ABSTRACT
The State legislature specifies (or gives the Minister power to order) certain maximum hours and minimum working conditions as a ceiling and a floor above and below which the employer may not go. For instance, women and young persons may not, under the latest consolidating Factory Act, 1937, be worked more than four and a half hours at a stretch and, normally, nine hours a day with one half-holiday, or fortyeight hours a week. To meet pressure of work, certain exceptional overtime is allowed, but not more than 6 hours in any of 25 weeks in the year or more than a total of 100 hours. No work is allowed on Sundays and six holidays in the year. Factory Acts also specify the permitted incidence of working hours, that is the actual times of day between which women and young persons may work; no nightwork, for instance, is permitted-a restriction which limits the application of multiple shifts.
