FACTORIES BILL.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4478, 4 October 1901, Page 7

FACTORIES BILL.

PROVISIONS REGARDING BMPLOY- . . MINT., BATES OP WAGES AND HOURS OF LABOUR. ■ .The Labour Bills Committee reported to the House of Representative? yesterday that having considered the Factories Bill it recommended that the Bill should he allowed to proceed subjetet to certain amendments. The Bill as reported from the committee defines a factory as any building, office or place in which two or more persons are employed, directly or indirectly, in any handicraft or in preparing or manufacturing goods for trade or sale, but does not include any building in course of erection nor any temporary workshop pr shed for workmen engaged in the erection of such building. „ The Bill provides that' the Governor may appoint persons of either sex (whether qualified to be members of the Civil Service or not) to be Inspectors of Factories under the Act, and the Governor may also appoint medical authorities. An inspector is given power to enter and‘inspect by day or night at all reason, able Hours when he believes a person is employed and the occupiers must allow in. spection. For obstructing an inspector an occupier is liable to a fine of .£5, or if the offence is committed at night, ,£2O. Any person impersonating an inspector, may be imprisoned for six months. A factory may not be used until registered. The inspector, if satisfied, may register a factory. , , , . , , The occupier of each factory must keep a record of the names of all employed in the factory together with the ages of all under SO. the kind of work each is employed in, and the wages paid to each. Subject to provisions a week’s labour for eveiy male worker shall not exceed 48 bww and no male worker is to be employed tor any longer time than 8i hours m any oho day. For any tinie over this a ouarter as much again as the ordinary wage is to be paid), provided that the limit of hours shall not be deemed to apply to any male worker employed in getting up steam 1 ii machinery or making preparations for the work of a factory, nor to trades such as freezing works, dairy factories, fellruongers, fish curing or preserving, jam faever ies (during the small fruit season) and bacon factories, nor to any other trade which may be exempted by the Arbitration Court. , ! No male worker is to be employed for more than 4) hours without an interval of three-quarters of an hour for dinner. Subject to provisions no woman or young person to be employed more than 45 hours, excluding meal hours, in any one week, nor for more than 8) hours excluding meal times in any one day or for more than four hours continuously withjnt an inter, val of one hour for dinner, nor after 1 p.m. on one working day in eacli week, nor, in the .case of females, at any time between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. unless with the consent of the inspector. The hour of 7 a.m: may.be substituted ford a.m,, though the day must not exceed Sj hours, nor, in the .oase of boys under 16 at any Lino between 6 p.m. and 7.45 a.m. ■ The prescribed number of working Lours for women and young persons may Vo extended. but not for more than three hours in a day, two days in a week, or ■ thirty days in. a year, or on any holiday or hallholiday. For this overtime not less than a quarter extra above the ordinary wage must bo paid, provided that when the ordinary rate is by time the overtime rate is not less than 6d per hour for tnese whose wages did not exceed 10s a week and 9d per hour for all others. No occupier of a factory may deduct from the oagns of a woman or young person except to the extent of special damage which he proves was caused by that person's wilfult act or default. A, woman or young person may not be employed in wet spinning unless provision isl made to keep' them from wetting or from the contact of steam. If not less than four are employed the em_ pioyer must provide a room for meals. The restrictions as to age state that with respect to . the employment of boys and girls under 14, they shall not be employed. except in special cases authorised by the inspection, which authorisation shall not bo given where the total number employed exceeds .three. A gin under 15 may not: be employed as a typo setter, a boy or girl under 16-in dry grinding in the'metal trade or dipping of mat ches, a girl of 16 in making or finishing of bricks or tiles not being ornamen. tal tiles, or making or finishing of salt, or a girl, under 18 in the.nrooecs of mak ing or annealing glass, a girl or boy unde,. 18 in the silvering of mirrors by the mercurial process or the making of white lead, and no boy or girl under 16 may be employed unless, the inspector has certi fied to his or her fitness. i 'For. the belter suppression of what is commonly known . as the '‘sweating evil,” provision is made for every case where the oocupie r of a factory lets or gives out work in connection with textile or shoddy material; that records shall he ■ kept showing the' names and addresses of «m ployeos. the quantitv and. description of work done and remuneration given. If the /work is doneoutside a factory the occupier of the factory giving out the work must affix' a "'label to each article, and for this purpoes every .merchant. wholesale . dealer: shopkeeper or agent who lets out.material to be made up is deemed to be a factory occupierThe claupes relating, to . payment of wages provide for a wage of not less than fives shillings nor week for girls and boys under 18, and thereafter an annual in-

crease of not less than two shillings per week till 20 years of age. No premium in respect to employment shall be re. ceived by .any occupier, whether paid by the employee or anyone elsb. and for a breach of this a penalty may be imposed not exceeding £lO. The Governor declare any specified employment noxious and no meals may be taken in a room where such is carried on. Holidays to women and young persons include Christmas Day. New Year’s Day. Good Friday. Easter Monday, Labour Day. and the birthday of the reigning Sovereign, and half a day on each Satur day. Nothing in this section is deemed to prevent employment in a printing office up to 4.30 in the afternoon of a half-holiday for printing or publishing an evening newspaper. For the prevention of accidents m fac torics provisions are made for the protection of machinery, etc., apd provision 5b also made for fire prevention A "urn her of rules are embodied in the Bill tor the sanitation of factories, and special rule* for the sanitation of bakehouses, amongst the latter being that the building must within every six months be cleaned with lime wash or other cleansing agent and no person may be employed in hand ling bread or Tither food whose sriite.of health is likely to cause contamination. Other provide for methods of uroc»dnre and penalties fox breaches of th= Act. _______