LABOUR LAWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22466, 9 July 1936, Page 17

LABOUR LAWS

SHAREHOLDING EMPLOYEES RULING OF DEPARTMENT An important ruling has been received by an Auckland firm on the question whether an employee who was a shareholder in the firm was subjectto the overtime and other provisions of the Shops and Offices Act. The department has expressed the view that the holding of shares in a company does not affect the relationship of master and servant. Commenting on the effect of the ruling, a man interested in industrial legislation stated that an interesting situation relating to the position of a. share-holder-employee under the compulsory unionism clauses of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Act was thereby created. In the past many unions in N?w Zealand have refused to accept shareholder-employees in an industry as members of a union, doubtless considering that as such men were in a sense proprietors it would be an embarrassment if they became familiar with many of the affairs of a union of a nature that it was desirable to keep from the knowledge of the employers. For example, it was stated, a union would be at a serious disadvantage in conciliation' council proceedings if the employers knew just how far a union was prepared to go in pressing a claim. If shareholder-employees were to be treated in every respect as assistants under the provisions of the Shops and Offices Act, which was the effect of the department's riding, then it was reasonable to assume that as assistants they were subject to the provisions of compulsory unionism in the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. WHOLESALE WAREHOUSES AN INTERESTING POSITION It is considered that many wholesale warehouses in Auckland who do not engage in any retail trade are not subject to the provisions of the Shops and Offices Act, except in so far as they apply to their offices. Some who do manufacturing are subject, so far as the manufacturing section of their businesses is concerned, at any rate, to the Factories Act, but others, it is said, are not subject to either Act, with the stipulation already mentioned relating to their offices. The recent amendments to the Shops and Offices Act and the Factories Act prescribe hours of work, minimum rates of pay, overtime and other provisions which, if the interpretation relating to wholesale warehouses is correct, will not apply, except as already mentioned, to the Industry. Of course, wholesale warehouses are subject in common with other industries to the provisions of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, sections of their employees working tinder awards or agreements. • From inquiries it would appear that many warehouses are applying the minimum rates of pay provided in the Shops and Offices Act and the Factories Act.