H.—ll

VIII

Shops and Offices Act. During the year just terminated, important and necessary amendments were enacted which provide for the registration of all retail shops. The definition of "shop" and "shop-assistant" is also extended, and now applies to hotels and restaurants and the persons employed therein. It also fixes uniform hours as well as the statutory half-holiday for the employees in hotels, private hotels, restaurants, tea-rooms, and oyster-saloons, for the whole of the Dominion. Under these new provisions time and wages books (for all shops) and half-holiday books (for hotels and restaurants) are to be properly kept; the. latter have to be signed by the employees before leaving the premises on the halfholiday. These provisions have greatly simplified the work of administration, enabling the departmental officers to see that (he law is more strictly observed than was the case under previous legislation. Special care was taken to officially notify hotelkeepers and others of these new provisions by circular letters and printed extracts from the Amendment Act. and so to assist them to comply with the law in this respect. Every consideration was shown by the Department's Inspectors before any action was taken for offences under the said Act. Shops. The following table presents a detailed report of the number of shops, employers and employees engaged therein, and the total wages paid in the four chief centres, and the various industrial districts (excluding the above four centres in New Zealand) :• —

Number of Persons engaged.

Comparing these totals with those for last year, there are 4,218 more persons employed in shops, whilst the number of shops has increased by 1,620, and the wages j>;ii<1 also show the substantia! increase of £160,341 over the previous year's total. Auckland City again lends the other cities in the total wages paid during the year 1909-10. the total being C292.067 ; Chrietchurch City is next with £269.476; then Wellington City, £239,532; and Dunedin City, £216,132. Adding the amounts paid in wanes in die cities to the surrounding districts, the order is as follows: — X Wellington .. .. .. .. .. .. ■• 535,385 Auckland .. .. .. .. .. .. •• .. 475,061 Christchurch .. .. .. •• •■ •• ■■ 388,577 Dunedin 372,440 I.,i-l year the lout cities were placed in the same relative order, but each combined district shows a considerable advance in the amounts paid on the previous year. No doubt the larger

Disi riot. Employees. Employers. Total Persons engaged in Shops. Number Total Wages of during Bhope. the Year.* Male. female. Male. Female. Auckland City Wellington City < 'hiistohurch City Dunedin City Northern District Taranaki District Wellington District Marlborough District Nelson District Westland District Canterbury District Otsigo and Southland District — 2,209 1.158 1,658 920 1,828 'ill 1,536 752 1,783 719 609 255 2,374 989 184 j 69 297 ; 147 571 j 207 981 502 1,582 J 285 1,440 212 1.254 321 1,112 '' 310 1,910 ' L79 653 25 2,485 177 171 18 330 31 620 90 1,029 57 5,234 4,230 1,314 3,710 4,591 1,542 6,025 445 805 1,488 2.569 £ 1,778 292,067 1,571 239,532 1,448 269,476 1,258 216,132 1.981 182,994 662 74,363 2,512 295,853 ITU 21,66(1 332 39,386 655 66,517 1,021 119.101 Otago Southland 599 197 799 351 732 70 610 76 1,598 1,836 769 60,160 687 95,148 Totals ■• 15,428 7,177 13,931 1,851 38,387 14,844 1,972,395 * As in the case of factories, the total wi iges paid refer to the available. rear MiO'.i0, tlie figures for 1910—11 not yet being