THE AIM AND JUSTIFICATION OF LABOUR PROTECTION.
The aim and justification of Labour Protection have I think become
sufficiently clear in the course of our inquiry. It is now only
necessary to recapitulate.
Labour Protection, especially protection by limitation of employment,
and protection in occupation, is first and foremost the social care of
the present and of all future generations, security against neglect of
their spiritual, physical, and family life through the unscrupulous
exploitation of wage-labour. Hence Labour Protection is indirectly
protection also of the capitalist classes of the future, and therefore
far from being unjust, it even acts in the highest interests of that
part of the nation which by virtue of the fact of property or ownership
is not in need of any special Labour Protection.
In fulfilling its purpose, Labour Protection even goes beyond the work
of upholding and strengthening national labour, when it takes the form
of internationally uniform Labour Protection such as was lately
projected at the Berlin Conference, and such as is becoming more and
more the goal of our efforts.
This international Labour Protection is a universal demand of humanity,
morality and religion, especially from the standpoint of the Church,
like that of international protection of all nations against slavery,
but it is also no doubt demanded in the interests of international
equilibrium of competition.
The aim of Labour Protection for the worker individually lies far beyond
mere industrial protection. Protection of labour extends to the person
of individual labourers and their freedom as regards religious
education, instruction, learning, and teaching, social intercourse,
morality and health, and especially does it afford to every man security
of family life.
In this social and individual aim lies its justification, subject to
certain conditions. These conditions we have already examined.
The first condition is, that special protection shall only be used to
guard against distinct dangers arising out of employment in service.
Next, Labour Protection is only justified in dealing with such dangers
as cannot or can no longer be adequately guarded against by any or all
of the old forms of protection, viz., self-help, family protection,
private agencies and non-governmental corporate agencies, or the
protection of the regular administrative and judicial authorities, and
even with such dangers only so far as is absolutely necessary. And
lastly, the extraordinary State protection contained in the several
labour-protective enactments must be adapted to the suppression of such
dangers altogether.
Bearing in mind these conditions, it will be found on examination of the
several measures of Labour Protection, as they appear in the resolutions
of the Berlin Conference and in the _von Berlepsch_ Bill, that not one
of them oversteps these limits. The labour protective code as already
existing, and as projected by government, nowhere stretches its
authority beyond the specified point, either in its scope, extension or
organisation; at present it rather errs on the side of caution, and in
many respects it does not go nearly so far as it might. This also I
claim to have shown in the foregoing pages. This fact alone fully
justifies the policy of Labour Protection as at present projected by the
German government.
It is in nowise intended (as shown in Chaps. IV. to X.) by this
protective policy to supplant and replace free self-protection and
mutual protection, or the ordinary State protection of common law.
No addition to Labour Protection will be permitted except where special
need exists.
In no case shall a larger measure of protection be afforded than
necessary. There is no question of treating all and everywhere alike the
various classes of industrial wage-labour needing protection. But rather
that complete elasticity of treatment is accorded, which is required in
view of the variety of needs for protection and of the different degrees
of difficulty of applying it; it is this variety which necessitates
extraordinary State intervention, extraordinary alike in scope, basis
and organisation.
Labour Protection has not, it is true, by any means reached its full
development either in aim and scope or in organisation. None of those
further demands, however, from various quarters, which I have treated in
this book as within the range of discussion overstep in any essential
degree the limits imposed on Labour Protection, regarded as special and
supplementary intervention of the State.
Even the Auer Motion when carefully examined--if we set aside the
general eight hours day and certain special features of organisation, in
particular its claim to include in its scope the whole of industry--is
not really as extravagant as it appears at first sight; for although
indeed it demands complete Labour Protection for all kinds of industrial
work, it requires only the application of the same special measures as
are also demanded in other quarters, and as I have shown to be
justified, except in a few special cases where it calls for more drastic
measures.
We have seen also that the policy of Labour Protection does not involve
a kind of State intervention hitherto unknown. The State has long
afforded regular administrative and judicial protection to the work of
industrial wage-service, and has even interfered in a special manner in
the case of children, young men, young women and adult women; and for
still longer in the case of adult men, by affording protection in the
way of limitation of employment, truck protection and protection in
occupation, and by affording protection of contract through the
Industrial Regulations, applied to non-factory as well as to factory
labour. The application of protection by limitation of employment is
thus far from being the first exercise of State interference with the
hitherto unrestricted freedom of contract. Nothing will be found in the
developments of protection here dealt with, that has not long ago been
demanded and granted elsewhere, chiefly in England, Austria and
Switzerland.
The economic burden imposed upon the nation by Labour Protection, when
compared with that of Labour Insurance, which we have already, will be
found to be comparatively small. Those measures which call for the
greater sacrifices--protection of married women, and regulation of the
factory ten hours working-day--are recommended on all sides by way of
international uniform regulations.
Freedom of contract will not be impaired, since such adults as are
included under Labour Protection stand in special need of protection,
and are as incapable of self-defence as minors in common law; we have
discussed and proved this contention point by point. This will certainly
soon be recognised generally, even by England and Belgium, whose
representatives at the Berlin Conference laid such stress on freedom of
contract for adults.
An international and internationally administered code for the whole of
Labour Protection is strictly to be avoided.
The wider measures of Labour Protection demanded by the Berlin
Conference, and the _von Berlepsch_ Bill,[16] I conclude therefore to be
nothing more than a fully justifiable and harmless corollary and
supplement to the Social Policy of the Emperor William II. and of Prince
Bismark.
By following in the paths already trodden without ill results by
separate countries, long ago by some, only lately by others, in paths
therefore which have to a certain degree been explored, this policy will
need to be subjected to fewer alterations than that great and noble
policy of Labour Insurance which has struck out in entirely new paths,
and too often worked in consequence by somewhat unpractical methods.
FOOTNOTE:
[16] See Appendix.
APPENDIX.
INDUSTRIAL CODE AMENDMENT BILL (GERMANY).
[_June 1st, 1891_].
We, William, by the grace of God Emperor of Germany, etc., decree
in the name of the Empire, by and with the consent of the Federal
Council and Reichstag, as follows:--
_Article I._
After Sec. 41 of the Industrial Code shall be inserted:
Sec. 41_a_.
Where, in accordance with the provisions of Sec.Sec. 105_b_ to 105_h_,
employment of assistants, apprentices and workmen is prohibited in any
trading industry on Sundays and holidays, no industrial business shall
be carried on on those days in public sale-rooms.
This provision shall not preclude further restrictions by common law of
industrial business on Sundays and holidays.
_Article II._
After Sec. 55 of the Industrial Code shall be inserted.
Sec. 55_a_.
