force, this supply of extra workers far exceeds the demand. There is also a group of full or part-time workers who are employed the year round and who are known as "contingent workers." In four stores from which information was secured there were found registered 392 of these contingents who work 2, 3, or 6 days each week. In addition to this, there are a great number who work in stores only when sent for or when the store advertises. The number of part-time workers and their distribution through the week show Monday and Saturday to be the busiest days. The following list of the number of contingents and extra help employed daily was taken from the records. of one large store for November, 1913: NUMBER OF “EXTRAS” EMPLOYED DAILY IN ONE DEPARTMENT STORE IN The stores arrange for special days or for the busy hours of the day in many ways. Each store has a force of from 25 to 50 so-called regular full-time contingents who work the same hours as regular saleswomen, but unlike them do not belong to a department. They are assigned to places as the supply is needed, and sometimes serve in as many as five departments in one day. "Contingents" are usually found at aisle tables, where bargains are for sale. The reason for regularly assigning these girls to special "sales" is that bargain hunters get to know and look for the same girl. The life of a contingent is often not a pleasant one; she is put into a department temporarily and the regular girls often object to her presence, because she takes no part in the care of stock, is frequently obliged to ask questions, and often deprives the "regulars" of sales. The head of a department requires a girl many times a day to show her sales book and, if she is not maintaining a certain standard, removes her to another department. The "contingent" is often waiting her turn to be permanently assigned to a department; in the meantime she is gaining a knowledge of a wide variety of merchandise. The part-time contingents work every day from 11 to 5 o'clock or only two or three days a week from 10.30 to 4.30. Relief cashiers are also employed from 11 a. m. to 4 p. m. They go from desk to desk taking the place of the regular cashiers while they are at lunch. One store has stock girls who come in at 8 a. m. and act as relief cashiers from 11 to 4.30, when they go home. It is apparent that there are many ways of increasing the force in order to have the maximum number in the middle of the day. One store has seven different schedules of hours that apply to their special help alone. To illustrate: Daily. Wednesday and Thursday Tuesday and Friday.. Monday and Saturday. Two, three, or four days.. .25 contingents.. 10-5 or 11-4. .25 contingents.. 10.45-4.30. 10 contingents.. 10.45-4.30. .60 contingents.. 10.45-5. ...others.. 9.30-5 or 8-5.30. Another store, in addition to about 50 registered contingents, engages some girls every morning between 8 and 10 o'clock, according as special sales, the weather, or absences in the regular force warrant. At the employment office in this store may be seen every day from 20 to 50 girls and women seeking a day's work for $1. An average of about 25 of these are engaged daily. For some it is a case of first come, first served, but, as there is a chance of being taken on until 10 o'clock, many stay until that hour and only leave when they are told that no more are needed. Many girls are known who apply daily for weeks, thereby wasting time and car fare and secure only an occasional day's work. This is the only class of extra help known who are not notified when they will be needed. The following schedule by months for 1913 shows to what extent extra help is used by the above house. The figures quoted represent the number of extra days' work monthly-not the number of girls working, as the same girl may appear over and over. It is seen here that January and February and July and August are the dull months for "extras" and November the busy month. The table shows more days' extra work for November than for December, because after December 24 all extras were dropped. Next in importance to the Christmas season, which marks the height of retail-store business, come the first days of the month, when charge accounts soar, and Monday, Friday, and Saturday in each week. In addition most of the Philadelphia department stores hold a much-advertised sale one day each month. All stores keep a record of several hundred extra saleswomen, often former employees, who may be called upon to work from one to ten days a month, according to business demands, and who respond according to their ability to report when needed. When there is to be a special sale, it is not infrequent for a superintendent to send out 200 postal cards and have 60 applicants, so uncertain is this class of workers. The plan of having contingent workers is unquestionably a benefit to the organization of a large house. It secures a