Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1911. LABOUR LAWS AMENDMENT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10140, 18 January 1911, Page 4

Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1911. LABOUR LAWS AMENDMENT.

As the Labour Acts recently passed contain some important alterations in the law, and as these Acts come into force this month, employers would do well to become acquainted with the main provisions as given in the following summary:—The amendments to the Factories Act provide that every occupier of a factory must now keep a wages and overtime book, to show the name of each employee, his age', the kind of work performed, the, hours Avorked, and the wages paid each week. This book is to be open at all times to the inspector. There are special provisions which apply to laundries in which two or more persons are employed which stipulate the number of hours that may be worked, etc., but these do not apply in the case of any laundry in which the occupier and his wife or husband, as the case may be, are the only persons engaged in laundry work. The definition of "factory" is amended by including the following words:— "And includes any building, office, or place in which work such as is ordinarily performed in a factory is performed for on behalf of any local authority, whether for trade or sale or not." Women and boys are not to work overtime fcr more than P0 hours in any year,

except under special circumstances. There are also provisions in the Act for payment of boys under 18, and women. In the Shops and Offices Amendment Act an hotel is defined to mean any premises in respect of which a publican's license is granted, and a restaurant any premises (other than an hotel) in which meals are provided and sold to the general public for consumption on the premises, and whether or not lodging is provided for hire for the accommodation of persons, and includes a private hotel, a tea room, and an oyster saloon. The definitions of "shop" and "shop assistant" in the principal Act are extended to hotels and restaurants and to the assistants employed in these places with the exception of engineers, electricians, and clerks. The working hours in hotels and restaurants have been fixed at 62 in the case of a male over 16, and 58 in the case of a female. The daily working hours are limited to 10 per day, and an assistant must not work .for, more than five hours' continuously without an interval- of half an hour' for a meal, and he must receive a half-holiday from 2 p.m. on one working day in the week. The occupier of a shop in which one or-more ,v shop assistants are employed must | keep a record in English, a wages and time-book showing the nam© of. «ach assistant, the kind -of work; done,'the hoars worked, and the wages, paid. /"The hours of employment of shop-assistants provided: in the principal Act,have hitherto been, subject !'to any award of the Court of Arbitration." This proviso, however, is now repealed, and where necessary every award will have to fall into line with the new Act. The hours for butchers, for instance, are fixed at 52 per week. A shop assistant is allowed to f<?ed ■■• and attend' horses beyond the" hours provided by the Act, but not exceeding one hour per day. The hours for closing .on Saturday?;!or -dairy produce ~ t sellers are alterej3&ft l Qm 1 p.m. to 6 i p!ift;V'.and in the case'of "florists from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.