Bulletin Vol. II., No. 2.

BULLETIN

OF THE

English Edition

International Labour Office

National Labour Legislation

I. Labour Legislation of General Application.

1. Protection of Children, Young Persons, and Apprentices. §4, paragraph 1, of the GERMAN Imperial Act regulating the employment of children, dated 30th March, 1903 (G.B. II., p. 1), prohibits the employment of children in certain processes. The second paragraph of the Section empowers the Federal Council to prohibit their employment in "further unsuitable occupations." In pursuance of this paragraph, the Federal Council issued on 1st July, 1907, a notification prohibiting the employment of children in cleaning steam boilers. (E.B. II., p. 168).

§8 of the same Act regulates the employment of children in delivering goods in certain specified trades and in "other industrial occupations (cf. §§4-7 of the Act). Doubts having arisen as to whether children might be so employed in connection with factories, the Prussian Minister of Commerce and Industry issued an order dated 14th June, 1907, to the effect that §135 of the Industrial Code (regulation of child labour in factories) is not affected by the provisions of the Employment of Children Act of 1903. (E.B. II., p. 183.)

The AUSTRIAN Act, dated 5th February, 1907, amending the Industrial Code (extracts given in E.B. II., p. 189), introduces some changes in previous provisions regulating apprenticeship (§§75a, 98 to 104 of the Industrial Code). Masters are now required to give their apprentices facilities for attending a continuation school in conformity with the regulations and syllabus of such school. This provision is extended, as regards women assistants, to attendance at any existing schools of needlework or domestic economy. As regards the right to keep apprentices, the new §98 is more far-reaching than the old provisions. The right to keep apprentices may be withdrawn under the new Section from masters whose apprentices are unsuccessful in the apprentices' examinations. Masters may be forbidden to keep apprentices and young assistant workers at the same time if this is necessary in order to prevent evasions of the provisions relating to apprenticeship. The term of apprenticeship, fixed at from two to four years, without exceptions, for industries not carried on in factories, may now be reduced by one year, by order, for particular industries in exceptional circumstances, after consultation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The rule that contracts of apprenticeship must be in writing, formerly applying only in the case of persons under age, now holds good also in the case of adult apprentices (§99). The new 8996 strengthens the old provisions relating to compulsory attendance at continuation schools in the sense that now the term of apprenticeship may be extended by six months, if an apprentice is temporarily excluded from the

schools for purposes of discipline or fails to pass his examination. The new provisions of §rooa tend to guarantee the apprentice's training. A new paragraph, modelled on §128 of the German Industrial Code, permits the Minister of Commerce in agreement with the Minister of the Interior, and after consultation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to fix, by order, the proportion of apprentices in relation to other workers, in cases where this is not done by the Statutes of the Guild. §104b introduces compulsory apprentices' examinations for apprentices in handicrafts, to be conducted by an examination board, consisting of equal numbers of persons elected by masters and assistants respectively. $115, paragraph 1, is also worthy of note; it provides for the exemption of apprentices from the payment of indenture, examination and discharge fees if their parents are without means, on application being made by the apprentices' legal representative. -§133 contains the corresponding provisions relating to penalties.

66

2. Protection of Women. §10, paragraph 1, of the Notification of the German Federal Council, dated 20th March, 1902, issued in pursuance of §120e of the Industrial Code (G.B. I., p. 143), prohibits the employment of women and young persons in working up raw stone " in stone quarries. Doubts had arisen as to the interpretation of this rule, in particular, as to whether the making of road stones was prohibited or not. Consequently, §10 of the notification is to be more exactly drafted, and, as a preliminary step, the PRUSSIAN Minister of Commerce and Industry has issued a decree, dated 21st May, 1907 (E.B. II., p. 182) requiring the Presidents of Government Districts to procure expert opinions on the matter.

89 of the SPANISH Act, dated 13th March, 1900, relating to the employment of women, provided that women should not be employed for three weeks after confinement. An Act, dated 8th January, 1907 (E.B. II., p. 220) extends this period to from four to six weeks, and authorises women to claim, in pursuance of a medical certificate, to be allowed to cease work on leave in the eighth month of pregnancy. In both cases the woman's situation must be kept open for her.

The ITALIAN Act relating to women and children, dated 19th June, 1902 (G.B. I., p. 548), has been amended in several important respects by an Act dated 7th July, 1907 (E.B. II., p. 292). In the process of dealing with applications and complaints lodged by manufacturers with the Chief Labour Council, a kind of judicial system had grown up, and the results of decisions so issued was a series of suggested amendments, drawn up by the permanent committee of the Council, to amend the existing law in respect of the work of carusi" in the Sicilian sulphur mines, periods of employment and breaks for rest, and the institution of a system of maternity insurance. The establishment of a maternity fund was reserved for a special Bill. But the other proposals were embodied in a Bill introduced on 20th June, 1905, in the Chamber of Deputies by the Minister of Agriculture (Rava), adopted with a few amendments on 9th May, 1906 (see E.B. I., p. 93, No. 3), and later adopted by the Senate. Most of the amendments amounted merely to the deletion of temporary provisions which, owing to the protracted deliberations on the Bill, were no longer necessary.

