Chapter 20

The classes already mentioned have, until the present year (1913), been recruited solely for the Post Office, but the class of Women Typists, numbering about 600, are a Treasury Class, and are common to the whole Civil Service, the conditions of entry varying according to the Department. In the Post Office alone, are Typists recruited by open competitive examination. The scale of salary is 20s. a week, rising in three years to 26s.: they then have the option of qualifying in shorthand, after which they can rise to 31s. per week. In the Post Office, however, the number allowed to qualify in this way is limited to 50 per cent. of the staff. The supervising posts are: Superintendent, 35s. a week, and Chief Superintendent, 40s. a week. No higher positions are open to Typists anywhere, no matter how good their qualifications and educational equipment. The Association of Civil Service Typists claim some avenue of promotion to clerical work in the Departments in which they serve.

There are also about 650 women employed by the Board of Trade in the Labour Exchange Service. With the exception of about 180, who were transferred from the Post Office for Unemployment Insurance Work under Part II. of the National Insurance Act, these women were admitted by the new method of recruitment adopted by the Civil Service Commissioner under Clause VII. of the Order in Council of January 1910. Under this system, applications are invited, and a certain number of apparently suitable candidates are interviewed by a committee of selection, and those chosen for appointment are subsequently required to pass a qualifying examination. The educational standard of this examination, for both men and women, is so low that it appears to be designed, not for the purpose of selecting candidates of good general education, but merely to eliminate the illiterate.

The scale of salary for these posts is the same for women as for men, and is as follows:--

Lower Grade £60, rising by increments of £5 per annum to £105. Higher Grade £110, rising by increments of £5 per annum to £150.

There are also a few higher appointments. Women are, however, under a particular disability in that they must wait for a vacancy in the Higher Grade before passing on beyond £105, whilst in the case of the Men Clerks there is no such stoppage, officers being allowed to proceed straight on, if certified efficient.

It will, no doubt, have been observed that the post of Women Clerk is the highest in the Service open to women by competitive examination, and with the exception of some sixteen or eighteen appointments in the Board of Education, Women Clerks have hitherto been recruited for the Post Office alone. They are now being recruited from this examination for the National Health Insurance Commissions. The exclusion of Women Clerks from the numerous State Departments such as the Home Office, Local Government Board, Inland Revenue, etc., is mainly traditional, as they are not excluded by the wording of the Order in Council of 10th January 1910 (paragraph 5, Part I.) which states that

"all appointments ... shall be made by means of competitive examinations according to regulations framed, or to be from time to time framed by the Commissioners, and approved by the Treasury, _open to all persons_(of the requisite age, health, character, and other qualifications prescribed in the said regulations) who may be desirous of attending the same...."

In this passage the word "persons" is interpreted to mean men only, but as other professions are yielding to the pressure of modern economic conditions and are opening their doors to women, it is time that the State considered the advisability of profiting by the services of women eminently fitted to perform clerical, organising, and administrative duties, many of whom may possess the special qualifications needed for the work in various Government Departments.

The present limitation of the employment of women, and their lack of prospects of advancement constitutes a serious grievance. Whilst many avenues are open to men to improve their condition in the early years of service, if they possess the necessary ability and enterprise, women have no such opportunities, and have practically no chance of advancement except by way of supervision in their own grade. Moreover, if we look at this question from the point of view of advantage to the community, we find that the present mode of staffing the higher posts of the service from the male sex narrows the field of selection. It is in the interests of the public that the best type of officer should be secured, and not merely the best male available, and the unrestricted admission of women to the higher classes in the Civil Service, and their payment on the same terms as men would make for the greater efficiency of the Department, by securing the services of highly qualified women, who at present are not attracted by the small salaries and the meagre prospects offered. It must also be realised by heads of families that they have a right to expect that the service of the State--a dignified, secure, and independent profession--should be open to their daughters as well as to their sons. Furthermore, as the revenue, out of which the salaries of Civil Servants are paid, is collected from women as well as from men, women should have an equal right to earn those salaries.

Economy in working and simplification of administration would be attained by abolishing the separate examinations, and allowing men and women to enter for the same examinations on equal terms.