On Sundays and holidays (Sec. 105_a_, 2) all itinerant industrial business,
so far as it is included in Sec. 55 (1) 1-3, shall be prohibited, as well
as the industrial business of the persons specified in Sec. 42_b_.
Exceptions may be allowed by the lower administrative authorities. The
Federal Council is empowered to issue directions as to the terms and
conditions on which exceptions may be allowed.
_Article III._
Chapter VII. of the Industrial Code shall be amended as follows:--
CHAPTER VII.
Industrial workers (journeymen, assistants, apprentices, managers,
foremen, mechanics, factory workers).
I. GENERAL RELATIONS.
Sec. 105.
The settlement of relations between independent industrial employers and
workers shall be left to voluntary agreement, subject to the
restrictions laid down by imperial legislation.
Sec. 105_a_.
Employers cannot oblige their work people to work on Sundays or
holidays.
This, however, does not apply to certain kinds of work mentioned further
on. Holidays are determined by the State Governments in accordance with
local customs and religious belief.
Sec. 105_b_.
There shall be no work on Sundays and holidays in mines, salines,
smelting works, quarries, foundries, factories, workshops, carpenters'
yards, masons' and shipbuilders' yards, brick-fields, and buildings of
any kind.
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 assistants, 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 municipal 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 worship. The hours
may be variously fixed for the different branches of trading industry.
Sec. 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 Sec. 139_b_.
If the Sunday employment exceeds three hours, or prevents the workpeople
from attending Divine worship, 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 worship on Sundays, and that a rest of 24 hours is
granted to then on a week-day in lieu of Sunday.
Sec. 105_d_.
The Federal Council may make further exceptions to the provisions of Sec.
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 Sec. 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.
Sec. 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
Sec. 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 Sec.Sec. 20 and 21.
Sec. 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 Sec. 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.
Sec. 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 Sec.Sec. 105_c_ to 105_f_
shall apply to the exceptions to be permitted to such prohibition.
Sec. 105_h_.
The provisions of Sec.Sec. 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 Sec. 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.
Sec. 105_i_.
The provisions of Sec.Sec. 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.
Sec. 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.
Sec. 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 Sec.
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.
Sec. 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.
Sec. 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.
Sec. 110.
The work register (Sec. 108) must contain the name of the worker, the
place, year and day of his birth, the name and last residence of his
father or guardian, and the signature of the worker. The register shall
be supplied under seal and signature of the magistrate. The latter shall
draw up a schedule of the work registers supplied by him.
The kind of work registers to be used shall be determined by the
Imperial Chancellor.
Sec. 111.
On admission of the worker into service relation, the employer shall
enter, in the place provided for that purpose in the register, the date
of admission, and the nature of the employment, and at the end of the
term of service, the date of leaving, and if any change has been made in
the employment, the nature of the last employment.
The entries shall be made in ink, and shall be signed by the employer or
by the business manager authorised thereto by him.
The entries shall contain no mark intended to attribute a favourable or
unfavourable character to the holder of the register.
The entry of a judgment upon the conduct or manner of work of the
worker, and other entries or marks in or on the register for which no
provision is made in this Act, shall not be permitted.
Sec. 112.
If the work register has been rendered unfit for use by the employer, or
has been lost or destroyed by him, or if signs, entries, and marks have
been made in or on the register, or if the employer refuses without
legal grounds to deliver up the register, the issue of a new register
may be demanded at the cost of the employer.
Any employer who in defiance of his legal obligation has not delivered
up the register in due time, or who has neglected to make the requisite
entries, or who has made illegal signs, entries or marks, may be forced
to compensate the worker. The claim for compensation expires if no
complaint nor remonstrance is made within four weeks.
Sec. 113.
On quitting service workers may demand a testimonial setting forth the
nature and duration of their employment.
This testimonial may, at request of the workers, bear evidence as to
their conduct and manner of working.
Employers are forbidden to add irrelevant remarks concerning the workmen
other than those required for the purpose of the testimonial.
If the worker is under age, the testimonial may be demanded by the
parent or guardian. They may demand that the testimonial shall be handed
to them and not to the worker. With consent of the local authorities of
the district, specified in Sec. 108, the testimonial may be handed directly
to the worker himself, even against the will of the father or guardian.
Sec. 114.
At the request of the worker the local police magistrate shall confirm
the entries in the register and in the testimonial handed to the worker,
free of costs and stamp duty.
Sec. 115.
Industrial employers shall be bound to reckon and pay the wages of the
worker in coin of the realm.
They shall not credit the workers with goods. But they may be permitted
to supply the workers under their care with provisions at cost price,
with dwellings and land at the customary local rate of rent and hire,
with firing, lighting, board, medicines and medical assistance, also
with tools and materials for work, at the average cost price, and to
charge such to their account in payment of wage.
Materials and tools may be supplied for contract work at a higher price,
provided the agreement be made beforehand, and the price do not exceed
the customary local prices.
Sec. 115_a_.
Wage payment and payments on account shall not be made in public-houses
or beer-houses or sale-rooms, without the consent of the lower
administrative authorities; they shall not be made to a third party on
pretext of legal claims thereto, or on production of documents showing
legal claims, such being legally void under Sec. 2 of the Appropriation of
Work Wage or Service Wage Act of June 21st, 1869 (_Federal Law Gazette_,
p. 242).
Sec. 116.
Workers whose claims have been dealt with in a manner contrary to Sec. 115
may at any time demand payment in accordance with Sec. 115, and no
objection shall be urged against such claim on the ground that they have
already received something in lieu of payment. The first payment, if it
still remains in the hands of the recipient, or if he is still deriving
advantage therefrom, shall be handed over to the workers' provident
fund, or, in default of such, to such other fund existing in the
locality for the benefit of the workers, as shall be determined by the
local authorities, or, in default of such, to the local poor fund.
Sec. 117.
Agreements made in contravention of Sec. 115 shall be void.
The same shall apply also to agreements between industrial employers and
their workpeople as to the supply of goods to the latter from certain
shops, and to agreements as to the appropriation of the earnings of the
latter to any other purpose than to contributing to schemes for the
improvement of the condition of the workers or their families.
Sec. 118.
Claims for goods supplied on credit in contravention of Sec. 115, can
neither be sued for by the creditor, nor charged to account, nor
otherwise made good, whether the transaction was made directly between
the parties, or indirectly. Such claims shall be appropriated to the
funds specified in Sec. 116.
Sec. 119.
The expression "industrial employers," as used in Sec.Sec. 115 to 118,
includes members of their families, their assistants, agents, managers,
overseers and foremen, and other directors of industry in whose business
any one of the persons here mentioned directly or indirectly takes part.
Sec. 119_a_.