The earlier Act permitted the employment of children (except below ground) from the age of 12 (or during a period of transition from the age of 10). Work below ground was absolutely prohibited for women and young persons under 12, and where no mechanical traction was used, for young persons under 13 (during a period of transition, under 10). Work in dangerous and unhealthy trades might only be carried on by boys aged 15 years and upwards and adult

women. The new Act dispenses with all periods of transition, and prescribes the following ages of admission to occupations: For boys and girls employed above ground, 12 years; for young persons employed below ground, 13 years, if mechanical traction is used, and otherwise 14 years. No female person may be employed underground. No boy under 15 or woman under 21 may be employed in dangerous or injurious processes or those requiring excessive physical exertion (this classification is new; the industries affected thereby are to be designated by special regulations), even when such processes are not carried on underground. Children may not be employed in the Sicilian sulphur mines in filling and emptying ovens until they are 14 years of age.Under the old Act one condition of employment was that every woman and child must have received an elementary education; the new Act further requires the school-leaving examination to have been passed, and prescribes attendance at classes in the upper course of elementary instruction, where possible.-Night-work was formerly prohibited in the case of young persons under 15 and women under age, and was to be prohibited for women of all ages on and after 19th June, 1907. The period from 8 (or 9) p.m. to 6 (or 5) a.m. was reckoned as night; where work was carried on in two shifts, employment was permitted between 5 in the morning and II at night. The new Act leaves these rules intact; but it gives the Minister of Agriculture authority to permit establishments where women were employed at night to continue so to employ them, subject to certain conditions, until 31st December, 1907, and it adds the provision that the prohibition of night employment for women may be rescinded at seasons and in cases where they are employed in manipulating raw materials or partly manufactured goods which are subject to rapid changes and liable to damage. The new method of regulating breaks in work is of importance in view of the enforcement of the Berne Convention of 26th September, 1906 (E.B. I., p. 273). The old Act provided that boys and girls might not be employed for more than 6 hours without a break, and that, where the period of employment was 8 hours, women and children must be allowed a break of 1 hour; where the period of employment was from 8 to 11 hours, they must be allowed a break of 1 hours; and where the period of employment exceeded 11 hours, 2 hours. In the case of work carried on in two shifts, the Act provided that the period of employment might be from 5 a.m. to II p.m., and this rule was expressly interpreted in Parliament, on the motion of Signor Pozzo, to mean that the actual length of each shift might not exceed 8 hours.

This rule was an obstacle in the way of the abolition of night-work, since employers wishing to introduce the legal two-shift system lost 2 hours a day, and they preferred to work with one shift for 10, 12 or 14 hours, and lose a few hours of electric or water power, instead of doubling their staffs. On the other hand, the system of two uninterrupted shifts was very popular amongst the workers. "The workpeople employed in factories where the system of the uninterrupted 9 hour shift has not yet been introduced, are urgently desirous (and ready to go out on strike over the matter) that they should be placed in the same position as persons employed in firms where the system in force is that of two day shifts of 8 hours' work, without leaving the premises, the hour for rest and meals being spent in the workrooms.' (Relazione dell'Ufficio Centrale, 3 luglio 1906, Doc. N. 327A, p. 5.)

The new Act, having regard to these circumstances, provides that, with the consent of the workmen concerned, the break for rest may be reduced to halfan-hour if the work is carried on in two shifts (or to 1 hour if the work is not carried on for more than 11 hours). At the same time, it is expressly decreed that the duration of a shift (not including breaks for rest) shall not exceed

8 hours. In order to ascertain whether this arrangement of hours of work could be brought into conformity with the requirements of the Berne Convention of 26th September, 1906, to the effect that an uninterrupted night's rest from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. must be allowed, the Government ordered an inquiry to be instituted by the Permanent Committee of the Labour Council (cf. Čam. dei Dep., Doc. 1907, N.747, p. 4) and the following questions to be answered by employers and workmen : (1) Does the two-shift system find favour in the various branches of the wool industry (i.e. spinning, winding and weaving)? (2) Does the two-shift system find favour also where only 8 hours' actual work is done in each shift ?-The result of the inquiry was to show that the twoshift system is found more advantageous in spinning and weaving on ordinary and Northrop looms, whilst the one-shift system is preferred where the weaving of raw and coloured silk is carried on. Further, the employers found that a shift of 8 hours with half an hour's break was sufficient in most cases, and that they could fall back, in case of need, on a system of divided shifts which would give them 17 hours of actual work; the workmen were also in favour of an 8 hours' uninterrupted period of work, meals being taken at the machines. As examples of suggested periods of employment, the following may be given : (a) 5 a.m. to I p.m., 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. ; (b) 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.; (c) 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.; (d) 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m., 1.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.; (e) 5 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. and 12 noon to 5 p.m., 8.30 a.m. to 12 noon and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. The one-shift arrangement given under (b) found the most general approval.

There was therefore no ground for further amendment of the law, and the Government could ratify the Berne Convention by the Bill of 15th May, 1907, and limit themselves to adding to the new Act regulating the employment of women and children a Section providing that on and after 1st January, 1911, the daily period of employment should be included between the hours of 5 a.m. and 10 p.m.