There are certain advantages attached to service under the State, which are taken into account when salaries are fixed, but the value of these privileges to the staff is frequently over-estimated by the outsider. For instance, security of tenure and the prospect of a pension at retirement, often act as a deterrent to clever and enterprising officers who, but for the sacrifice involved, would throw up their appointment and seek more remunerative and promising employment outside. Again, the medical attendance provided by the Post Office is, in the case of the women employed in the Headquarters Departments, only available in practice when they are well enough to attend at the office to wait on the Medical Officer there. In theory, every employée is entitled to the services of a Medical Officer at her own home in case of serious illness, but, in fact, the Women Medical Officers are too few to be able to give the necessary individual attention. As an instance of this, it may be stated that to one Department, numbering 1,800 women, the part time of one doctor only, is allotted.

Other advantages are a steadily progressing scale of salary, provided that efficient service is rendered; annual leave with pay; a reasonable working day--seven hours for the clerical force and the typists, and eight hours for the other classes; in most Departments payment is made for overtime; a pension on compulsory retirement after ten years' service, except in the case of women retired on marriage, when a gratuity is given after six years' service, amounting to one month's salary for every year of service up to twelve years. A compassionate allowance is also given on the same basis for both sexes, in cases where an officer is compelled to retire through ill-health before completing ten years' service. Sick pay is granted up to a maximum of six months on full pay and six months on half pay. The full period of leave is not, however, always allowed before retirement. It is given only at the discretion of the Department, if there is a chance of complete recovery; officers have no definite claim to it. Although these are distinct advantages to the staff, it must not be overlooked that it is essential for the State to offer some inducements of this kind, in order to obtain a staff more or less permanent who will regard their employment as a career. It is most important for the proper conduct of a Government office that the officials should have a lasting interest in their work, and a share in the successful administration of the Department.

Women Civil Servants are under the Superannuation Act of 1859 as regards their pensions, and receive an amount equal to one-sixtieth of their annual salary at retirement, for every year of service. Under the Courtney Scheme of 1909, the basis of calculation is one-eightieth instead of one-sixtieth, and the reduction in the pension is compensated by a cash payment at retirement, or, in the event of death occurring whilst in harness, a cash payment is made to the next-of-kin. Women secured their exclusion from the provisions of the latter scheme at their own request, as it was felt that the larger pension was of more value to them than the cash payment at death or retirement; moreover their pensions were already too small to admit of further diminution.

It is a general rule throughout the Service that a woman must retire on marriage; as already mentioned, a compensating-bonus is granted in respect of the loss of pension thereby sustained. A married woman has no definite claim to return to her employment, should she again desire to earn her own living, and only if widowed is she allowed, in certain circumstances, to return to the Service. Should any other misfortune overtake her, or should she for any other reason wish to become economically independent, she is not allowed to earn her living by means of her own profession of Civil Servant. This rule of the Service undoubtedly acts as a deterrent to marriage for, according to the statistics published, only about 3 per cent. of the whole female staff annually leave to be married. It need hardly be pointed out that in the present state of the law of the land, when no portion of a husband's income is secured to his wife as a right, a woman will not lightly throw up her means of livelihood with no prospect of returning to it should she so desire, in order to take her chance of happiness with a man whom the law permits to hold her in subjection body and soul. There is another aspect of the question: Women Civil Servants have to pass a strict medical examination before entering the Service; they have to furnish satisfactory evidence of respectability, of the health of their antecedents, and of a certain standard of education. They are therefore what is known as "selected lives": if these women are forced to remain celibate as a condition of their employment, it is a distinct loss to the nation of a specially selected class of potential mothers. In these days, when the declining birthrate is causing some concern to our statesmen, it would surely be worth their while to consider how far they are themselves contributing to the condition of affairs which they deplore, by maintaining this rigid regulation for the sake of a worn-out sentiment. The compulsory resignation on marriage is a definite wrong both to the women concerned and to the community at large, for women of selected health and intellect are discouraged from marriage by this regulation. Pending the final settlement of this question which is likely to be a very controversial one, the difficulty might be met by a modification of the existing rule allowing married women who have been Civil Servants to return to their employment should they again desire to earn their own living by means of the only profession for which they have qualified.

