BUSINESS WORRIES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1222, 2 September 1911, Page 3

BUSINESS WORRIES.

AND, JIOW. TO 'MKBT TUB ACT. An instniico of businessmen's difficulties was told in tho Magistrate's Court ycsterilay. Hobert Alfred Scott (manager of fho Wairarapa Farmers' C'o-nperativo 'Association) was proceeded against for working a shop assistant for more than nine hours in olio day in cno wool; without the previous written consent of the inspector. Mr. Scott said that the' action called upon th:>!!i to set the previous written consent of the inspector for a caller to work overtime when delivering goods, hut ii: was impossible for them to comply with Hip strict letter of the law in this respect. The inspector's office closed at. 5 p.m., and it was difficult for thorn t> say whether lho man out delivering Roods would bo late or net, and quite impossible to say how laic, so that it was impossible for them 1o comply with the form required by the Department for a permit of extended hours, and to get the consent of tho inspector before working overtime, at the same lime statins the amount of overtime required. A carter going out at J- o'clock with a load would finish one night at I! o'clock, while on the/next day an apparently similar load might take him till 1 to deliver. There was nc- hardship imposed, on '(he men, as they were paid for all overtime worked after (i o'clock, also they did not necessarily work the full hours allowed by the Act. As a matter of fact none of their four carters had during tho past fortnight worked the eleven hours in one day of the week as allowed' by the Act for all assistants. Though assistants when working overtime were brought back for a definite time, say two hour;, the carter' mis lit only work half an hour or on hour overtime, yet he understood that the Department considered that the man was debarred from working overtime again during the year al'ler he had worked overtime on SO flavs. Such a cas? might mean considerable hardship for a satisfactory employee, as through accident or otherwise the firm might inadvertently commit a breach of l.lio Act at any time after tho man's allowance of :w days had been exhausted. A fine of 10s., with costs 75., was made.