THE SHOTS AND OFFICES ACT

Southland Times, Issue 14634, 26 January 1911, Page 5

THE SHOTS AND OFFICES ACT

EMPLOYEES ASGEITED. (Per United Press Association). DUNEDIN, January 25. Clause 13 of the Shops and Offices Act Amendment Act 1910 came in for some scathing criticism at a meeting of local master drapers. It was stated that under clause 13 it was made compulsory that every shop shall be registered by the occupier thereof with, the Inspector of Factories in the name of one person as occupier, and that excepting in the 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 the occupier while the other was deemed a shop assistant under the Act. An employer so situated was required to get a permit to work outside the pi escribed hours in connection with his own business, and was then permitted to do so only to a limited extent. He was also compelled to fill in the hours he worked and the wages he received in a book to bo approved by the inspector. This clause was regarded by the master drapers as a gross interlorence with the rights of employers and as an extremely stupid provision. The meeting decided to petition the New Zealand Employers’ Federation through the Otago Association to have the clause amended at the earliest opportunity.