The Theory and Policy of Labour Protection Part 17

For every Sunday and holiday the workpeople of such establishments must be allowed a rest of at least 24 hours, for two consecutive holdings of 36 hours; and for Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide of 48 hours. The period of rest must be counted from midnight, and in the case of two consecutive holidays must last till 6 p.m. of the second day. In establishments where regular day and night gangs are employed, the period of rest may commence at any time between 6 p.m. of the preceding week-day and 6 a.m. of the Sunday or holiday, provided that the work is completely suspended for 24 hours from such commencement.

The a.s.sistants, apprentices and workpeople in small trades and handicrafts must not be employed on Christmas Day, Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday; on other Sundays and holidays they must not be employed for more than five hours.

By statutory regulation of the parish or munic.i.p.al authorities, such Sunday work can be further restricted or entirely prohibited for particular branches of trade. For the last four weeks before Christmas, and for particular Sundays and holidays, which, owing to local conditions call for greater activity in trades, the police authorities may order an extension of the hours of work up to ten. The hours of work must be so fixed as to admit of attendance at Divine wors.h.i.+p. The hours may be variously fixed for the different branches of trading industry.

-- 105_c_.

The provisions of 105_b_ do not apply:

1. To work which must be carried on without delay in cases of necessity and in the public interest;

2. To the work of keeping the legally prescribed register of Sunday labour;

3. To the work of watching, cleaning and repairing the workshops, required for the regular continuance of the main business or of some other business, nor to any work on which depends the resumption of the full daily working of the business, wherever such work cannot be carried on during working days;

4. To such work as may be necessary in order to protect from damage raw materials or the produce of work, wherever such cannot be carried on during working days;

5. To the supervision of such work as is carried on on Sundays and holidays, in accordance with the provisions of clauses 1 to 4.

Employers must keep an accurate register of the workmen so employed on each Sunday and holiday, stating their number, and the hours and nature of the work. The register must be produced for examination at any time at the request of the local police authorities or of the official specified in -- 139_b_.

If the Sunday employment exceeds three hours, or prevents the workpeople from attending Divine wors.h.i.+p, a rest of 36 hours must be given to such workpeople every third Sunday, or they must be free every second Sunday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Exceptions to the above may be allowed by the lower administrative authorities, provided that the workpeople are not prevented from attending Divine wors.h.i.+p on Sundays, and that a rest of 24 hours is granted to then on a week-day in lieu of Sunday.

-- 105_d_.

The Federal Council may make further exceptions to the provisions of -- 105_b_, 1 in certain defined industries, especially in the case of operations which do not admit of delay or interruption, or which are limited by natural causes to certain times and seasons, or the nature of which necessitates increased activity at certain times of the year. The regulation of the work permitted in such business on Sundays and holidays, and the regulation of the conditions on which such work shall be permitted, shall be uniform for all business of the same kind, and shall be in accordance with the provision of -- 105_c_, 3.

The regulations laid down by the Federal Council shall be published in the _Imperial Law Gazette_, and shall be laid before the Reichstag at the next session.

-- 105_e_.

Exceptions to the restrictions of work on Sundays and holidays may also be made by the higher administrative authorities in trades which supply the daily necessaries of life to the public, and in those that require increased activity on those days; also in establishments the working of which depends upon the wind or upon the irregular action of water power.

The regulation of these exceptions shall be subject to the provision of -- 105_c_, 3.

The procedure on application for permission of exceptions in the case of establishments employing machinery worked wholly or mainly by wind or by the irregular action of water power, shall be subject to the enactments of ---- 20 and 21.

-- 105_f_.

In order to prevent a disproportionate loss or to meet an unforeseen necessity, the lower administrative authorities may also allow exceptions for a specified time to the provision of -- 105_b_, 1.

The orders of the lower administrative authorities shall be issued in writing, and must be produced by the employer for examination in the office of the business at the request of the official appointed for the revision. A copy of the orders shall be hung up inside the place of business in some spot easily accessible to the workers.

The lower administrative authorities shall draw up a register of the exceptions granted by them, in which shall be entered the name of the firm, the kind of work permitted, the number of workers employed in the business, and the number required for such Sunday or holiday labour, also the duration of such employment and the grounds on which it is permitted.

-- 105_g_.

The prohibition of Sunday work may be extended by Imperial Ordinance, with consent of the Federal Council, to other trades besides those mentioned in the Act. These ordinances shall be laid before the Reichstag at the next session. The provisions of ---- 105_c_ to 105_f_ shall apply to the exceptions to be permitted to such prohibition.

-- 105_h_.

The provisions of ---- 135_a_ to 105_g_ do not preclude further restrictions by common law of work on Sundays and holidays.

The Central Provincial Court shall be empowered to permit departures from the provisions of -- 105_b_, 1, for special holidays which do not fall upon a Sunday. The provision does not apply to Christmas, Easter, Ascension Day or Whitsuntide.

-- 105_i_.

The provisions of ---- 105_a_, 1, 105_b_ to 105_g_ do not apply to public houses and beerhouses, concerts, spectacles, theatrical representations, or any kind of entertainment, nor to carrying industries.

Industrial employers may only exact from their workpeople on Sundays and holidays such work as admits of no delay or interruption.

-- 106.

Industrial employers who have been deprived of civil rights shall not, so long as they remain deprived of these rights, undertake the instruction of workers below 18 years of age.

The police authorities may enforce the dismissal of workers employed in contravention of the foregoing prohibitions.

-- 107.

Unless special exceptions are made by Imperial Ordinance, persons under age shall only be employed as workers on condition that they are furnished with a work register. At the time of engaging such workers, the employer shall call for the work register. He shall be bound to keep the same, produce it upon official demand, and return it at the legal expiration of service relations. It shall be returned to the father or guardian if demanded by them, or if the worker has not yet completed his sixteenth year, in other cases it shall be returned to the worker himself.

With consent of the local authorities of the district specified in -- 108, the work register may also be handed over to the mother or other relation, or directly to the worker himself.

The forgoing provisions do not apply to children who are under compulsion to attend the national schools.

-- 108.

The work register shall be supplied to the worker by the police authorities of that district in which he has last made a protracted stay; but if this was not within the limits of the German Empire, then it shall be free of costs and stamp duty in any German district chosen by him. It shall be supplied at the request or with the consent of the father or guardian; and if the opinion of the father cannot be obtained, or if the father refuses consent on insufficient grounds, and to the disadvantage of the worker, the local authorities shall themselves grant consent.

Before the register is supplied it must be certified that the worker is no longer under compulsion to attend school, and an affadavit must be made that no work register has previously been supplied to him.

-- 109.

If the work register is completely filled up, or can no longer be used, or if it has been lost or destroyed, another work register shall be supplied in its place by the local authorities of the district in which the holder of the register has last made a protracted stay. The register which has been filled up, or which can no longer be used, shall be closed by an official mark. If the new register is issued in the place of one which can no longer be used, or which has been lost or destroyed, the same shall be notified therein. In such case a fee of fifty pfennig may be charged.