fresh group of workers for the middle of the day and keeps the pay roll much lower than were these people to be carried right along. In one store contingents represent 6.2 per cent and in another 50 per cent of the number of regular saleswomen. In other stores they range from 10 to 15 per cent of the regular number. For the worker who has household duties this form of selling affords an additional occupation. The records of 27 part-time contingents in one store showed only four to be under 21 and one-third to be over 35 years of age—a fact which might indicate that they had outside responsibilities. A few contingents are students or school teachers desirous of earning extra money, but many are girls striving to get on the regular force. They are adaptable and serviceable as contingents, and unless they are fortunate enough to secure permanent employment in another store they usually remain such. Many girls try to make a livelihood by working two or three days a week for two or more different stores. There is no certainty of being engaged, however, if the weather and business are not good. Usually girls are told not to report in bad weather. One store claims to pay car fare if a girl is sent for and then not needed. The working conditions are discussed under the heads of structure of buildings, basement selling, ventilation of basements, environment, provision for health and comfort, rest rooms, lunch rooms, wash rooms, coat rooms, toilets, seats, welfare work, educational classes, instruction in store systems, educational clubs and social life, medical service, benefit associations, normal hours, overtime, Sunday work, history of Christmas closing, holiday overtime, clerical workers, and stock taking. The prevailing method of paying women in mercantile establish、 ments in Philadelphia is by the flat rate or fixed sum per week. Affecting wages more or less indirectly are several practices, which are explained, such as commissions, premium money, employees' discount and charge accounts, clothing requirements, fines for lateness, and fines for mistakes. The wages of women in five department stores are shown in the following table, by occupations: WAGES OF WOMEN IN FIVE DEPARTMENT STORES, BY OCCUPATIONS, PHILADEL PHIA, 1913-14. Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per Num- Per ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. Except as to saleswomen there were no additional earnings to the weekly rate in the above classes. Scarcely over one-fourth of the saleswomen in all five stores were receiving additions to their weekly rates. Saleswomen comprise 52.1 per cent of all store workers and of these 53.5 per cent receive under $8.50 per week. As to regularity of employment, it is stated that taking the number employed during the month of May as the normal force, or 100 per cent, it appears that during the month of December there is an increase of 42 per cent and during the month of August a decrease of 27 per cent. This indicates the number of temporary and intermittent department store workers at the command of large department stores for busy seasons. Schedules as to the cost of living were secured from 788 girls. Of these 502, or 63.7 per cent, were found to be living at home and 286, or 36.3 per cent, were adrift. The term "adrift "designates those who are self-supporting and living in private families other than their own, and also married women who support a family, single women or widows who are at the head of a household, and women living in boarding or lodging houses. As to the age and experience of women found in these two groups, material was limited to one store only, employing 1,300 women. Of 290 women reporting it was found that the average age of 125 adrift and of 165 living at home was 28.8 years and 20.7 years, respectively. The average years of experience of those adrift was 4.6 and of those living at home 1.7. The following table shows the cost of food and shelter for 286 women adrift who were living in various ways: COMPARATIVE COST OF DIFFERENT MODES OF LIVING OF DEPARTMENT STORE WOMEN ADRIFT, PHILADELPHIA, 1913-14. 1 Obtained by dividing total earnings of all the girls by the total number of girls. As to other items of expenditure it was found that the average weekly expenditure was for clothing $1.71; for car fare 60 cents; for recreation 17 cents; and for laundry, health, insurance, and all incidentals $1.65-a total of $8.53 per week. Of the "adrift" group, 58, or 32.1 per cent, besides paying their own board supported from 1 to 5 children or contributed to needy relatives. in amounts varying from 10 cents to $1.25 weekly. Information as to contributions to family was obtained from 181 saleswomen adrift and also from 181 living at home, and it is summarized in the following table: NUMBER AND PER CENT OF SALESWOMEN ADRIFT AND LIVING AT HOME WHO CON TRIBUTED TO THE SUPPORT OF OTHERS THAN THEMSELVES. |