Retentions of wage reserved by the employer of industry as security for
compensation for loss arising from illegal dissolution of service
relations, or as a stipulated fine imposed in such a case, shall not
exceed a quarter of the usual wage in single wage payments, and the nett
amount shall not exceed the amount of the average weekly wage.
By statutory provision of a parish or any larger corporate union it may
be determined for all industrial trades, or for certain kinds of the
same:
1. That wage payments and payments on account shall be made at
certain fixed intervals, which shall not be longer than one month,
and not shorter than one week;
2. That the wage earned by workers under age shall be paid to the
parents or guardians, and only with their written consent or
voucher for the receipt of the last wage payment directly to the
young workers themselves;
3. That industrial employers shall give information within certain
fixed periods, to the parents or guardians as to the amount of wage
paid to workers under age.
Sec. 119_b_.
The workers specified in Sec.Sec. 115 to 119_a_ include also such persons as
are employed by certain specified industrial employers, outside the work
places of the latter, in the preparation of industrial products, even if
the raw materials and accessories are furnished by the workers
themselves.
Sec. 120.
Employers of industry shall be bound in the case of workers under
eighteen years of age who attend a place of instruction recognised by
the local authorities or by the State, to grant them for such purpose
the requisite time, to be fixed by the appointed authority. Instruction
shall only take place on Sundays, provided that the hours of instruction
are so fixed that the scholars may not be prevented from attending
Divine Service or any special services appointed by the spiritual
authorities of their respective denominations. Exceptions to this
provision may be granted by the Central Court until October 1, 1894, in
the case of existing educational schools, attendance at which is not
compulsory.
Educational schools, as understood by this provision, include
establishments in which instruction is given in female handiwork and
domestic work.
By statutory provision of a parish or any larger corporate union (Sec. 142)
obligation may be imposed on male workers under eighteen years of age to
attend an educational school, where such obligation is not imposed by
common law. In the same way necessary provisions may be made for the
enforcement of such obligation. In particular, statutory provisions may
be made to ensure the regular attendance at school of such children as
are under the age of compulsion, and to determine the obligations of the
parents, guardians and employers in this respect, and directions shall
be issued for the insurance of order in the school and of the proper
behaviour of the scholars. Such persons as attend a guild school or
other educational or technical school, shall be released from obligation
imposed by statutory provisions to attend an educational school, where
such guild or other educational or technical schools are recognised by
the higher administrative authorities as fitting substitutes for the
instruction of the general educational schools.
Sec. 120_a_.
Employers of industry shall be bound so to arrange and maintain their
workrooms, business plant, machines and tools, and so to regulate their
business, that the workers may be protected against dangers to life and
health, so far as the nature of the business may allow.
In particular, attention shall be paid to the supply of sufficient
light, a sufficient cubic space of air and ventilation, to the removal
of all dust and dirt arising from the work, and of all smoke and gases
developed thereby, as well as to any risks inherent in it.
Also such arrangements shall be made as are necessary to protect the
workers against dangerous contact with the machines or parts of the
machinery, or against other dangers proceeding from the nature of the
place of business or of the business itself, especially against danger
arising from fire in the factory.
Lastly, such orders shall be issued for the regulation of business and
the conduct of the workers, as may be necessary to ensure freedom from
danger in work.
Sec. 120_b_.
Employers of industry shall be bound to make such arrangements and to
issue such orders for the conduct of the workers as may be necessary to
ensure the maintenance of decency and good morals.
In particular, separation of the sexes in their work shall be enforced
so far as the nature of the business may permit, where the maintenance
of good morals and decency cannot be otherwise ensured in the
arrangement of the business.
In establishments where the nature of the business renders it necessary
for the workers to change their clothes and wash themselves after their
work, sufficient separate rooms for dressing and washing shall be
provided for each sex.
Sufficient lavatories shall be provided for the number of the workers,
and they shall be so arranged as to meet all requirements of health, and
to allow of their being used without offence to decency and morality.
Sec. 120_c_.
Employers of industry employing workers under eighteen years of age
shall be bound in the arrangement of their places of business, and in
the regulation of their business, to take such precautions for the
security of health and morals as may be required by the age of the
workers.
Sec. 120_d_.
The appointed police authorities shall be empowered to issue orders for
separate establishments for the carrying out of such measures as may
seem necessary for the maintenance of the principles laid down in Sec.Sec.
120_a_ to 120_c_, and such as may seem practicable according to the
nature of the establishment. They may order that suitable rooms, heated
during the cold season, be placed free of charge at the disposal of the
workers, in which the meal times may be spent outside the workrooms.
A sufficient delay must be granted for the carrying out of the measures
ordered, unless they be directed to the removal of some pressing danger,
threatening life or health.
In the case of establishments already existing at the time of the
proclamation of this Act (not including extensions and outbuildings
since added), only such requirements shall be demanded as may seem
necessary for the removal of grave evils endangering the life, health or
morals of the workers, and only such as may seem practicable without
disproportionate expense.
The employer shall have right of appeal within two weeks to the higher
administrative authorities against the order of the police magistrate;
and within four weeks to the Central Court against the decision of the
higher administrative authorities. The decision of the Central Court
shall be final. If the order is contrary to the directions issued by the
authorised trade guild for precautions against accidents, the president
of the trade guild shall be empowered to use the afore-named remedies
within the period granted to the employer.
Sec. 120_e_.
By decision of the Federal Council, directions may be issued, showing
what requirements shall be sufficient in certain kinds of establishments
for the maintenance of the principles laid down in Sec.Sec. 120_a_ to 120_c_.
Where such directions are not issued by decision of the Federal Council,
they may be issued by order of the Central Provincial Court or by police
regulations of such courts as are empowered to issue the same. Before
the issue of such orders and police regulations, opportunity shall be
given to the presidents of trade guilds or of sections of trade guilds,
to express their opinion thereon. The provisions of Sec. 79, I. of the
Insurance against Accidents Act of July 6, 1884, do not apply to this.
In the case of those industries in which the health of the workers would
be endangered by the excessive duration of daily work, orders may be
issued by decision of the Federal Council as to the duration, beginning
and ending of the time permitted for daily work, and as to the intervals
to be granted; and the necessary orders may be issued for the
enforcement of these directions.
Directions issued by decision of the Federal Council shall be published
in the _Imperial Law Gazette_, and shall be laid before the Reichstag
for discussion at the next session.
II. RELATIONS OF JOURNEYMEN AND ASSISTANTS.
Sec. 121.
Journeymen and assistants shall be bound to obey the orders of the
employer with respect to the work entrusted to them, and to comply with
domestic arrangements; they shall not be obliged to perform domestic
work.
Sec. 122.
