any period of proven unemployment is non-compensable. A claimant is not considered unemployed on any day prior to the day on which he makes a claim.

Supplementary Benefit.-In order to make provision for recurring higher levels of unemployment during the winter months, particularly among fringe groups which have difficulty in meeting the qualifying conditions, a plan of supplementary benefit was instituted in 1950. Supplementary benefits are payable under the same conditions as ordinary benefits between January 1 and April 15 to those:

1. Whose benefit year ended after the previous March 31 and who are unable to requalify for ordinary benefits.

2. Who are unable to qualify for ordinary benefits but who have contributed for at least 90 days since the previous March 31.

Entitlement to benefit for those mentioned in (1) is for the same number of days which were allowed in their previous claim which terminated after March 31 but in no case longer than the supplementary benefit period and with a minimum of 60 days. Entitlement for those mentioned in (2) is for one-fifth of the contributions made since the previous March 31 but for a minimum of 60 days. Regular waiting period must be served before supplementary benefit is paid but this waiting period may be served any time during the month of December.

Collection of Contributions

Payment of Contributions.-The employer is responsible for the payment of the whole contribution on behalf of an insured employee. He does this by buying stamps or meter impressions from the post office and reimburses himself for the employee's share of the contributions by pay deductions. Where remuneration is non-pecuniary, the employer pays the whole contribution and cannot recover the employee's share.

The stamps are affixed to the employee's insurance book, in a space provided for the appropriate day and week. The insurance book is the property of the Commission, is issued to an employee when he enters insurable employment, and is retained by that person's employer while he remains in employment. It is handed to the employee on separation. The insurance book is turned in by the employer at the end of each fiscal year and is replaced by a new book under the same insurance number.

Reciprocal Agreements With States of the
United States

Under the provisions of section 115 of the Unemployment Insurance Act the government of Canada has made an agreement with the government of the United States on questions relating to unemployment insurance. The agreement, which came into effect in April 1942, provides (1) for avoiding duplication of contributions in respect of the same periods of employment where persons are employed partly in

Canada and partly in the United States, (2) for the payment of benefit out of the unemployment insurance fund of Canada or of any participating State, when an insured person who has accumulated credits in one jurisdiction becomes unemployed and files a claim in another jurisdiction. Under this agreement the Unemployment Insurance Commission of Canada has made reciprocal arrangements with various State employment security agencies for the payment of benefits. In these arrangements the liable jurisdiction accepts the registration requirements of the jurisdiction in which the claim is filed and payment of benefit is made by the liable jurisdiction.

Administration

The Unemployment Insurance Commission, which administers and directs unemployment insurance in Canada is composed of three commissioners: a Chief Commissioner nominated by the Government for a term of 10 years and two Commissioners for a term of 5 years. One Commissioner represents employers' organizations and the other, employees' organizations. This Commission is responsible to the Government through the Minister of Labour.

Under the Commission and reporting directly to it is an Executive Director. For the purpose of administration, Canada is divided into five regions. At the head of each region there is a regional superintendent who reports to the Executive Director in Ottawa, where the head office of the Commision is located. All the local offices in each region are under the jurisdiction of the regional superintendent. Thus, it will be seen that while Ottawa exercises a supervisory control over the whole of Canada, each region operates more or less as a separate unit.

The head office organization is divded into two main branches, one dealing with employment and the other with insurance. The insurance branch is engaged specifically in administering those provisions of the Act which are intended to apply insurance principles and techniques to the uncertainties of employment. The duties involved in this task fall into four groups-coverage, contributions, audit, and claims which operate as separate divisions under the Director of Unemployment Insurance. The insurance divisions, at the head office in Ottawa, maintain parallel contact with the equivalent divisions of the branch in the five regional offices across the country.

THE COVERAGE DIVISION is responsible for conducting the necessary research work in order to provide the background for the administrative rulings which are issued from time to time by the Commission relative to the scope of the Act.

