time payment and piece
payment, corresponding with the two modes of measuring labor, time
work and piece work.

Sec. 5. #Time work.# Time work came first and was long almost the only
method. In time work the employee is paid by the hour, day, week,
month, or year, as the case may be. This is very satisfactory for
small enterprises, where the master works with his own hands alongside
of the employee, overseeing him, teaching him, and stimulating him by
his own presence and example of industry. This method prevails still
in nearly all farming work, in many kinds of manufacturing, in most
transportation, in clerical positions in trade, and in general where
the employee must perform a variety of tasks.

Considering a brief period, it might seem that in time work the worker
is paid by time regardless of his effort or performance. However,
in every industry there is a recognized, fairly definite standard of
accomplishment for those getting the regular market rates of wages,
so that the time-standard implies some performance- or piece-standard
also. But this is judged by the employer only in a general way, and
very commonly men of different degrees of efficiency continue for
some time to receive the same money wage. Still, where any differences
become noticeable to the employer in quantity of work, quality of
work, or personal qualities of honesty, reliability, and good temper,
the better workman is likely to obtain a better position, higher pay,
more regular employment, or some other form of reward. The employer is
more likely at the end of any period of employment, to discharge the
man who falls short either in quantity or quality of work, and to
retain and advance the better worker. The method of time-payment does
not directly tempt the workman to slight the quality of his work by
haste. It does not keep constantly before the worker the thought of
his own interest in rapid work, often with an accompanying nervous and
mental strain. In most occupations, therefore, the workers prefer time
work. It does not take exclusive account of the quantity of material
product, but leaves place for estimating various personal qualities of
the employee which are of value in a business.

Sec. 6. #Task work#. There are thus both advantages and disadvantages
in time work, and their relative importance varies in different
industries and industrial conditions. Especially is the difficulty
of supervising workers and of ensuring the performanc