ABSTRACT
The main bases for classifying occupations have been by income, class, skill, or prestige. Occupations where high labour turnover is common, but other forms of ‘withdrawal from work’ such as sickness and absenteeism are also higher than normal. One multinational company that manufactured industrial gases wanted to crack down on a fiddle common among its driver deliverers who — like many in the occupation — are ‘prone’ to ‘drop short’ and sell the surplus privately. Fiddling, however, was common among the drivers not only because they had a ready market but also because dropping short is normally easy when deliveries are made to large institutional users such as hospitals whose staff often readily sign for less than they receive. For donkeys in particular, organising a fiddle allows them some of the individuality and creativity otherwise denied them in their work.
