F. PRIOR.]

51

I.—9a.

We have other similar cases. Perhaps for some reason or another you have to discharge an employee, and out of spite they go down and make complaints to the union or the Labour Department, and they send the Inspectors on wild-goose chases. I say that if that is all the Inspectors have got to do they have no business to be there. 6. Mr. Dare;/.] Did you say that an Inspector told you in Auckland that you could not give any of your employees any half-holiday you liked under the old Act?— Yes. 7. He told you personally? —Yes. 8. Mr. Ilindmarxh .] Did you act on that? — Yes. 9. On the statutory half-holiday did you. when your restaurant was upon, give all your Servants a half-holiday I—Theyl—They all get a half-holiday. 10. But on this particular day? You say the Inspector t< >l*l you in Auckland that you must give your employees a half-holiday on the half-holiday that the shops closed upon?—No, that is not right. The Inspector came along and said. " I would like to see your wages and overtime books." I produced both books. 11. What did he say. then, about the half -holiday I —He took his notes in regard to my employing the midday waitresses overtime, and he saw then that another girl had had her day changed, and he said. " I gee you have changed the day here." I said, "We can do that, can we not? " and he said, " No, you cannot." And since then I have not. 12. .1//. Veitch.] With regard to the casuals, I do not quite understand your statement. Do you suggest that you might have a race day on which three of your traitresses have a halfholiday, and that an accident might happen to another, and so you would be short of four girls: is that it? —Yes, in regard to the half-holiday, and I am not allowed to bring those midday waitresses back. If I bring those girls back to run my tea for two hours I have to pay at the rate of 3s. an hour. 13. If you are permitted to change the day from one day to another in the week on special occasions, will that meet your difficulty?—No, it would meet it in one case only. It would not meet the case on race days or holidays. Take Easter week, for instance. T have got sufficient girls to run my room. They come on at !) o'clock in the morning and they are finished at 11. There are sufficient hands to lay the whole room and another room for one hundred and fifty people in those two hours; therefore I do not want any more hands all day long. We could do without our midday waitresses on any holiday or race day, and if we could bring them back for tea instead of having them at midday that would satisfy us. But we do not ask that. We are quite willing that they should go on in the ordinary course and get a little extra for what they do in the two hours on a race night. 14. What you want is the right to work overtime on special occasions at a special rate?— Yes, we do not mind that. We have paid them at a special rate — at Sunday rate. 15. 77;e Chairman.] The overtime is provided by the award?— According to the interpretation of the Magistrate, no. 16. Mr. Veitch.] You would not have a race day every day in the week? —No. We do not want the privilege of employing midday waitresses at any tiim—only on special occasions. 17. How many such special occasions do you think would happen in a year? —I could not tell you how many times the girls would stop away in a year, but not very many. There is certainly Easter week ; in fact, we could do with them in any race or holiday week. 18. I understand there is a race day nearly every week in Auckland?— Not quite so bad as that. 19. Will you be satisfied if the law is fixed so that you must let your employees off a halfday within each week?— Yes, one half-day. 20. Do you object to the whole day?— Yes. 21. With regard to this signed affidavit, can you show us that you suffered in any way from the fact that this complaint was made? —Not in that particular case. 22. In what case could you suffer? —In another case. 23. Only if you are in the wrong, surely?—lt is like this: if you discharge a girl that girl always gets a certain amount of sympathy from the customers, and in that way you lose custom. 24. Mr. Does it not commend itself to you as only justice that the girls should get a holiday the same as other individuals? —I am perhaps in rather an awkward position. I am speaking on behalf of the business in general. Personally it does not affect me at all, because I do not do any Sunday trade, but I am speaking on behalf of the people who do. 25. But you will admit that girls who are employed in any particular establishment are entitled to get their day off?— Yes. It could be done in this way : they could have two halfdays. I do not think there would be any objection. It would certainly work better than their having one whole day. The people have to be catered for and businesses vary a good deal, and it is compulsory that you keep a fair staff if you want to do any business at all. 26. Mr. OkeyJ\ About changing the day : would you tell the girl the day before that you wanted to change the day or when she came that morning?— You might not know it. 27. You want to be able to say to the girl when she comes in the morning. " I cannot give you a holiday to-day: you must have it to-morrow "1 —Yes. The case which I quoted happened to myself. 28. But Miss Brown may have arranged to go out for a walk with Mr. Jones : you upset that arrangement? —That is the trouble. We are there to supply the public, and, of course, they are there to get their living, and there should be some little give-and-take. 29. About these holidays : do they all sign the holiday-book before they go away on Wednesday or Thursday?— Mine all do before they go off. 30. Mr. Pryor.] I suppose, as a matter of fact, with regard to the half-holiday, it is essential in the interests of your business that you should have, as far as possible, a regular day for each girl," but you want to be able to change it just in case of emergency when you are in a fix?— Yes.