This Act may be cited as the Factories Amendment Act, 1936, and shall be read together with and deemed part of the Factories Act, 1921–22 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

Except as provided in sections three and seven hereof, this Act shall come into force on the first day of July, nineteen hundred and thirty-six.

Section two of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from paragraph (a) of the definition of the term “factory” the word “two”, and substituting the word “one”; and also by omitting from the same paragraph the words “(whatever the number of persons employed therein)”.

Subject to the provisions of the principal Act and of this section, no worker shall be employed in or about a factory—

Subject to the provisions of the principal Act, no woman or boy shall be employed in or about a factory—

The limits of working-hours prescribed by subsection one of this section shall not apply with respect to any male worker employed in any works or factory comprised in any of the classes specified in the Second Schedule to the principal Act.

A male worker over the age of eighteen years may be employed in getting up steam for machinery in a factory, or in making preparations for the work of a factory, beyond the working-hours prescribed by subsection one of this section, or fixed by the Court of Arbitration under the next succeeding subsection, as the case may be, but not for more than one hour in any one day. Every such worker so employed shall be paid at the ordinary rate for all time worked by him under this subsection.

On application made by any occupier of a factory the Court of Arbitration may, by order, extend in respect of the factory for any specified period all or any of the limits of working-hours prescribed by subsection one of this section, if in the opinion of the Court it would be impracticable to carry on efficiently the work of the factory without the extension. No order under this subsection shall extend the number of hours (excluding meal-times) during which any person may be employed to more than forty-four hours in any one week.

This section shall not apply to laundries.

This section is in substitution for sections seventeen and eighteen and subsection six of section twenty-six of the principal Act, and those enactments are hereby accordingly repealed.

This section shall come into force on the first day of September, nineteen hundred and thirty-six.

Except as otherwise provided in this section, no worker shall be employed in or about a dairy factory or a creamery on more than six days in any one week.

The last preceding subsection shall not apply with respect to any dairy factory or creamery in which not more than two workers are regularly employed.

The following provisions shall apply in respect of any worker who is employed on more than six days in any week in or about any dairy factory or creamery referred to in the last preceding subsection, namely:—

All holidays to which a worker becomes entitled pursuant to paragraph (a) of the last preceding subsection shall be given to him not later than one month after the close of the season during which he became entitled to them; and, in cases where payment in lieu of any holiday is made pursuant to paragraph (b) of the last preceding subsection, such payment shall be made not later than the close of such season.

The authority conferred by section twenty-one of the principal Act to extend the prescribed working-hours or times shall not be exercised so as to permit of the employment of any woman or boy on a Sunday.

The said section twenty-one is hereby consequentially amended by adding to paragraph (d) of subsection one the words “or on any Sunday”.

Section twenty-one of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:—

Where the ordinary rate is by time and not by piecework, the overtime rate payable under subsection four or subsection five of section twenty-six of the principal Act to any boy under the age of eighteen years or any woman employed on any holiday or half-holiday pursuant to that section shall be not less than one shilling and sixpence an hour, and shall be paid at the first regular pay-day thereafter.

Section twenty-three of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting in subsection six, after the words “one shilling”, the words “and sixpence”.

For the purposes of the first proviso to subsection three of section twenty-one of the principal Act, as amended by paragraph (b) of subsection one of this section, the expression “the prescribed weekly maximum number of working-hours” means, as the case may require, either forty hours, or the weekly maximum number of hours fixed by the Court of Arbitration in any order made under subsection five of section three hereof.

Section twenty of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection one, and substituting the following new paragraphs:—

The said section is hereby further amended as follows:—

Subsections four and five of section three of this Act shall apply with respect to the working-hours prescribed in respect of laundries by section twenty of the principal Act, as amended by the foregoing provisions of this section, in the same manner as they apply in respect of other factories.

This section (except paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) of subsection two) shall come into force on the first day of September, nineteen hundred and thirty-six.

No person who is employed in any factory at the commencement of this Act shall be dismissed nor shall the wages of any such person be reduced by reason merely of any reduction or alteration made in his working-hours pursuant to this Act. Where any such person is dismissed or the wages of any such person are reduced after the commencement of this Act, the burden of proving that the dismissal or reduction, as the case may be, was not a breach of the provisions of this section shall be on the occupier.

Where any worker is actually employed in or about a factory during extended hours, he shall be paid therefor in accordance with the provisions of the principal Act relating to payment for overtime, notwithstanding that the extension of hours may have been unlawful.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, apply the provisions of section thirty of the principal Act to cases where the occupier of a factory lets or gives out work to be done elsewhere than in the factory in connection with any material other than textile or shoddy material (as mentioned in the said section) or in connection with any specified class or specified classes of articles.

Every Order in Council issued under the last preceding subsection may in like manner from time to time be varied, or may be at any time in like manner revoked.