THE CONTRIBUTIONS DIVISION administers those provisions of the Act which are concerned with the collection of unemployment insurance contributions, and supervises the operation of the technical procedures in the manner authorized as respects (Continued on page 30)

important item in Hillsboro, Oregon. Production of 6,525 tons brings a cash value of $1,850,000 to growers who annually plant 3,100 acres of Marshall and Northwest varieties of strawberries. Ninety-five percent of this yield finds its way into processing plants where its value is increased many fold.

In normal years, the local labor supply of 12,000 young people is sufficient to harvest the strawberry crop without calling for workers beyond a 30-mile radius. Since these local recruits are contacted well before the harvest season begins, they all have a clear understanding of the program.

But 1954 was not a normal year. Excessive rain made it impossible to have a normal-length harvest season for any of the late spring or summer crops. Then 4 days of warm weather accompanied by high humidity and a burst of sunshine brought a sudden ripening of the strawberry crop. This required immediate action. To meet this sudden and unexpected need for harvest hands, we were forced to tap a heretofore unused source of workers-60 miles away!

The decision on June 30, 1954, to extend the dayhaul program to the county made famous by Tillamook cheese, depended on one very important factor-transportation. One community-spirited citizen, fully insured and owner of five passenger buses capable of transporting 50 youngsters each, was willing to support our program. He was upheld by two ministers who were experienced bus drivers and willing to work during the approaching weekend. The growers were willing to pay the cost of transporting harvest hands to their fields. Experience had taught them that each youngster would pick an average of about 120 pounds of berries per day. The wage for this type of work was 5 cents for each 1-pound hallock picked or an average daily wage of $6.

Joint planning by the local office managers in Hillsboro and Tillamook was the next step. Ralph Lose, manager of the Tillamook office, felt that a program of day-haul extended to his community, where dairying is the principal agricultural activity and job opportunities for youngsters are limited, would be most welcome. He indicated that this was

the opportune time to start an experiment of this sort while nearly two-thirds of the covered employment in his area was inactive due to a labor-management dispute in the logging and lumbering industry. He felt that families would grasp any employment which would help them over this period of lost income. Two members of our local staff were sent to Tillamook to coordinate activities.

If joint planning, shared responsibility, and coordination spell success, this was the time to prove it. We had secured safe transportation; properly licensed adult drivers; and health, safety, and sanitary facilities for all young workers. In addition, we had an agreement with the strawberry growers to shorten the work day to 6 hours for these new workers who were to be used to augment the "regular" crew of pickers and get the berries "off" in the quickest possible time.

In order to accomplish this mission, one factor was paramount immediate publicity directed to parents. Radio was the medium used because the weekly newspaper would be published too late for this emergency. Radio Station KTIL permitted us to make a direct daily broadcast informing parents and teenagers of our recruitment program. In our first appeal, we discussed all phases of our day-haul program, including transportation, pickup spots, working conditions, and wages. This appeal was made at 3 p. m. The response was excellent; by 9 o'clock that evening we had arranged for two bus loads of pickers to assemble at the Tillamook local office at 5 the next morning.

Too Many Workers!

Then the fun began; we had recruited more pickers for that morning than we had anticipated. In order to utilize this excess labor pool the Hillsboro Farm Labor Representative immediately went into action and made arrangements with another grower to use

these eager and willing workers. This required securing an additional bus.

Due to unforeseen factors, such as weather conditions and uncertainty of the labor market, it was imperative that the Farm Labor Representative keep abreast of the situation at all hours of the day and night during the hectic ripening period.

A Gamble on the Weather

Briefing at 4 a. m. was completed in the local coffee shop, an hour before the estimated time of departure. One final factor had to be considered; the weather forecast for the day, in the harvest area on the other side of the coast range, had to be known. A telephone call was put through to the Hillsboro Farm Labor Representative who was to give the final word for departure of 100 agricultural workers. This was a very important decision to make and a gamble as we were in the midst of a rainy season in Tillamook County, which has 94 inches of rainfall annually. Any wrong guess would be costly to all concernedthe bus drivers who were to supervise the group, the owner of the buses, the growers, and the youngsters. One hundred and four wiggling, jumping, and shouting young people arrived at the local employment office at 5 a. m. anticipating a picnic in the country interrupted only by 6 hours of work in the strawberry fields. This seemed to be the spirit generated by this young group who, with their lunches and proper clothing, were prepared for a day's work. This was a good beginning for our initial effort in recruiting harvest hands from an area where most of the adolescents had never performed services under supervision for wages. For the first time in their lives they were going to produce something and add to the economic welfare of their community.

