The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, MAY 12, 1881.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3859, 12 May 1881, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, MAY 12, 1881.

Thi authorities have determined to brine the provisions of the..." Employment of Females Ordinance" into force in Auckland, and we have no doubt but that the same will be done hero. A contemporary, gives the following concise epitome of the various Acts and amending Ac\s affecting the employment of women and young girls • —The first legislative effort to regulate the hours of toil for women was made in 1873, when an Act of a few pithy clauses was passed, and the Amendment Acts which followed in 1874 and 1875, are nothing more nor less than amplifications of th.c original. If, provides under a penalty in each case of £50: -that po

person under the age of ten years, shall. be employed in any factory; that no child, young person, (those between the ages of 14 and 18),- or female shall be employed for,more than four hours and a half without £ir interral of at least half an hour for a meal; that in factories the children may only be employed on morn ing or afternoon shifts, or if altogether on alternate days, ° child " meaning anyone up to the age of fourteen years : that the j workrooms ' must' be. racated during meal-time; that no person shall employ a female at any time between the hours of 6 in the afternoon and Sin the morning, or for more than eight hours in one day» that every female shall have holiday without loss of wages every Saturday afternoon from 2 o'clock, and on Sunday, I Christmas .Day, New Yea< 's Day f ! Good Friday, Easter Monday, and ariy ; ! other day set apart as a public holiday. Special permission, however, is given fcr the employment of saleswomen in retail places of business where goods are exposed for sale, so long as such places are open to the public, and also for the employment of females in printing offices till 4.30 o'clock on Saturday afternoons. The Inspector is authorised to. enter any workroom at any time during working hours, and each employer is expected <o keep, such rooms wellventilated, to file in the Resident Magistrate's Court a written statement specifying the hours of work, copies of which are to be posted up in every-work room and. forwarded to the officer of pblice in charge of the particular district. The ordinance has been in force for years in the South, and in Dunedin ihere have been not a few prosecutions for breaches of the regulations.