CAFE CECIL HOURS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9212, 15 April 1908, Page 3

CAFE CECIL HOURS.

RESTAURANT MANAGER FINED

William Colley, the manager of the Cafe Cecil, was charged before Mr V. G. Day, S.M., at the Magistrates Court this morning, in respect to three assistants, that he did work them tor more than fifty-two hours in one week without having paid them overtime; with having failed to obtain the permiseion of the Department to work overtime; with having employed them for more than eleven hours, exclusive of meal times, and without having first obtained the permission of the Department to do so. Mr Fraser appeared for the defendant, and Mr Hagger conducted the' case for the Labour Depart ment. Mr Fraser said that his client admitted having employed the assistants for more than the fifty-two hours, but the overtime had been only in respect to Sunday, which day a special contract was signed by them. The assistants, in z'espect of which the informations had been laid, were waitresses, and their week was from Monday to Saturday, and Sunday was regarded as a special day, and those girls that were willing to work on that day signed a special contract. By this procedure the defendant had not meant to evade the Act. The Cafe Cecil had been a new departure in Christchurch, and had received a larger public support than had been anticipated, and then the destruction of Freeman's buildings by fire had led to a further increase of business, to meet which the defendant had been compelled to work his waitresses overtime. The Department of Labour had warned the defendant's partner, but he had not been aware of the warning.

Mr Hagger said that the defendant's partner had been warned. The three waitresses at the Cafe Cecil had in. the one week worked from 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. oh four days ; from 8.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the half-holiday; from 8.30 to 11 p.m. on Saturday; from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the Sunday, making a total of sixty-two hours. On Sunday the girla were allowed a half-hour for meal time, and they received 2s as payment for the six hours. The girls during the week worked ten hours overtime, and on Saturday they worked far more than eleven hours without time off for meals. Mr Day fined the defendant" £1 in respect to each of the three waitresses, and ordered him to pay the costs of the nine informations.