Arriving in two separate berry fields at 7 o'clock, these youngsters were given a short orientation in which the various phases of conduct, work procedures, and

manner of payment were explained. They soon realized that their earnings would depend entirely on the amount of effort expended and that this work was not exactly a picnic. Their day's work was completed at 3 o'clock when the pay line formed and all hands were paid in cash.

Tired youngsters arrived at their home base in Tillamook 12 hours after their journey had begun. Happy in spirit but tired in body, the majority of the group indicated they would return for employment the following day.

The increasing need for additional workers encouraged us to step up the tempo of our recruiting program. We contracted for daily radio spot announcements, and continued personal appearances daily on the local radio program. Our activity reached such proportions that on the peak day four buses, plus a caravan of families in their own cars, were dispatched to the Washington County berry fields. In addition, many unemployed adults who heard of our appeal went directly to the various berry fields of their own choice. The exact number thus employed will never be known.

Eleven days later our mission was completed when the strawberry harvest was well in hand and the local farm labor supply was able to handle the remainder of the crop, which was to continue for another 2 weeks.

You might properly ask, "What results did you achieve in this unusual day-haul program?" If we use money as a measure of value, we can say that the Tillamook farm labor group enabled harvesting of approximately $46,280 worth of food. In return, these workers received $16,500 for their hire. Considering their inexperience, the quality of work was very good.

The young people did a wonderful job and made up in enthusiasm for what they lacked in experience. Coming from an area whose rugged, rough, and indented coastline and low timber-covered hills encourages few industries in which they can find employment, they demonstrated they could lend a helping hand when called upon.

As an indirect result of our efforts, many more families may migrate to the Washington County harvest fields in future years. Some families return to this area year after year realizing that family groups can do pretty well for themselves in the course of a season. One mother and four boys, as a case in point, earned $1,285.35 in 6 weeks of harvesting strawberries last year.

As in any undertaking of this kind, the program had its weaknesses. Early planning and coordination with a group of this sort is virtually impossible because these workers are used only in cases of emergency.

The supervisor of employment service activities, the farm placement representative, and I enjoyed formulating and carrying through to a satisfactory conclusion this day-haul program despite the long hours of work involved. We especially enjoyed the association with the two young ministers. We found them

good supervisors of youngsters, excellent bus drivers, and willing to set aside their own interests in order to help in a community project.

This long day-haul program for bringing in workers from outside our immediate area was an experiment to save a highly perishable crop. In evaluating the results we feel that it was successful and worth the effort.

CANADA

(Continued from page 27)

insurance stamps, meter impressions, and cash paid. direct to the Fund through bulk payment plans.

THE AUDIT DIVISION of the insurance branch is directly concerned with the position of the employer in relation to the Insurance Fund.

The Canadian scheme, under which contributions are mainly collected by the affixing of stamps in the insurance books of the employees, embraces all those small operators whose business records and procedures would normally be considered inadequate to qualify them for inclusion in a social insurance plan. It does, however, necessitate periodic visits to the premises of a relatively large number of employers whose individual contribuions to the Fund are so small as to suggest that they do not justify the administrative expense of the travelling and audit time involved.

THE CLAIMS DIVISION of the insurance branch is specifically concerned with the supervision of disbursements from the Insurance Fund.