Women in the Civil Service are in a peculiar position with regard to their rights as citizens. They are handicapped by all the rules governing the political action of men, while they are without the means of maintaining their status as wage-earners. Although they are prohibited by reason of their sex, from taking part in any Parliamentary election as voters, they are nevertheless bound by the rules of the Civil Service which were drawn up when Civil Servants were first enfranchised. These rules state that "now officers have been relieved of the electoral disabilities to which they were formerly subject, they are eligible to be placed on the Parliamentary Register and to vote at a parliamentary election. Nevertheless, it is expected of them as Public Servants that they should maintain a certain reserve in political matters and not put themselves forward on one side or the other." This rule has been interpreted by the Department to mean that no Woman Civil Servant may take an active part in any Suffrage Society which interferes in party politics. Thus women are forced to accept a subservient position, and are also prevented from taking direct steps to raise their status. The principle of equal pay for equal work, if conceded without equal opportunities, is liable to be evaded, and must be safeguarded by statute, and there is no guarantee that any improvement gained will be permanent until women have political power to enforce their demands, for the masculine point of view dominates every Government Department and colours all administration.

Moreover, it should be borne in mind that women are handicapped by being, to a large degree, dependent on reports of their work emanating from male Heads of Departments who are in many cases prejudiced, sometimes unconsciously, against their employment. Heads of Departments do not as a rule take the same amount of personal interest as a private employer in the women under their control, and so these are frequently the victims of caprice. If the person in authority at a particular office happens to object to employing women, he actually opposes their appointment in that office, and deprives them of the chance of displaying their ability. Whilst they have more than their fair share of routine work, and are excluded from practically all the higher posts, they are on that account actually accused of possessing less initiative, less administrative ability, and less power of acting in sudden emergencies than men. It is indeed a vicious circle. They are prevented by their sex from acquiring these qualities in the ordinary course of their duties and excluded from the examinations for admission to those posts in which such qualities would be of use. It is then seriously urged by responsible officials of the Civil Service as an argument against their admittance to superior appointments, that they are lacking in the necessary qualifications.

Such unreasonable and unfair criticism creates bitterness in the minds of the women, who find themselves, in a large number of cases, saddled with domestic responsibilities as great or greater than those of the officials who would seek to drive them back into the home, and who endeavour to prevent them from rising to any decent positions in their profession. An encouraging sign, however, is the enlightened attitude shown by some of the members of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service; the pertinent enquiries made of the Heads of Departments regarding the position of women tend to show that the question will, at least, receive consideration, and that the evidence placed before the Commission by the women's organisations will not be without its effect on the administration of the Civil Service in the future.

The recognition by the male staff in the Civil Service of the importance of the principle of equal pay for equal work is a sign of advance which should be welcomed by all who have the cause of women at heart. This increased enlightenment was evidenced at the Annual Conference of the Civil Service Federation held at the Guildhall on the 11th October last. Delegates were present, representing approximately 100,000 Civil Servants, and the following resolution, which is important enough to be quoted in full, was passed by a majority of 31 votes to 10.

"That this Council expresses its conviction that equal pay for equal work is the only solution of the problem of male and female labour in the Civil Service, and considers that the establishment of this principle is the only alternative to the competition of cheapness which is the result of the existing double standard of payment, and is affecting so injuriously the conditions of service of both men and women. It therefore pledges itself to endeavour to obtain the abolition of the sex disability."

Women in the Service are realising more and more that their strength lies in effective combination. A new organisation has recently sprung into being as a result of the introduction of Women Clerks into the Board of Trade and the National Health Insurance Service, the Federation of Civil Service Women Clerks having been formed for the purpose of working for the larger interests of the women in the various clerical departments of the Civil Service. The general policy of the Federation will be to afford a ready means of communication between various sections of the Service for the purpose of taking joint action when necessary in the interests of the whole body of Women Clerks, and to enable them to concentrate more effectively on the larger issues connected with the claim for equality of opportunity for women with men in the Civil Service.

* * * * *

This article will not be complete without some reference to the Report of the Holt Committee which is engaging the attention of the Postmaster General at the present time.