Working relations between journeymen or assistants and their employers
may be dissolved by notice given fourteen days previously by either
party, unless agreement to the contrary has been made. If other periods
of notice have been agreed on, they must be equal for both parties.
Agreements made in contravention of this provision shall be void.
Sec. 123.
Journeymen and assistants may be dismissed before the expiration of the
contract time, and without notice:
1. If, in concluding the contract of work they have deceived the
employer by producing a false or falsified work register or
testimonial, or if they have deceived him as to the existence of
some other working relation in which they already stand;
2. If they are guilty of theft, appropriation, embezzlement, deceit
or immoral living;
3. If they have quitted work without permission, or have otherwise
persistently refused to fulfil the obligations imposed upon them by
the contract;
4. If, in spite of warnings, they carelessly carry about fire and
light;
5. If they are guilty of violence or abuse towards the employer or
his representatives or towards the relatives of the employer or of
his representatives;
6. If they are guilty of wilful and illegal damage to the injury of
the employer or of a fellow-worker;
7. If they lead or seek to lead relatives of the employer or of his
representatives or of their fellow-workers into illegal or immoral
courses, or if they unite with relatives of the employer or of his
representatives in committing illegal or immoral acts;
8. If they are incapable of continuing work or are afflicted with
serious illness.
In the cases mentioned under Nos. 1 to 7, dismissal shall no longer be
permissible if the grounds thereof have been known to the employer for
longer than one week.
In the case mentioned under No. 8, it shall be determined in accordance
with the contract and with general legal enactments, how far claims for
compensation may be preferred by the party dismissed.
Sec. 124.
Journeymen and assistants may quit work without notice before the
expiration of the contract time:
1. If they become incapable of continuing work;
2. If the employer or his representatives are guilty of violence
or abuse towards the workers or their relatives;
3. If the employer or his representatives or their relatives lead
or seek to lead the workers or their relatives into illegal or
immoral courses, or if they unite with relatives of the workers in
committing illegal or immoral acts;
4. If the employer does not pay the wage due to the workers in the
manner prescribed, if, under the piece-work system, he does not
provide them with sufficient employment, or if he is guilty of
illegally over-reaching them;
5. If, by continuing the work, the life or health of the workers
would be exposed to a demonstrable risk which was not apparent at
the time of entering into the contract.
In the cases mentioned under No. 2, quitting service without notice is
no longer permissible if the grounds thereof have been known to the
workers for longer than one week.
Sec. 124_a_.
Besides the cases specified in Sec.Sec. 123 and 124, each party may, in cases
where urgent reasons exist, demand to be released from working relations
before the expiration of the contract time and without observing the due
period of notice, if the contract is for longer than four weeks, or if a
longer period of notice than fourteen days has been agreed upon.
Sec. 124_b_.
If a journeyman or assistant has quitted work illegally, the employer
may claim compensation for the day of the breach of contract and for
each following day of the contract time or legal working time, during
one week at most, to the amount of the local customary daily wage (Sec. 8
of the Insurance against Sickness Act of June 15, 1883; _Imperial Law
Gazette_, p. 73). This claim need not rest upon proof of loss. When thus
made good, claim for fulfilment of contract and further compensation for
loss is precluded. The journeyman or assistant shall enjoy the same
right against the employer, if he has been dismissed before the legal
ending of the working relations.
Sec. 125.
Any employer inducing a journeyman or assistant to quit work before the
legal ending of working relations, shall himself be liable to the former
employer for loss arising, or for the legal compensation claim under Sec.
124_b_. In the same manner an employer shall be answerable if he takes
into his employ a journeyman or assistant who to his knowledge is still
contracted to any employer.
Any employer shall also be liable under the foregoing sub-section if he
employs a journeyman or assistant, who to his knowledge is still
contracted to another employer, throughout the duration of such term;
the claim expires after fourteen days from the date of the illegal
dissolution of working relations.
The persons specified in Sec. 119_b_ shall be accounted as journeymen and
assistants as understood by the foregoing provisions.
III. APPRENTICE RELATIONS.
Sec. 126.
The master shall be bound to instruct the apprentice in all branches of
the work of the trade forming part of his business, in due succession
and to the extent necessary for the complete mastery of the trade or
handicraft. He must conduct the instruction of the apprentice himself or
through a fit representative expressly appointed thereto. He shall not
deprive the apprentice of the necessary time and opportunity on Sundays
and holidays for his education and for attendance at Divine Service, by
employing him in other kinds of service. He shall train his apprentice
in habits of diligence and in good morals, and shall keep him from evil
courses.
Sec. 127.
The apprentice shall be placed under the parental discipline of the
master. He shall be bound to render obedience to the one who conducts
his instruction in the place of the master.
Sec. 128.
Apprentice relations may be dissolved by the withdrawal of one party
during the first four weeks after the beginning of the apprenticeship,
unless a longer time has been agreed upon.
Any agreement to fix this time of probation at longer than three months
shall be void.
After the expiration of the time of probation the apprentice may be
dismissed before the ending of the apprenticeship agreed upon, if any
one of the cases provided for in Sec. 123 applies to him.
On the part of the apprentice, relations may be dissolved at the
expiration of the time of probation:
1. If any one of the cases provided for in Sec. 124 under nos. 1, 3 to
5 occurs;
2. If the master neglects his legal obligations towards the
apprentice in a manner endangering the health, morals or education
of the apprentice, or if he abuses his right of parental
discipline, or becomes incapable of fulfilling the obligations
imposed upon him by the contract.
The contract of apprenticeship shall be dissolved by the death of the
apprentice. The contract of apprenticeship shall be dissolved by the
death of the master if the claim is made within four weeks.
Written contracts of apprenticeship shall be free of stamp duty.
Sec. 129.
At the termination of apprentice relations, the master shall deliver to
the apprentice a testimonial stating the trade in which the apprentice
has been instructed, the duration of the apprenticeship, the knowledge
and skill acquired during that time, and also the conduct of the
apprentice. This testimonial shall be certified by the borough
magistrate free of costs and stamp duty.
In cases where there are guilds or other industrial representative
bodies, letters or certificates from these may supply the place of such
testimonials.
Sec. 130.
If the apprentice quits his instruction under circumstances not provided
for in this Act, without consent of his master, the latter can only make
good his claim for the return of the apprentice, if the contract of
apprenticeship has been drawn up in writing. In such case the police
magistrate may, on application of the master, oblige the apprentice to
remain under instruction so long as apprentice relations are declared by
judicial ruling to be still undissolved.
Application is only admissible if made within one week after the
departure of the apprentice. In case of refusal, the police magistrate
may cause the apprentice to be taken back by force, or he may compel him
to return under pain of a fine, to the amount of fifty marks, or
detention for five days.
