W. PRYOB.]

95

L—9a.

William Pryor, Secretary, New Zealand Employers' Federation, presented the following statement. (No. 41.) New Zealand Employers , Federation: Shops and Offices Bill, 1913. Schedule of objections to the Bill, with alterations, amendments!, and additions desired by the Federation : — i Clause 2 (interpretation clause) : Object to inclusion of private hotels and boardinghouses. If included i object to exemption of those where less than three are employed. " Restaurant," provision should be made that pastrycooks', fruiterers', or confectioners' shops combined with restaurants should be deemed to be restaurants. Clause 4 (records to be kept) : " (1) (6) —Object to insertion of words " from time to time " instead of the word " usually " as in present Act. Subclause (3) —Object to two years' record; think six months' sufficient. Clause 5 (hours of employment) : (1) (a) — The proviso prohibits the employment of any female in a confectioner's or fruiterer's shop after half past 9 o'clock, while the First Schedule allows employment up to 10.30 and 11 p.m. Necessary for assistants n> be employed to cater for late theatre and other business. Subclause (2) —Object to restriction to Friday late night, as the late night should be optional to suit the class of business, and it will prevent any late night in any week when a whole holiday occurs on Friday. No necessity for any alteration of section 3 (6) of the 1908 Act. Subclause (5) —The definition of " confectioner " should be extended to include pastrycooks. The addition of the words " pastry, cakes, or other goods of a like nature" is suggested. Clause 8 : Subclause (3) —This subclause should be struck out, and provision as in clause 22 of the Factories Act for extra payment for overtime prescribed. Subclause (6) —Proviso completely nullifies the provisions of this clause, and takes away from the Arbitration Court the right to allow any overtime whatever. Clause 9 : Hotels and restaurants should be exempt from this clause, as it has been found impossible to enforce its provisions in the present Act. Clause 23 (closing in certain districts) : If compulsory closing-hours are to be adopted the clause does not go far enough. All shops in the Dominion except those provided for in Schedule I should be made to close at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Late night should be optional, for reasons given in connection with clause 5 (2). Clause 24 (1) (closing by requisition) : Delete the words " in the evening of," and insert the word "on." (3.) "Particular trade" should be denned as meaning the particular part of the business carried on by any person who signs the requisition. Subclause (7) should apply to all shops, not only to those to which the requisition relates. Delete the words "or deliver." Clause 26 (1) (hotels and restaurants) : Insert the word " nine " before the word " ten " in line 51. Clause 27 (6) : Insert after the words " sixteen years," in line 14, the words " for more than fifteen hours in any one week in the case of a midday waitress." (4)— Object to exemption where not more than three assistants are employed. (5) —Weekly whole holiday objected to. Clause 28 (1) : Makes provision for up to fifty-six days off in the year, being more for accumulated holidays than for separate weekly holidays, when they should lie less, as accumulated holidays are very much more valuable than separate holidays. Clause 30 (1) : The word " fixed " should be deleted, as it has been found impracticable to observe fixed days for individual employees and has not been insisted upon by the Department except in some exceptional cases in Auckland. Clause 37 (i) (sanitation, he.) : Suitable heating-appliances specifically prescribed, and not left to the opinion of individual Inspectors. Clause 43 : Should be thirty minutes instead of fifteen minutes. Clause 55 : The provision for overtime in the proviso is strenuously objected to, as it overrides the whole of the Drivers' Arbitration Court awards of the Dominion. The words underlined should be struck out.

Friday, sth September, 1913. James Godber examined. (No. 42.) 1. The Chairman.] What are you, and whom do you represent?—l am a pastrycook and confectioner in Wellington; I represent my own firm of J. Godber and Co. (Limited), and also quite a number of people in the same line throughout the colony. 2. Have you any written authority? —-No. 3. You wish to speak?—l have to thank the gentlemen of the Committee for their courtesy in allowing me to come before them. I wish to state my case as briefly as possible. I wish, in the first place, to draw attention to the definition of bakers and confectioners, clause 5 : "A ' baker ' means a person whose business is to sell bread or cakes, and a ' confectioner ' means a person whose business is to sell confections or sweetmeats." People in our lino of business deal in both of these. We have also restaurants in connection with our establishments, and the most important part I wish to draw attention to is the anomaly which exists between the restaurants and shops. The shops are a uniform part and parcel of the restaurants. They divide their profit according to the Act. The restaurant is a shop, but a shop is not a restaurant, and if the shops as existing in the Bill were not allowed to employ any assistance after half past 9 in the evening it would seriously curtail their business. We maintain that the restriction in the hours of labour is quite sufficient in restaurants. You will observe in the schedule that they are