THE SHOPS AND OFFICES ACT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 26 January 1911, Page 5

THE SHOPS AND OFFICES ACT.

. COMPLAINTS BY DRAPERS. {United Press Association.) DUNEDIN, Wednesday. Clause 13 of the Shops and Offices Act- Amendment Act, 1910, came in for some scathing criticism 1 at ~a meeting of local master drapers. It was stated that under clause 13 it was made compulsory that 1 every shop shall bo registered by the occupier thereof'with the inspector of factories in the name of one parson as occupier, and excepting in tlie case of husband, or. wife, any other person engaged in the" business of the shop was deemed a shop assistant, the result being that in a case where a business was owned by partners, one had to declare himself occupier, ■ while the other was deemed a- shop'assistant under the Act ,and an employer so situated was required to get a permit to work outside prescribed hours in connection with his own business .and then he was only permitted to do so to a- limited' extent. He was also compelled to ■fill- the hours he worked aud : the wages he received in a book to be approved- by the inspector. This clause ,-was regarded by the master drapers as a gross interference with the nights of "employers ,and as anextre:'nely to ! petition the New Zealand Employers' Federation through the Otago Association to have the clause amended at the earliest opportunity.