Sec. 131.
If the parent or guardian acting for the apprentice, or if the
apprentice himself, being of age, shall deliver a written declaration
to the master, that the apprentice wishes to enter into some other
industry or some other calling, apprentice relations shall cease after
the expiration of four weeks, if the apprentice is not allowed to leave
earlier. The grounds of the dissolution must be notified in the work
register by the master.
The apprentice shall not be employed in the same trade by another
employer, without consent of the former master, within nine months after
such dissolution of apprentice relations.
Sec. 132.
If apprentice relations are severed by either party, before the
appointed time, the other party can claim compensation only if the
contract has been made in writing. In the cases referred to in Sec. 128, 1,
4, the claim will only hold if the kind and degree of compensation has
been specified beforehand, in the contract.
The claim is void unless made within four weeks of the dissolution of
apprentice relations.
Sec. 133.
If apprentice relations are dissolved by the master, because the
apprentice has quitted his work without permission, the compensation
claimed by the master shall, unless some other agreement have been made
in the contract, be fixed at a sum amounting for every day succeeding
the day of breach of contract, up to a limit of six months, to the half
of the customary local wage paid to journeymen and assistants in the
trade of the master.
The father of the apprentice shall be liable for the payment of
compensation, also any employer who has induced the apprentice to quit
his apprenticeship, or who has received him into his employ, although
knowing him to be still under obligation to continue in apprentice
relations to another employer. If the one who is entitled to
compensation has not received information till after the dissolution of
apprentice relations, as to the employer who has induced the apprentice
to quit his work, or who has taken him into his employ, claim for
compensation against the latter shall expire if not preferred within
four weeks after such information has been received.
IIIA. RELATIONS OF BUSINESS MANAGERS, FOREMEN, SKILLED TECHNICAL
WORKERS.
Sec. 133_a_.
The service relations of such persons, as are employed by directors of
industry for certain defined purposes, and are charged, not merely
temporarily, with the conduct and supervision of the business, or of a
department of the business (business managers, foremen, etc.), or are
entrusted with the higher kinds of technical service work (experts in
machinery, mechanical engineers, chemists, draughtsmen, and the like),
may, if not otherwise agreed, be broken off by either party at the
expiration of any quarter of the calendar year, after notice has been
given six weeks previously.
Sec. 133_b_.
Either party may, before the expiration of the contract time, demand
dissolution of service relations without observing the due period of
notice, provided sufficiently important reasons exist to justify the
dissolution under the circumstances.
Sec. 133_c_.
Dissolution of service relations may be demanded, in particular, of the
persons specified in Sec. 133_a_.
1. If at the time of concluding the contract, they have deceived
the employer by presenting false or falsified testimonials, or if
they have deceived him as to the existence of another service
relation, to which they were simultaneously bound;
2. If they are unfaithful in service or if they abuse confidence;
3. If they quit service without permission, or persistently refuse
to fulfil the obligations imposed upon them by the service
contract;
4. If they are hindered in the performance of service by protracted
illness, or by long detention or absence;
5. If they are guilty of violence or insult towards the employer or
his representatives;
6. If they pursue an immoral course of life.
In the case of No. 4, the worker's claim for the fulfilment of contract,
by the employer, shall remain in force for six weeks, if the performance
of service has been hindered by some unavoidable misfortune; but in such
cases the claim shall be limited to the amount that is legally due to
the claimant as insurance against sickness or accident.
Sec. 133_d_.
The persons specified in Sec. 133_a_ may demand dissolution of service
relations, in particular:
1. If the employer or his representatives are guilty of violence or
insult towards them;
2. If the employer does not provide the work agreed upon in the
contract;
3. If, by the continuance of service relations, their life or
health would be exposed to demonstrable danger, which was not
apparent at the time of entering into service-relations.
Sec. 133_e_.
The provisions of Sec.Sec. 124_b_ and 125 shall apply to the persons specified
in Sec. 133_a_, but not the provisions of Sec. 119_a_.
IV. RELATIONS OF FACTORY WORKERS.
Sec. 134.
The provisions of Sec.Sec. 121 to 125 shall apply to factory workers; if the
factory workers are apprentices, the provisions of Sec.Sec. 126 to 133 shall
apply to them.
Owners of factories in which, as a rule, at least twenty workers are
employed, shall be prohibited, in the case of illegal dissolution of
working relations by the worker, from exacting forfeiture or withholding
wage beyond the amount of the average weekly wage. The provisions of Sec.
124_b_ shall not apply to employers and workers in such factories.
Sec. 134_a_.
In every factory in which, as a rule, at least twenty workers are
employed, _working rules_ shall be issued within four weeks after this
Act comes into force, or after the opening of the business. Special
working rules may be issued for separate departments of the business, or
separate groups of workers. The rules must be posted up (Sec. 134_e_ [2]).
In the working rules must be set forth the time at which they are to
come into operation and the date of issue. They must bear the signature
of the person by whom they are issued.
Alterations in the contents can only be made by the issue of
supplements, or by the issue of new working rules in the place of the
existing rules.
Working rules, and supplement to the same, shall come into operation at
the earliest, two weeks after issue.
Sec. 134_b_.
Working rules shall contain directions:
1. As to the beginning and end of the time of daily work, also as
to the intervals provided for adult workers;
2. As to the time and manner of computing and paying wage;
3. Where legal provisions are insufficient, as to the period of
notice due, also as to the grounds on which dismissal from work and
quitting work is permissible without notice;
4. Where fines are enforced, as to the kind and amount thereof, the
method of determining them, and, if they consist in money, as to
the manner of collecting them, and the purpose to which they shall
be appropriated.
5. Where forfeiture of wage is exacted in accordance with the
provisions of Sec. 134 (2), by the working rules or by the working
contract, as to the appropriation of the proceeds.
Punishments destructive of self-respect, or dangerous to morals, shall
not be admitted in the working rules. Money fines shall not exceed the
half of the average daily wage, except in cases of violence towards
fellow-workers, grave offences against morality, and contempt of
directions issued for the maintenance of order in the business, for
security against dangers incidental to it, or for carrying out the
provisions of the Industrial Code, where money fines to the full amount
of the average daily wage may be imposed. All fines shall be devoted to
the benefit of the workers in the factory. The right of the employer to
claim compensation for damage is not affected by this provision.
It shall be left to the owner of the factory to insert in the working
rules, together with the provisions of sub-section (1) from 1 to 5,
further provisions for the regulation of the business and the conduct of
the workers employed in it. With the consent of the standing committee
of workers, directions may be inserted in the working rules, as to the
conduct of the workers in the use of arrangements, provided for their
benefit in the factory, also directions as to the conduct of workers
under age, outside the factory.
