Ford Had Secret Police to Ensure Employees Were Model Americans
One of the things that made Ford’s factory unique back in 1914 was the fact that workers were paid $5 a day. This was an unheard-of amount of money in 1914, and some speculated that Ford did it in order for his employees to be able to afford cars. But the real reason was that the raise was in order to retain workers. Work in the Ford factory was hard and the hours were long, employees were constantly quitting in the middle of the day and leaving. This would not only slow production, but the company would have to pay to retrain someone and pay to find new employees. In one year, the Ford company ended up hiring 52,000 people in order to maintain a 14,000 staff.
But the $5 a day pay wasn’t exactly a $5 pay. It was $2.50 a day with a potential $2.50 bonus. Employees would get this bonus if they stayed on for 6 months, and then also maintained a lifestyle that fit Ford’s requirements. Ford created the Ford Sociological Department, which was designed to investigate employees to see if they met Ford’s standards for the bonus. The department started out with 50 employees but then jumped to 200 as more investigators were needed to probe into every single aspect of an employee’s life.
They would drop in to an employee’s home unannounced to make sure that it was kept nice. They would make sure the children were in school, that spending was reasonable, that there was no excessive alcohol consumption and that the marital relationship was good.
Women were only eligible for the bonus if they were a single mother to children. Men were only eligible for the bonus if they were married and their wives did not work outside the home. Ford even had its own English school to ensure all employees spoke perfect English and were assimilated into American life.