H—ll

(7) Ratification of Conventions During the last twelve months the New Zealand Government has ratified the following conventions — Convention No. 58 : Minimum Age (Sea), (Revised), ratified 6th June, 1946. Convention No. 10 : Minimum Age (Agriculture), ratified 16th June, 1947. Convention No. 59 : Minimum Age (Industry), ratified 16th June, 1947. Convention No. 60 : Minimum Age (Non-industrial Employment), (Revised), ratified 16th June, 1947. Convention No. 50 : Recruiting of Indigenous Workers, ratified 16th June, 1947. Convention No. 64 : Contracts of Employment (Indigenous Workers), ratified 16th June, 1947. Convention No. 65: Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers), ratified 16th June, 1947. The ratification of conventions Nos. 50, 64, and 65 includes ratification in respect of the Cook Islands and Western Samoa. In the case of two conventions previously ratified —Convention No. 14, Weekly Rest (Industry), and Convention No. 29, Forced Labour, the Government has approved of the extension of the ratification to include the Cook Islands and Western Samoa. SECTION 18.—ENFORCEMENT ACTION (1) General The inspectorial staff of the Department is concerned with giving advice and assistance in respect of the industrial legislation of the Dominion, but a large part of their work consists in the enforcement of the Acts, agreements, awards, and regulations which the Department administers. It is not possible to give a complete description of the extent of these activities merely by a collection of statistics, but figures serve at least to indicate the ways in which compliance with the law is secured, and bring out the fact that the unspectacular but steady policing work of Inspectors, which occupies much of their time, is of considerable social importance. Tables XIII to XXIII set out in detail the numbers of inspections carried out, prosecutions taken, arrears of wages collected, requisitions for improvement served, and proceedings for the recovery of wages. Inspection work under the Weights and Measures Act, 1925, is dealt with in Section 14. (2) Inspections The number of inspections made during the year was greater than during the previous year in almost every section of the Department's work. (3) Investigations of Alleged Breaches Figures under this head are shown in Tables XIV to. XVIII. Table XIV shows those alleged to be committed by employers, Table XV by workers, and Table XYI is a summary of the other two. The figures are divided between investigations following complaints and those following inspections. The entries which indicate "no breach disclosed " following an inspection relate to doubtful questions raised by Inspectors, which are shown to be in order only after investigation or explanation.

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