Sec. 134_c_.
The contents of the working rules shall be, unless contrary to law,
legally binding on employers and workers.
No grounds shall be agreed upon in the contract of work, for dismissal
from work, other than those laid down in the working rules or in Sec.Sec. 123
or 124.
No fines shall be imposed on the workers other than those laid down in
the working rules. Fines must be fixed without delay, and information
thereof must be given to the worker.
The money fines imposed shall be entered in a register which shall set
forth the name of the offender, the day of imposition, the grounds, and
the amount of the fine, and this register shall be produced for
inspection at any time, at the request of the officer specified in Sec.
139_b_.
Sec. 134_d_.
Before the issue of working rules, or of supplements to the same,
opportunity shall be given to the workers of full age, employed in the
factory or in the departments of the business, to which the rules in
question apply, to express their opinion on the contents of the same.
In factories in which there is a standing committee of workers the
requirements of this provision shall be satisfied by granting a hearing
to the committee, on the contents of the working rules.
Sec. 134_e_.
The working rules and any supplement to the same shall, on communication
of opinions expressed by the workers, provided such expression be given
in writing or in the form of protocols, be laid before the lower court
of administration in duplicate, within three days after the issue,
accompanied by a declaration showing that, and in what manner the
requirements of the enactment of Sec. 134_d_ have been satisfied.
The working rules shall be posted up in a specially appointed place,
accessible to all the workers to whom they apply. The placard must
always be kept in a legible condition. A copy of the working rules shall
be handed to every worker upon his entrance into employment.
Sec. 134_f_.
Working rules or supplements to the same, which are not issued in
accordance with these enactments, or the contents of which are contrary
to legal provisions, shall be replaced by legal working rules, or shall
be altered in accordance with legal enactment, by order of the lower
court of administration.
Appeal against this order may be lodged within two weeks, with the
higher court of administration.
Sec. 134_g_.
Working rules issued before this Act comes into force, shall be subject
to the provisions of Sec.Sec. 134_a_ to 134_c_, 134_e_ (2), 134_f_, and shall
be laid before the lower court of administration in duplicate, within
four weeks.
Sections 134_d_ and 134_e_ (1) shall not apply to later alterations of
such working rules, or to working rules issued for the first time, since
January 1st, 1891.
Sec. 134_h_.
The expression "standing committees of workers," as understood by Sec.Sec.
134_b_ (3), and 134_d_, includes only:
1. The managing committee of the sick-clubs of the business
(factory), or of other clubs existing in the factory, for the
benefit of the workers, the majority of the members of which are
elected by the workers out of their midst--where such exist as
standing committees of workers;
2. The eldest journeymen of such journeymen's unions as include the
business of any employers not subject to the provisions of the
Mining Acts--where such exist as standing committees of workers;
3. Standing committees of workers, formed before Jan. 1st, 1891,
the majority of the members of which are elected by the workers out
of their midst;
4. Representative bodies, the majority of the members of which are
elected out of their midst by direct ballot voting of the workers
of full age in the factory, or in the departments of the business
concerned. The choice of representatives may be made according to
classes of workers or special departments of the business.
Sec. 135.
Children under 13 years of age cannot be employed in factories. Children
above 13 years of age can only be employed in factories if they are no
longer required to attend the elementary schools.
The employment of children under 14 years of age must not exceed 6 hours
a day.
Young persons between 14 and 16 years of age must not be employed in
factories for more than 10 hours a day.
Sec. 136.
Young workers (Sec. 135) shall not begin work before 5.30 in the morning,
or end it later than 8.30 in the evening.
On every working day regular intervals must be granted, between the
hours of work. For children who are only employed for six hours daily,
the interval must amount to half an hour at least. An interval of at
least half an hour at mid-day, and half an hour in the forenoon and
afternoon must be given to other young workers.
During the intervals, employment of young workers in the business of the
factory shall be entirely prohibited, and their retention in the work
rooms shall only be permitted, if the part of the business in which the
young workers are employed is completely suspended in the work rooms
during the time of the interval, or if their stay in the open air is not
practicable, and if other special rooms cannot be procured without
disproportionate difficulties.
Young workers shall not be employed on Sundays and festivals, nor during
the hours appointed for regular spiritual duties, instruction in the
catechism, preparation for confession and communion, by the authorized
priest or pastor of the community.
Sec. 137.
Girls and women cannot be employed in factories during the night,
between the hours of 8.30 p.m. and 5.30 a.m., and must be free on
Saturdays and on the eves of festivals by 5.30 p.m. The employment of
women workers over 16 years of age must not exceed 11 hours a day, and
on Saturdays and the eve of festivals must not exceed 10 hours.
An interval between the hours of work of at least one hour at mid-day
must be allowed to women workers.
Women workers over 16 years of age, who manage a household, shall at
their request be set free half an hour before the mid-day interval,
except in cases where this amounts to at least one and a half hours.
Women after childbirth can in no case be admitted to work until fully
four weeks after delivery, and in the following two weeks only if they
are declared to be fit for work by a duly authorized physician.
Sec. 138.
The owners of factories, in which it is intended to employ women or
young persons, must make a written announcement of the fact to the local
police authorities before such employment commences.
The notice shall set forth the name of the factory, the days of the week
on which employment is to take place, the beginning and end of the time
of work, and the intervals granted, also the kind of employment.
No alteration can be made except such delays as are temporarily
necessitated by the replacement of absent workers in separate shifts of
work, before notice thereof has been given to the magistrate. In every
factory the employer shall, in the workrooms in which young workers are
employed, provide a register of young workers to be posted up in some
conspicuous place; the same shall contain information as to days of
work, beginning and end of time of work, and intervals allowed.
He shall likewise provide in such workrooms a notice board, on which
shall be posted up, in plain writing, an extract, to be determined by
the Central Court, from the provisions for the employment of women and
young workers.
Sec. 138_a_.
In case of unusual pressure of work, the lower court of administration
shall be empowered, on application of the employer, to permit for a
fortnight at a time, the employment of women workers over 16 years of
age up to 10 o'clock in the evening (except on Saturdays), provided that
their daily working time does not exceed 13 hours.
Such extension cannot be allowed to the employer during more than 40
days in any one year.
Further extension beyond the two weeks, or for more than forty days in
the year, can only be granted by the higher court of administration,
and by it, only on condition that in the business or in the department
of business in question, the total average number of hours per day,
calculated over the whole year does not exceed the legal limit.
Application shall be made in writing, and must set forth the grounds on
which such extension is requested, the number of women workers affected,
the amount of employment, and the length of time required.
The decision of the lower court of administration on the application
shall be given in writing within three days. Appeal against refusal of
permission may be lodged with the superior court.
