In Operation

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXIV, Issue 126, 29 October 1930, Page 8

In Operation

THE UNEMPLOYMENT ACT.

TIME TO REGISTER NOW.

Now that the Unemployment Act is in operation, certain of its provisions are, for the time being, the practical concern of every male New Zealander 20 years of age and upward. Registration is the first obligation the Act. imposes. This duty, which must be completed by November 1, can now be carried out by filling in the necessary form, and presenting it at any post office. “Registrations are pouring in thick and fast,” said an official at the Chief Post Office, Wellington, yesterday, when asked by a “Dominion reported how that section of the public affected by the Act was taking its new responsibilities. All suburban post offices also are empowered to deal with registrations during ordinary business hours, and since Friday—the first day of the registration period—they have had a steady stream of applicants. Penalty for Default. Any person liable to the levy who makes default for more than one month will be liable to a fine of £5 and to a penalty of sixpence a month for the period during which he is in arrears. For failure to register or for supplying false information a person is liable to a fine of £5O. On and after December 7 it will also be an offence to employ an unregistered person or a person whose payment of the levy is in arrears. The penalty is a fine of £2O. All fines will form part of the Unemployment Fund.

Certain exemptions from the levy are made. Persons wholly exempt comprise those in receipt of war pensions in respect of total disablement, or of pensions under the Pensions Act, 1926. Members of the Native race have the option of paying the levy and making themselves eligible for benefits under the Act.

Inmates of public hospitals, charitable institutions, mental hospitals, or prisons will be exempt while they are in those institutions and for at least one month thereafter. Exemption is also extended to students at university colleges who are not in receipt of salary or wages. -Exemption from the payment of the levy, however, does not absolve a person from his obligation to register.