When the Report was published in August last, it was generally agreed that the women had been badly treated. The demand for equality of remuneration with the male staff which was put forward by the Women Telegraphists and the Women Clerks has been completely ignored. The Women Sorters are awarded an increase of 2s. a week in the maximum salary, and, as a set off, it is proposed that they shall undertake a larger portion of the minor clerical duties now performed by Women Clerks. The immediate supervision of the Women Sorters is to be met by the establishment of the Senior Sorters (who at present receive a supervising allowance of 3s. a week) as a regular supervising class with a fixed scale of salary, viz., 32s. per week rising by 1s. 6d. to 38s. The ultimate supervision remains in the hands of the Women Clerks. The Committee recommended the abandonment of the tentative new grade of Female Assistant Clerks on the ground that there is no need for a class intermediate between the Women Sorters and the Girl and Women Clerks. A further recommendation, causing widespread dissatisfaction, is that the hours of duty shall be increased by three and a half hours per week. The eight-hour day for manipulative work and the seven-hour day for clerical work has hitherto been the standard working day in the Post Office, and the suggested increase with no compensating rise in salary apart from an immediate increment, not to be carried above the maximum of the scale, has been rejected by all classes with indignation.[3] The Women Telegraphists get nothing, the Women Telephonists nothing, the Women Clerks of the First and Second classes, £10 and £5 increase in the maximum salary respectively. The Women Counter Clerks and Telegraphists in the provinces get nothing, although the men of the same class get 2s. a week increase in the maximum.

It is understood from a reliable source that the higher officials of the Post Office admit that the women on the whole have been scurvily treated, and it is confidently expected that the Postmaster General will modify and improve some of the proposals when the final revision of the Report is undertaken. Apart from the various class interests, the only recommendation that can be regarded as in any way satisfactory to women is the abolition of the grade of Assistant Women Clerks as at present constituted. The only form in which the new grade could be at all acceptable would be in substitution for the grades of Girl Clerk and Women Sorter with a scale of salary comparable to the Male Assistant Clerk, in accordance with the claim placed before the Holt Commission and before the Royal Commission on the Civil Service. The insertion of a new water-tight compartment such as the Department proposed, between the Women Sorters and Women Clerks would be dangerous to the interests, and detrimental to the expansion of both, while the present restriction of women to rank and file work continues. It would press the Sorters still further down in the scale by depriving them of all opportunity of succeeding to clerical work, as the recruitment of the Assistant Clerks from their ranks would inevitably be very small; and it would also injure the prospects of promotion of the Women Clerks by decreasing their numbers and by depriving them of higher posts due to growth of work and increase of staff. This latter result was clearly foreseen by the Department when the scheme was first promulgated. Moreover, it would be a blow to the general status of women in the Post Office by depreciating the value of their work and lowering the standard of their employment. It is a matter for congratulation, therefore, that the Select Committee have advised the abolition of the new grade, and the Postmaster General, having agreed in the House of Commons to refer the matter to the arbitrament of the Parliamentary Committee, can hardly repudiate their decision.

[Footnote 1: See the end of the article for the Report of the Holt Committee.]

[Footnote 2: The women are pressing for identical examinations. [EDITOR.]]

[Footnote 3: The Postmaster General has recently (December 1913), conceded the point, and has promised that there shall be no increase in the hours of duty in the Post Office Service; concessions about pay have been refused. [EDITOR.]]

SECTION VI

WOMEN CLERKS AND SECRETARIES

The salary of the woman secretary of the best class, whether working privately or for a firm, seems to be £100 to £150 a year. Generally speaking, this is exactly what it was twenty years ago. It would seem that the highest salaries are those given by City men to confidential clerks (sometimes relatives), who are either good accountants or good linguists. The head of an influential typing office and registry in London informed me that the highly paid posts of translators to City firms are usually filled by German girls. The woman receiving £200 to £250 is a very rare person. I know only of one who receives £5 a week, and that is from an American firm in London. She does private secretarial work, but has no book-keeping and no foreign correspondence. Some years ago I knew of another woman, private secretary to the head of a large publishing firm, who had £200 a year. She was an efficient French correspondent, an able, all-round woman, and had been with the firm for twenty years. There are now two clerks in her place at much lower salaries. There seems to be a tendency to employ two cheap clerks in place of one expensive one.

People unacquainted with the facts, seldom realise how small is the remuneration of capable secretaries. I am acquainted with the work of a woman who has the following qualifications: verbatim shorthand, neat typing and sound knowledge of secretarial and business work, including book-keeping; she is methodical and conscientious in her work, has had some years' City Experience, three years in the shorthand and typing offices in the Houses of Parliament and with peers and members. She is asking 45s. a week, and would take 40s. "with prospects."