FACTORY HALF-HOLIDAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1108, 22 April 1911, Page 8

FACTORY HALF-HOLIDAY.

IMPORTANT DECISION. | ~~ ' ' (By Telejraph— Special Correspondent.! Auckland, April 21. The Factories Act, 1908, makes no direct provision for any holidays,, except for women and boys under 18 years of age, though a weekly halfholiday for adult male workers is implied by tho clauses limiting the number of hours to be worked in one week.. The question whether, it is unlawful to work male adult workers after 1 p.m. on tho day of tho weekly halfholiday was decided in the negative by his Honour Mr. Justice Sim in a judgment delivered at the Supremo Court to-day. Tho judgment was given on an appeal by James Shanaghan, Inspector of Factories, under the Justices of tho Peace Act, from a decision of Mr. E. Cutten, S.M. Tho respondent, Low Shing was tho occupier of a laundry in Auckland, registered as a factory. On January 21, at 2.45 p.m., the respondent was engaged in laundry work, and had two adult males assisting him. His Honour said the Act of 1910 did not provide for the observance in factories of any holiday, the obligation in that respect being imposed by Section 35 of the Factories Act, 1908, but the latter did not provide for any holiday or half-holiday in the case nf male adult workers. In his opinion .the provision could not bo treated as applying to male "adult workers, because their employer was not obliged to give them any holiday or half-holiday. So far as they were concerned there was no holi-. day or half-holiday The magistrate was, lie thought, right in holding thatthe respondent bad not committed any offence. The anneal was dismissed, with costs £5 ss. to the respondent. ''