Reinstating Ex-Service Personnel
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How the 1944 Act Affects Employer and Former Employee • and Places Certain Obligations on Each THERE has been placed on the Statute Book an important Act of Parliament entitled "Reinstatement In Civilian Employment Act, 1944." The purpose of this Act is to make provision for the reinstatement in civilian employment of certain persons who are—or have been—in the Services of the Crown
or in the ,Civil Defence Force. , ,
The Act is an exacting piece of legislation which will have far-reaching effects upon. employer and employee alike, whilst the procedure and conditions laid down
• impose obligations to be observed by both parties.
By no means is it the. purpose of this article to discusi the ,desirability or otherwise of controls and whether they be necessary or not in the post-war period.. The aim and intention are to give an outline, of the". Act and -its provisions, with emphasis on some of the main features.
It must be conceded, however, that if the return to civilian life of -the mbn. and women of the Forces and Civil Defence units is to proceed in an orderly manner and without undue chaos, some such Measure is essential. The experiences of countleSs ex-Servicemen after the 1914-1918 war have not faded from memory even With the passage of time.
The Employer's Obligation Subject to the provisions of the Act, which came into force on August 1, 1944, an employer is placed under an obligation to reinstate former employees. In circumstances where a person at the end of his war service makes application to his former employer to be taken Into employment, the employer shall, so long as the application remains in force, be under an obligation to take the applicant into his employment. This refers (a) to the occupation in which the applicant was last employed before commencing his war service and on terms and conditions not less favourable to him than those which would have been applicable had he not become a person to whom the Act applies; (b) if it be not reasonable and practicable that the applicant should be taken into _employment in that occupation and . on those terms and conditions, then he should be placed in the most favourable 'occupation and on the most favourable terms and conditions which are reasonable and practicable in his particular case.
'The employer shall reinstate the ap-plicant at the first opportunity, if any, at which 'it is reasonable and practicable so to do., In ,accordance with the terms of the Act, the date of such engagement must be specified. After notifying the applicant, at the first opportunity, • that employment is available,. then the obligation of the employer is dischargedf In the event of the employer making employment available and the applicant refusing the employment because he has, or believes that he has, reasonable oate , for so doing, then the employer shall be relieved of the said obligation. The applicant's reason-or reasons for • such refusal must be notified. in writing to the employer by the applicant himself or by some person acting under his authority. In no case shall the employer be under • any. obligation to take the applicant into his employment after six months have elapsed from the end of the present emeriency.. It should be especially noted, that an application • shall be Of rtia effect unless inade.
writing by the applicant or some authorized person and, moreover, it must be made within the• period beginning with the termination of war service and ending on the fifth Monday following that date. Should an applicant, through sickness or for some other reasonable cause, be prevented from complying with this condition during the period stated, there is to be a 13 weeks' extension. •
An application, or the renewal of any such application, may be made either directly to the former employer or, in the manner prescribed, at an employment exchange or any other local office of the Ministry of Labour. There is a time limit, however, and the applicant, or his authorized agent, must at or after the time of making the application (but not later than four weeks from the latest date allowed) notify the former employer in writing of the date when he will be available for employment. The date in question to be not later than the expiration of the said four .weeks.
A 26-weeks' Period,
The Act contains provisions relating to the-obligation of employers to employ reinstated employees. The details are as follow:—Where an • applicant has been taken into employment within the meaning of the Act, the employer shall be under an obligation to employ the applicant for the following 26 weeks or as much thereof as is reasonable and practicable, and on the most favourable terms and conditions which, for the time being, are reasonable and practicable. '
Section five of the :Act deals with priority claims of employment and raises issues of primary importance. It shall not be regarded as reasonable and practicable for.the employer to reinstate the applicant, or to employ him either at all or in any particular occupation, if this can be done only by discharging some -other person who (a) was employed by the former employer before the relevant date; (b) had been so employed for a longer period than the applicant; (c) was so employed in work not less permanent in character than the employment of the applicant.
The term "relevant date" means the commencement a the applicant's war service; or, where the other person, as well as the applicant, is a person to whom the Act applies, it relates to the beginning of the applicant's war service or the beginning of the other person's war service, whichever is the earlier.
• The definition "former employer " in relation to a person to whom the Act applies ,' refers to the employer by whom he was last employed Within the period of four 'weeks immediately preceding the 'beginning of his war service.
FOr the purpose of determining questions arising from the •foregoing, Reinstatement Committees, an Umpire and Deputy Umpires are to be appointed. Provisions 'are made for the hearing of an appeal from a person who claims that the rights under the Act have been denied him.
Other important matters included in the Act refer to the jurisdktian of the Reinstatement Committees, appeal
• procedure and enforcement, etc. These will be dealt with in a subsequent artipeie.
It shduld be clearly iniderstood'that the foregoing is _ merely' a summary of the Act and should in no wise be regarded as an interpretation of it.