H—ll

is subject to Ministerial consent and conditions. Moreover, an Inspector will grant an ■ extension beyond 90 hours only if he is fully satisfied that it is necessary in the interests of essential production and an unsatisfied market. Occupiers of factories in each •district have been informed of the need to plan their schedules of production in advance to meet these provisions. (2) The following table of overtime authorized beyond the statutory limits compares -each year from 1942. (Note. —Prior to the Factories Act of 1946, boys and girls under sixteen years of age could work overtime by permission. Since the new Act this is •entirely prohibited. There is no restriction on the working of overtime by men) :

I 'The above table reflects the decrease in the number of women employed in factories, the cessation of war contracts, general easing of demand, and the tightening-up on the issue of overtime warrants. Considerable overtime is still necessary in some industries, notably food-processing, clothing, tobacco, and woollen and knitting mills. In the past year many applications for extended hours have been applied for on the grounds •of a grave shortage of women operatives on whose output male workers have been dependent. This is still the case. (3) Hours beyond the 90-hour limit were authorized in some of the leading industries .as follows : Hours. Clothing and textiles .. .. .. .. .. 31,745 Tobacco-manufacture .. .. .. .. .. 28,553 Engineering and metals (Auckland, Wellington, and Lower Hutt only) .. .. .. .. 9,036 Printing (main centres and Lower Hutt only) .. .. 6,527 Food groups (mainly Auckland) .. .. .. 5,978 Footwear-manufacture .. .. .. .. 5,441 Soap-manufacture (Lower Hutt only) .. .. .. 5,190 These industries between them account for nearly 90 per cent, of the extra overtime authorized. (4) The following table shows the geographical distribution of overtime worked in 1948

29

Year. Number of Women. Number of Boys. 1 Hours Worked in Excess of 90hour Limit. 1942 .. * 3,902 34 235,212 1943 4,983 42 455,934 1944 4,298 22 392,493 1945 2,672 22 207,421 1946 2,703 15 197,642 , 1947 2,006 126,585 1948 1,935 103,398

District. Number of Women for Whom Overtime Authorized. Total Hours Overtime Worked. Number of Women for Whom Extra Overtime Authorized. Hours Worked in Excess of Statutory Limit of 90 Hours. Auckland 4,064 187,932 765 20,969 Lower Hutt 1,310 83,951 313 28,254 Wellington 1,612 130,951 335 37,354 'Christchurch 2,020 58,632 170 5,201 Ihinedin 1,849 60,983 180 6,605 All other centres 2,683 88,121 172* 5,015