3. Sunday Rest; Saturday Afternoon Holiday. In the ARGENTINE REPUBLIC some alterations relating to police control and administration have been introduced, by an Order, dated 22nd March, 1907 (Title, E.B. II., p. 189), in the Decree of 18th November, 1905 (E.B. I., p. 387) issued in pursuance of the Sunday Rest Act of 31st August, 1905 (G.B. IV., p. 310.)

A Belgian Decree, dated 7th February, 1907 (Title, E.B. II., p. 217), authorises hairdressers of Brussels, Lüttich and Namur, and another, dated 2nd March, 1907, those of Louvain, to carry on business for 10 hours on specified Sundays, provided that they allow, as compensation, a half-holiday in the following week.-Another Decree, dated 15th April, 1907 (E.B. II., p. 218) contains a list of industries empowered under $5, paragraph 2, of the Sunday Rest Act of 17th July, 1905 (G.B. IV., p. 194) to extend night-shifts to 6 o'clock on Sunday mornings, in cases where the work is organised in shifts. This list is supplemented in a Decree dated 18th August, 1907 (E.B. II., p. 219).

§9, paragraph 2, of the BELGIAN Sunday Rest Act allows an exception to the absolute prohibition of Sunday work for children under 16 and women under 21 in respect of certain scheduled industries in which the work cannot, from the nature of things, be either interrupted or postponed. In pursuance of this Section, a Decree was issued on 27th May, 1907, permitting the employment of young persons from 14 to 16, and of girls and women from 16 to 21, on 13 days out of 14 or 64 days out of 7, in preserved vegetable factories during the period from 10th June to 10th August. (E.B. II., p. 219.)

In FRANCE difficulties met with in administering the Weekly Rest Act of 13th July, 1906 (E.B. I., p. 185), and legal decisions interpreting the Act, have necessitated the detailed consideration of certain points by Ministerial notes and circulars.The Circular of 4th February, 1907 (E.B. II., p. 222) draws attention to a decision of the Court of Cassation, according to which the suspensive effects of appeals lodged against prefectoral orders apply only to the orders in question, and not to the legal duty of allowing the weekly rest. -The Circular of 19th February, 1907 (E.B. II., p. 222) answers in the affirmative the question whether an establishment may use the rotation system in respect of a portion of its staff, and apply to another part of the staff the system of Sunday afternoon rest with a compensating holiday of one day a fortnight.-A letter dated 27th March, 1907 (E.B. II., p. 237) deals with the question of the period which may elapse between two rest days.A Circular, dated 29th March, 1907 (E.B. II., p. 238) gives instructions to Attorneys-General relating to the repression of offences against the Weekly Rest Act.-A Circular, dated 10th April, 1907 (E.B. II., p. 238), recommends prefects to act as far as possible uniformly, to come to some agreement about the systems to be adopted in neighbouring places, and, in general, to grant liberal use of the exemptions allowed by the Act. In particular, the following rules are laid down in the Circular: Suspension of the Sunday rest in retail shops when local festivals fall on that day, is not to be allowed more than 6 to 8 times in the year (§5, paragraph 4); the suspension of the weekly rest allowed in certain industries on 15 days in the year by §6, paragraphs 2 and 3, to be granted in the case of transport undertakings, works where lading and unlading are carried on, coal and wood yards, hotels and restaurants, etc.; the permission given to certain establishments, which have adopted the system of Sunday afternoon rest with a compensating holiday once a fortnight ($5, paragraphs 2 and 3), to break up the fortnightly day of rest into two halfholidays, is extended to all employees (not only persons under age), and also to establishments employing less than 8 (instead of 5) persons; hotels, etc., are to be given permission to allow their employees one monthly holiday only, together with a free half day in each of the remaining weeks of the month; in small undertakings, during the absence of the head of the business on military service, permission may be given to treat one of the employees as manager, so that he may be free from the obligation of observing the weekly rest; works of maintenance and repair may be undertaken on the collective rest day, if they are absolutely necessary, and if a compensating rest is allowed during the week; in exceptional cases, preparations for special shows of goods and stocktaking may take place on Sunday.According to a Circular, dated 22nd May, 1907 (E.B. II., p. 258), tramways which carry goods as well as passengers, are to be classed as railways," and so do not come within the scope of the Act; on the other hand, tramways which carry only passengers and, in some cases, mails, are subject to the Act.

66

The introduction of legislation relating to rest on Sundays and holidays was first urged in ITALY by the 8th Catholic Congress held at Lodi in October, 1890. In 1897 and 1898 a women's league to prevent the desecration of Sunday was formed in many towns. The economic necessity for Sunday rest was further emphasized by the agitation of the Association of Private Employees (1900), and in memorials drawn up by the Chamber of Commerce (4th February, 1902). On 19th April, 1902, Deputy Pellegrini, and on 23rd April, 1902, the Socialist Group (Cabrini and others) introduced Bills on the subject, on which the committee reported on 25th June, 1903. The Cabrini Bill was rejected by ballot on 11th March, 1904. This Bill provided for a 36-hour Sunday, or, in