Officers' Pension Funds

Related to the systems of mutual guarantee are the pension systems now coming into vogue. In Canada, the banks for many years have recognized their responsibility in the matter of providing for the declining years of men giving a lifetime to their service. This responsibility was met in most cases by the board of directors taking action on each individual instance that presented itself. The annuity or pension given was frequently something in the nature of a grant or favor. The directors made grants, more or less graciously, of something that the recipients had a moral right to demand. Though the system was not very satisfactory, it worked fairly well in the days of small staffs. Obviously, something more elaborate and scientific is needed now that the bank staffs are getting so large. For instance, each one of ten or a dozen institutions has more than 500 men on its staff. A few of the older banks have had for a long time properly scheduled pension schemes. A considerable number of the others have inaugurated them recently.

The systems are based upon the employees contributing so much per cent. on their monthly salaries, and upon their being entitled thereby to claim a pension or annuity, graduated according to length of service and amount of salary received. Generally, the annuities they can claim are greater than their payments would purchase from an insurance company; the pension funds are able to promise the extra results because of the liberal grants made out of profits by the directors with the object of supplementing the staff payments.

The effects of the system are decidedly beneficial. Each man knows exactly what he has to expect when the time of his being incapacitated arrives. The rules governing the fund, the percentage to be paid in, the minimum number of years' service required to qualify an employee for pension, the amount that may be drawn, the term for which it may be drawn, are specified in the agreement subscribed to by all the officers.

The fact that the pensions are to be theirs as a matter of legal right, instead of as an act of charity performed by the board, has a beneficial influence on the morale of the men. As another result of the two systems-mutual guarantee and pension - the men are bound somewhat more closely to their employers. Also, the banks have, in the possession of these balances belonging to their officers, an additional guarantee of good behavior from each.

Duties Of Beginners

The work assigned to the new junior varies according to the kind of branch he joins. Therefore, it will be well to describe the work first at a country branch and afterwards at a city branch. In some respects, a more advantageous training can be given in the country. In a city office, it is necessary to divide and sub-divide the big departments, and to place a man on each division or sub-division. Each clerk obtains a very restricted view of the work of the whole branch, his own work covering, say, one twenty-fourth part, or perhaps less, of the whole. Whereas in a country office a single officer may have one, or maybe two, departments in his charge. A quarter or perhaps a third of the work of the branch passes through his hands.