In cases where the extension is granted the lower court of
administration shall draw up a schedule, in which shall be entered the
name of the employer, and a copy of the statements contained in the
written application.
The lower court of administration may permit the employment of such
women workers being over 16 years of age, as have not the care of a
household, and do not attend an educational school, in the kinds of work
specified in Sec. 105 (1), 2 and 3, on Saturdays and the eve of festivals,
after 5.30 p.m., but not after 8.30 p.m.
The permit shall be in writing, and shall be kept by the employer.
Sec. 139.
If natural causes or accidents shall have interrupted the business of a
factory, exceptions to the restrictions laid down in Sec.Sec. 135 (2), (3),
136, 137 (1) to (3), may be granted by the higher court of
administration, for a period of four weeks, and for a longer time by the
Imperial Chancellor. In urgent cases of such a kind, and also where
necessary, in order to guard against accidents, exceptions may be
granted by the lower court of administration, but only for a period of
fourteen days.
If the nature of the business, or special considerations attaching to
workers in particular factories, seem to render it desirable that the
working time of women and young workers should be regulated otherwise
than as laid down by Sec.Sec. 136 and 137 (1), (3), special regulations may be
permitted on application, by the higher court of administration, in the
matter of intervals, in other matters by the Imperial Chancellor. But in
such cases young workers shall not be employed for longer than six
hours, unless intervals are granted between the hours of work, of an
aggregate duration of at least one hour.
Orders issued in accordance with the foregoing provisions shall be in
writing.
Sec. 139_a_.
The Bundesrath (Federal Council) shall be empowered:
1. To entirely prohibit or to attach certain conditions to the
employment of women and of young workers in certain branches of
manufacture which involve special dangers to health or morality;
2. To grant exceptions to the provisions of Sec.Sec. 135 (2) and (3),
136, 137 (1) to (3), in the case of factories requiring
uninterrupted use of fire, or in which for other reasons, the
nature of the business necessitates regular day and night work,
also in the case of factories, a part of the business of which does
not admit of regular shifts of equal duration, or is from its
nature restricted to certain seasons;
3. To prevent the shortening or the omission of the intervals
prescribed for young workers, in certain branches of manufacture,
where the nature of the business, or consideration for the workers
may seem to render it desirable;
4. To grant exceptions to the provisions of Sec. 134 (1) and (2), in
certain branches of manufacture in which pressure of business
occurs regularly at certain times of the year, on condition that
the daily working time does not exceed 13 hours, and on Saturday 10
hours.
In the cases under No. 2, the duration of weekly working time shall not
exceed 36 hours for children, 60 hours for young persons, 65 hours for
women workers, and 70 hours for young persons and women in brick and
tile kilns.
Night work shall not exceed in duration 10 hours in 24, and in every
shift one or more intervals, of an aggregate duration of at least one
hour, shall be granted.
In the cases under No. 4, permission for overtime work for more than 40
days in the year may only be granted, on condition that the working time
is so regulated that the average daily duration of working days does not
exceed the regular legal working time.
The provisions laid down by decision of the Bundesrath (Federal Council)
shall be limited as to time, and shall also be issued for certain
specified districts. They shall be published in the _Imperial Law
Gazette_, and shall be laid before the Reichstag at its next session.
V. SUPERVISION.
Sec. 139_b_.
The supervision and enforcement of the provisions of Sec.Sec. 105_b_ (1),
105_c_ to 105_h_, 120_a_ to 120_e_, 134 to 139_a_, shall be entrusted
exclusively to the ordinary police magistrates, or, together with them,
to officials specially appointed thereto by the provincial governments.
In the exercise of such supervision the local police magistrates shall
be empowered with all official authority, especially with the right of
inspection of establishments at any time. They shall be bound to observe
secrecy (except in exposing illegalities) as to their official knowledge
of the business affairs of the establishments submitted to their
inspection.
The settlement of relations of competence between these officials and
the ordinary police magistrates, shall be subject to the constitutional
regulation of the separate States of the Bund.
The officials mentioned shall publish annual reports of their official
acts. These annual reports or extracts from the same, shall be laid
before the Bundesrath and the Reichstag.
Employers must at any time during the hours of business, especially at
night, permit official inspection to be carried out in accordance with
the provisions of Sec.Sec. 105_a_ to 105_h_, 120_a_ to 120_e_, 134 to 139_a_.
Employers shall further be bound to impart to the officials appointed or
to the police magistrate, such statistical information as to the
relations of their workers, as may be prescribed by the Bundesrath or
the Central Provincial Court, with due observance of the terms and forms
prescribed.
_Article IV._
Chapter IX. of the Industrial Code shall contain the following clauses:
CHAPTER IX.
STATUTORY PROVISIONS.
Sec. 142.
Statutory provisions of a borough or wider communal union shall be
binding in regard to all those industrial matters with which the law
empowers them to deal. After they have been considered by the directors
of industry and the workers concerned, the statutory provisions must
receive the assent of the higher court of administration, and shall
then be published in some form prescribed by the parish or wider
communal union, or in the usual form.
The Central Court shall be empowered to annul statutory provisions which
are contrary to law or to the statutory provisions of a wider communal
union.
_Article V._
Sub-section 2 of Sec. 93_a_ (2_b_) shall contain the following clause:
_b._ The supervision by the union of the observation of the
provisions laid down in Sec.Sec. 41_a_, 105_a_ to 105_g_, 120 to 120_e_,
126, 127.
_Article VI._
The penal provisions of Chapter X. of the Industrial Code shall be
altered as follows:
1. Section 146, (1) 1, 2, and 3, shall contain the following clauses:
1. Directors of industry, acting in contravention of Sec. 115;
2. Directors of industry, acting in contravention of Sec.Sec. 135, 136,
137, or of orders issued on the grounds of Sec.Sec. 139 to 139_a_;
3. Directors of industry, acting in contravention of Sec.Sec. 111 (3) and
113 (3);
2. The following sub-section shall be added to Sec. 146:
Section 75 of the Constitution of Justice Act shall apply here.
3. After Sec. 146 shall be inserted:
Sec. 146_a_.
Any person who gives employment to workers on Sundays and festivals, in
contravention of Sec.Sec. 105_b_ to 105_g_, or of the orders issued on the
grounds thereof, or any person who acts in contravention of Sec.Sec. 41_a_
and 55_a_, or of the statutory provisions laid down on the grounds of Sec.
105 (2) shall be punished with a money fine to the amount of 600 marks,
or in default of the same, with imprisonment.