In cases to which section thirty of the principal Act applies (including cases to which it is applied by Order in Council under the last preceding section), the occupier of a factory shall not let or give out work of any description to be done by any person elsewhere than in a registered factory unless that person is the holder of a license for the time being in force under this section.

The occupier shall not at any time employ a greater number of persons holding licenses under this section than one for every ten or fraction of ten persons for the time being employed by the occupier in the factory.

Every application for a license under this section shall be made by the occupier to the Inspector, and shall be accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed.

No such license shall be granted by the Inspector unless he is satisfied—

Every license granted under this section shall remain in force for a period, not exceeding twelve months, to be specified in the license:

Provided that any license may be at any time revoked by the Inspector if he ceases to be satisfied as to any of the matters mentioned in the last preceding subsection.

If any application for a license under this section is refused, or if any license granted under this section is revoked, there shall be a right of appeal to a Magistrate, exerciseable in any case either by the occupier of the factory or the person in respect of whom an application is made or by the licensee. The provisions of section sixty-six of the principal Act as to appeals from requisitions shall, with the necessary modifications, apply with respect to appeals under this section.

Section thirty of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of subsection one.

Section thirty-two of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from paragraph (a) all words before the words “No deduction”, and substituting the following words: “Every person who is employed in any capacity in a factory shall be entitled to receive from the occupier such payment for his work as is agreed on, being not less than fifteen shillings in any one week during the first six months of employment, with half-yearly increments on the agreed rate of not less than four shillings a week until the end of the third year of employment, and thereafter not less than two pounds a week”.

For the purpose of determining the rate of payment to which any person is entitled under the said section thirty-two, as amended by this section, in respect of any period of employment after the commencement of this Act, there shall be taken into account all periods of that person’s employment in any factory whatsoever, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, and the rate of such payment shall be determined as if subsection one of this section had been in force during the whole period of such employment.

Section thirty-three of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing subsection two.

Section thirty-five of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:—

Section thirty-seven of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting in paragraph (b), before the words “Easter Monday”, the words “Boxing Day”.

Wages for each whole holiday allowed to any person as provided in section thirty-five of the principal Act, as amended by the last preceding section, shall be at the same rate as for ordinary working-days, and shall be paid at the first regular pay-day thereafter.

Payment of wages for the said holidays shall be made to all persons who have been employed in the factory—

Where any person to whom paragraph (a) of the last preceding subsection applies has been employed by more than one person during the fortnight ending on any holiday referred to in that paragraph, he shall be entitled to receive payment for that holiday from such one or more of those employers, and if more than one in such proportions, as the Inspector determines.

Every person who is actually employed on any whole holiday shall, in addition to the payment to which he is entitled under the foregoing provisions of this section, be paid therefor at not less than double the ordinary rate, and every person who is employed on any half-holiday shall be paid therefor at not less than one-half as much again as the ordinary rate:

Provided that where the ordinary rate is by time, and not by piecework, the rate payable under this subsection shall not be less than one shilling and sixpence an hour, and shall be paid at the first regular pay-day thereafter:

Provided also that where any worker employed in or about a dairy factory or a creamery in which not more than two workers are regularly employed is actually employed on any of the whole holidays specified in section thirty-five of the principal Act (as amended by the last preceding section) he may, in lieu of payment therefor in accordance with this subsection, be allowed two whole holidays at such time or times as the occupier may determine, being not later in any case than one month after the close of the season in which the whole holiday occurred.

This section is in substitution for section thirty-eight of the principal Act, and that section is hereby accordingly repealed.

Where any worker employed in a factory in which work is regularly performed on Sundays is actually employed on any Sunday he shall, in addition to his ordinary rate of pay, be paid for the time worked on such Sunday at not less than the ordinary rate.

Except as provided in the last preceding subsection, every person who is actually employed in any factory on any Sunday shall be paid for the time worked on such Sunday at not less than double the ordinary rate of pay:

Provided that where the ordinary rate is by time and not by piecework the rate payable under this subsection shall be not less than one shilling and sixpence an hour, and shall be paid at the first regular pay-day thereafter.

Section thirty-nine of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:—

Section sixty-one of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from paragraph (a) of subsection one the word “three”, and substituting the word “six”.

The extension of time for the commencement of proceedings provided for in the last preceding subsection shall apply in any case where the offence has been committed within six months before the commencement of this Act.

The Second Schedule to the principal Act is hereby amended by adding thereto the following:—

All awards and industrial agreements under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1925 (whether made before or after the commencement of this Act), shall be read subject to the provisions of this Act:

Provided that nothing herein shall be construed to reduce the rate of wages payable to any worker, pursuant to any award or industrial agreement, or to increase his working-hours as fixed by any such award or agreement.