SHOPS AND OFFICES ACT

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXII, Issue LXII, 31 January 1912, Page 7

SHOPS AND OFFICES ACT

AN IMPORTANT POINT.

BY TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION.

■■..:<■;■ Jan. 31/ A case of considerable importance was brought before Mr Fraser, S.M., by the Dej>artmeht'of Labor, which sought to bring several large boarding-houses under the Shops and Offices Act, by'virtue of a clause in the amending Act of 1910, adding to the definition of a shop and all restaurants, and defining a restaurant as any premises ojther ,than a hotel, in which meals are provided and sold to the public for consumption on the premises. Counsel for defendants urged that if boarding-houses were included in the Shops Act the effect would be very far-reaching, and that every person who kept a lodger or employed help would have .to fulfil the' obligations insisted upon under the Shops Act. Mr Fraser said, that in view of the very important issues and the difficulty of the statute, he would reserve judgment.