SHOPS AND OFFICES

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1745, 16 August 1905, Page 26

SHOPS AND OFFICES

The Labour Bills Committee reported last- week to the House of Representatives its conclusions on the Shops and Offices Amendment Bill, on -which it heard a great mass of evidence. Clause 3 has been struck out, and in its place the fallowing provisions have been inserted:—A-shop-assistant shall not be employed m- any shop required, under section .21 of the principal act, to close at a specified, hour after the hour so specified; nor in any other shop, if a trade mentioned in the first schedule is carried on .aeiem, nfte- - p l. ; -Oh n the evening on one working day in each week, or 8 o’clock m the evening on other Working days; nor In any sfiop a trade mentioned in the second schedule is carried on therein after 11 o’clock in the evening on one working day in each week, or -9 o’clock in the evening on the other working days; nor if none' of the trades mentioned in the first- and second schedules is carried on therein after 11 o’clock in the evening on one working day in each week, or 6 o’clock in the evening on other working days. The first schedule includes chemists, tobacconists, dairy-produce sellers, florists, bakers, hairdressers, booksellers; and the second schedule, fruiterers, confectioners, refreshment-room keepers, pork butchers, fishmongers. The definitions contained in paingraph (a) of section 15 of the .principal act is extended to the new section 3, but this section does not affect-the pro- - visions of the principal acc relating to the hours of employment or the weekly half-holiday. Paragraph (a) of section 15 of tile principal act is amended by the inclusion in the definition of “fishmonger” the words “or rabbits.’’ Sub-section 1 of section .21 of the principal act is amended by repealing the words “hot being one of ±fle districts mentioned in section three hereof,” and subsection 2 of the same section is amended by adding the words “and a requisition under -this sub-sec-tion shall be deemed to supersede a requisition under sub-section one hereof, . so far as such particular trade-or trades is concerned.” New clauses have been inserted respecting offices. Section 23 of the principal act is not to apply to any of the following businesses :—Shipping, railway, tramway, newspaper, telegraph, agencies, cable companies, freezing companies, forwarding agencies, live stock auctioneers, building societies, merchants (including warehousemen), insurance, banks, wool-buyers, and woolbrokers. These offices are, however, to keep time-books recording the case of each office-assistant employed after 1 o’cloek on Saturday afternoons and 5 o’clock on other afternoons: and -where such extra time exceeds twenty any one month, overtime is to be paid at the rate of not less than one and a half times the ordinary rate of ,pay for such extra time as exceeds twenty hours. The extra time-book is to be at all Times* (upon T to the affine-assistants and to the inspector.