This collection of stories all feature the corporal punishment of women within the workplace:
Rahman Stores: Rahman Stores were firm believers in rewarding good performance by its staff, but they also had a policy of meting out corporal punishment to underperforming female employees when it was deemed appropriate. At their Manchester store, Personnel Manager, Chris Phillips, typically carried out such punishments with an eighteen inch Perspex ruler. However, when the female manager of the company's London branch makes a serious error, she is sent to Chris for twelve strokes of the cane on her bare bottom as an alternative to dismissal.
The Lost ID Card: Twenty-five-year-old Melanie works as the personal assistant to the Head of Administration at a real estate company which has a policy of referring its female staff for corporal punishment once they've accrued three black marks. It was Melanie's job to make the arrangements for any such punishments but when she accrues three black marks of her own then she too has to present herself for eight strokes of the riding crop.
The Hockey Tour: When the girls of Winsthorpe School stay overnight at a hotel in order to take part in a hockey tournament, they are supervised by Miss Johnson, the PE Mistress, and a volunteer parent, Mrs Jane Pearson. But when one of the girls becomes sick during the night the supervisors can't be contacted as they had gone to the bar, along with Mrs Pearson's daughter, school prefect Carol. When the Chairman of Governors gets to hear about it he is furious, and all three end up presenting themselves at the Headmaster's study for a painful and humiliating dose of the cane.
Trouble in the Air: When two of the stewardesses on flight TA326 are found in possession of undeclared alcohol in their baggage at an International airport in the Middle East, it looks like both of them, along with their senior stewardess, are likely to be detained for some time and face a custodial sentence as well as possible lashes. However, one of the airport officials suggests the matter could be dealt with informally by giving the three women 'a good dose of the cane'.
The Typing Pool: It's 1954 and Major Stanley Briggs and his family have been posted to Singapore. While Stan is busy in the role of adjutant to the General at command headquarters, his wife Ann is bored and at a loose end. Before marrying she'd had excellent shorthand and typing skills and she is able to secure a job at a typing pool that prides itself on the accuracy of its work. The company owner, Mr Macgregor, is very old-fashioned in his ways, and female employees making too many mistakes are made to bend for six strokes with a thick leather strap, as Ann all too soon discovers for herself.
Mistaken Identity: When Megan graduates from teacher training college she takes up a post at a local secondary modern school as a science teacher. Things seem to be going well until two 15-year-old boys cause disruption in her class on a regular basis. Finally, her patience exhausted, she sends both boys to the Headmaster, and the following morning they are caned at Assembly. Unfortunately, when it is discovered that she has reported the wrong boys, she is subjected to a caning herself, witnessed by both the punished boys.