16 



Payment 



Ten associations of 14 replying paid managers a straight salary. Three 

 associations reported paying a commission in addition to a salary. The 

 remaining association paid only a commission. None of the warehouse 

 managers received fringe benefits, such as life insurance, a medical 

 payment plan, a retirement plan, or a bonus. A retirement plan was 

 provided, however, for the general manager of one central association. 



Of the three associations paying a commission in addition to a salary, 

 two computed the commission as a percent of gross savings. One paid 

 7.5 percent, the other 2 percent. The third association paid the manager 

 10 percent of net savings as a commission. 



In general, salary was directly related to the seasonal volume of 

 tobacco handled by the warehouse managed. Volume handled determined 

 in large part the scope of responsibilities and duties of the manager. 



Managers were hired on a seasonal or year-round basis. Of 11 associ- 

 ations reporting, 5 hired the manager for 3 months, 1 for 6 months, 

 and 5 for the entire year. There seemed to be no tendency for managers 

 employed seasonally to be paid more per month than managers employed 

 on an annual basis. 



Tobacco auction warehouse employees can be classified into three groups: 

 (1) A warehouse floor force, (2) a sales force, and (3) an office force. 

 The floor force is responsible for all operations involving the physical 

 handling of the tobacco. The sales force attends to activities concerning 

 the auction sale. Accounting and controlling procedures are handled by 

 the office force. A miscellaneous group is sometimes designated which 

 includes such employees as janitors and night watchmen. 



Number 



Many factors determine the number of personnel employed by the individual 

 associations, among them number of warehouses and size of individual 

 warehouses. Another is the number of patrons and average volume of tobacco 

 delivered per patron. 



Local market rules and regulations on the amount of tobacco that can be 

 sold during the sale time allocated to each association warehouse influ- 

 ence the number of employees hired. The number of sets of buyers assigned 

 to a local market may also be of considerable importance in determining 

 employees required. 1/ Assignment of an additional set of buyers to a 



1/ Each set of buyers is comprised of representatives of organizations 

 purchasing tobacco in the market. The number of persons in a set 

 and the number of sets assigned usually depend on the volume handled 

 in the market . 