Insured workers, who are unemployed and have fulfilled the conditions laid down in the Act, are entitled to a weekly payment for a specific number of weeks. The claims division supervises these payments and is responsible for seeing that each claimant secures his statutory rights under the plan. However, since three groups-employees, employers, and the government-contribute to the Unemployment Insurance Fund, all three have an interest in its proper administration. Therefore, in dealing with an individual claim, the rights of all three contributors must be considered.

It is the duty of the claims division to see that the proper balance is maintained by instituting procedures whereby justice is done to the claimants without any danger of unwarranted claims being paid from the Fund. This division functions mainly through the network of local offices located at strategic employment points throughout the Dominion. Claims are accepted at these offices and forwarded to adjudication officers. At this level a thorough examination is made of the conditions surrounding the employee's separation from his employment before the claim is approved for payment.

When a claimant is not considered by an insurance officer of the claims division to be entitled to benefit, the claimant has a right to appeal to a court of referees. In certain cases a claimant may appeal from a decision of the court of referees to the Umpire. The decision of the Umpire is final.

By MRS. CHARLOTTE PHYFER

Counselor, Vicksburg Local Office

Mississippi Employment Security Commission

OPPORTUNITY

KNOCKS THREE TIMES

EACH WEEK

E

ACH Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 6:55, listeners to Radio Station WQBC, Vicksburg, Miss., hear a brisk rapping, followed by the words:

This may be opportunity knocking on your door, for this is "Help Wanted," a program designed to find jobs for workers, and workers for obs. "Help Wanted" is brought to you as a public service by the Early Chevrolet Co. "Help Wanted" will help you to find a full-time job, a part-time job, or to supplement the family income by marketing a homemade product.

The Mississippi State Employment Service cooperates by giving you notices of job openings. Complete information on these jobs may be obtained by visiting the Mississippi State Employment Service office at 707 Crawford Street, or by telephoning 1560.

Following this information, the announcer briefly presents the requirements of from three to six current. job opportunities, giving such pertinent information as the job title, the number of openings, experience requirements, the employer's specified age range, rate of pay, and hours to be worked. The name of the employer is not given on the air, but listeners are reminded again that more detailed information may be secured by a visit or a telephone call to the Employment Service office.

As a rule, a part of each program is used to present the qualifications of one or two applicants for employment who are registered with the Mississippi State Employment Service. Applicants are named; but employers who are interested in interviewing them are invited to telephone the Employment Service to arrange an appointment.

not

The program has been in operation for over a year, and is steadily gaining listeners throughout the area served by the Vicksburg local office. Since it comes on the air before 7 a. m., it has proved an effective source of recruitment when rush orders for construction or other laborers have been received. During times of peak demand for agricultural workers, such as the cotton chopping or cotton harvesting season, information is relayed over this program, telling the number of workers needed, the time trucks will leave the local labor pool, and the price being paid by the day or the hundredweight.

Brief announcements are incorporated into the program to remind applicants that they must contact the Employment Service office every 30 days to keep their applications active; to emphasize to the public that the services offered by the Mississippi State Employment Service are without charge to employers and job seekers alike.

During National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week, employers are reminded of the skills and abilities of many handicapped workers, and handicapped persons are invited to place their applications with the Employment Service.

During summer months, the availability of high school and college students for vacation jobs and parttime work is stressed, and information regarding the training and skills possessed by these young people is given.

While the responsibility for selecting orders and applications to be presented on the program rests with Employment Service personnel, the actual script is prepared by the program director of Radio Station WQBC. It would be difficult, due to the pressure of other duties, for local office personnel to write the script, and the fact that it is professionally prepared and presented by a trained announcer adds to the listener appeal.

For a small city such as Vicksburg, a cooperative agreement between an individual employer as the sponsor, a local radio station, and the Employment Service is ideal, for there is no trade association which has the necessary funds for financing such a program. The Employment Service in Vicksburg is proud that time for this program is paid for as a public service by a local employer, and that through this medium, both employers and job seekers have become better acquainted with the services offered by our agency.

The sponsor is gratified to feel that through this contribution a job may be obtained for some unemployed person, and that the program has received such public acceptance that even his competitors feel free to use it to publicize their labor needs.