4. Section 147 (1) 4 shall contain the following clause:
4. Any person who acts in contravention of the final orders issued
on the grounds of Sec. 120_d_, or of enactments issued on the grounds
of Sec. 120_e_;
5. After Sec. 147 (1) 4, shall be inserted:
5. Any person who conducts a factory, in which there are no working
rules, or who neglects to obey the final order of the court as to
the substitution or alteration of the working rules.
6. Section 147 shall contain at the close the following new sub-section.
In the case of No. 4, the police magistrate may, pending the
settlement of affairs by order or enactment, order suspension of
the business, in case the continuance of the same would be likely
to entail serious disadvantages or dangers.
7. Section 148 shall contain the following extensions:
11. Any person who, contrary to the provision of Sec. 134_c_ (2),
imposes such fines on the workers as are not prescribed in the
working rules, or such as exceed the legally permissible amount, or
any person who appropriates the proceeds of fines or the sums
specified in Sec. 134_b_ 5, in a manner not prescribed in the working
rules;
12. Any person who neglects to fulfil the obligations imposed upon
him by Sec.Sec. 134_e_ (1), and 134_g_;
13. Any person who acts in contravention of Sec. 115_a_, or of the
statutory provisions laid down on the grounds of Sec. 119_a_.
8. Section 149 (1) 7 shall contain the following clause:
7. Any person who neglects to fulfil the obligations imposed upon
him by Sec.Sec. 105_c_ (2), 134_e_ (2), 138, 138_a_ (5), 139_b_;
9. Section 150(2) shall contain the following clause:
2. Any person who, except in the case prescribed in Sec. 146 (3), acts
in contravention of the provisions of this Act with respect to the
work register;
10. Section 150 shall contain the following extensions:
4. Any person who acts in contravention of the provisions of Sec. 120
(1), or of the statutory provisions laid down in accordance with Sec.
120 (3);
5. Any person who neglects to fulfil the obligations imposed upon
him by Sec. 134_c_ (3).
Common law enactments against neglect of school duties, on which a
higher fine is imposed, shall not be affected by the provision of No. 4.
11. Section 151 (1) shall contain the following clause:
If in the exercise of a trade, police orders are infringed by
persons appointed by the director of the industrial enterprise, to
conduct the business or a department of the same, or to superintend
the same, the fine shall be imposed upon the latter. The director
of the industrial enterprise shall likewise be liable to a fine if
the infringement has taken place with his knowledge, or if he has
neglected to take the necessary care in providing for suitable
inspection of the business, or in choosing and supervising the
manager or overseers.
_Article VII._
The following provisions shall be substituted for Sec. 154 of the
Industrial Code:
Sec. 154.
The provisions of Sec.Sec. 105 to 133_c_ shall not apply to assistants and
apprentices in the business of apothecaries; the provisions of Sec.Sec. 105,
106 to 119_b_, 120_a_ to 133_e_, shall not apply to assistants and
apprentices in trading business.
--The provisions of Sec.Sec. 105 to 133_e_ shall apply to employers and
workers in smelting-houses, timber-yards, and other building yards, in
dockyards, and in such brick and tile kilns, and such mines and quarries
worked above ground, as are not merely temporary, or on a small scale.
The final decision as to whether the establishment is to be accounted as
temporary, or on a small scale, shall rest with the higher court of
administration.
--The provisions of Sec.Sec. 135 to 139_b_ shall apply to employers and
workers in workshops, in which power machinery (worked by steam, wind,
water, gas, air, electricity, etc.), is employed, not merely
temporarily, with the provision that in certain kinds of businesses the
Bundesrath may remit exceptions to the provisions laid down in Sec.Sec. 135
(2), (3), 136, 137 (1) to (3), and 138.
--The provisions of Sec.Sec. 135 to 139_b_ may be extended by Imperial decree,
with consent of the Bundesrath, to other workshops and building work.
Workshops in which the employers are exclusively members of the family
of the employer, do not come under these provisions.
Imperial decrees and provisions for exceptions issued by the Bundesrath,
may be issued for certain specified districts. They shall be published
in the _Imperial Law Gazette_, and laid before the Reichstag at the next
ensuing session.
Sec. 154_a_.
The provisions of Sec.Sec. 115 to 119_a_, 135 to 139_b_, 152 and 153 shall
apply to owners and workers in mines, salt pits, the preparatory work of
mining, and underground mines and quarries.
--Women workers shall not be employed underground in establishments of
the aforementioned kind. Infringements of this enactment shall be dealt
with under the penal provisions of Sec. 146.
_Article VIII._
Section 155 of the Industrial Code shall contain the following clauses.
--Where reference is made in this Act to common law, constitutional or
legislative enactments are to be understood.
The Central Court of the State of the Bund shall make known what courts
in each State of the Bund are to be understood by the expressions:
higher court of administration, lower court of administration, borough
court, local court, lower court, police court, local police court, and
what unions are to be understood by the expression, wider communal
unions.
--For such businesses as are subject to Imperial and State
administration, the powers and obligations conferred upon the police
courts, and higher and lower courts of administration, by Sec.Sec. 105_b_ (2),
105_c_ (2), 105_e_, 105_f_, 115_a_, 120_d_, 134_e_, 134_f_, 134_g_, 138
(1), 138_a_, 139, 139_b_, may be transferred to special courts appointed
for the administration of such businesses.
_Article IX._
The date on which the provisions of Sec.Sec. 41_a_, 55_a_, 105_a_ to 105_f_,
105_h_, 105_i_ and 154 (3) shall come into force, shall be determined by
Imperial decree with consent of the Bundesrath. Until such time the
legal provisions hitherto obtaining shall remain in force.
The provisions of Sec.Sec. 120 and 150, 4 shall come into force on Oct. 1,
1891.
--The rest of this Act shall come into force on April 1, 1892.
--The legal provisions hitherto obtaining shall remain in force until
April 1, 1894, in the case of such children from 12 to 14 years of age,
and young persons between 14 and 16 years of age, as were employed,
previous to the proclamation of this Act, in factories or in the
Industrial establishments specified in Sec.Sec. 154 (2) to (4), and 154_a_.
--In the case of businesses in which, previous to the proclamation of
this Act, women workers over 16 years of age, were employed in night
work, the Central Provincial Court may empower the further employment in
night work of such women workers, in the same numbers as hitherto, until
April 1, 1894, at the latest, if in consequence of suspension of night
work, the continuation of the business to its former extent would
involve an alteration which could not be made sooner without
disproportionate expense. Night work shall not exceed in duration 10
hours in the 24, and in every shift intervals must be granted of an
aggregate duration of at least one hour. Day and night shifts must
alternate weekly.
Delivered under our Imperial hand and seal.
Given at Kiel, on board my yacht _Meteor_, June 1, 1891.
WILLIAM.
VON CAPRIVI.
Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.