Early Closing (Amendment) Act 1900 (NSW)

Act No. 81 , 1900.

An Act to amend t he Ear ly Closing Act, 1899.

[11th December, 1900.]

Assembly of New South Wales in Pa r l i amen t assembled, and by the the advice and consent of the Legislat ive Council and Legislat ive au thor i ty of the same, as follows:— BE it enacted by the Queen 's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with

Preliminary.

1. This Act may be cited as the " E a r l y Closing (Amendment)

Act, 1900."

2. I n this Act " The Pr inc ipa l Act " means the E a r l y Closing

Act, 1899.

Closing times.

3. Sections three and four of the Pr inc ipa l Act a re hereby repealed, and every proclamat ion made under the provisions of section three of the said Act is hereby rescinded, and the following shall stand in lieu thereof:—

(1) The closing t imes for all shops (except those mentioned in Schedule One of the Pr inc ipa l Act) s i tuate within a country shopping distr ict shall be—

On one week-day, one o'clock; On one week-day, ten o'clock;

such days (until a l tered in pursuance of this Act) to be those respectively

now observed in each shopping distr ict , and—

On the four other week-days, six o'clock;

and all such shops shall close on those days not la ter than the hours above mentioned, which shall be hours af ter the hour of noon each day.

(2) When the Pr inc ipa l Act shall have been in force in any country shopping dis t r ic t for a period of not less than nine months, not less than one-third of the shopkeepers of shops not being shops mentioned in Schedule One of the Pr inc ipa l Act may present to the Minister a memorial under their hands, in the form of Schedule Two to the said Act, asking tha t a poll be taken on the question whether any of the days observed as aforesaid in pursuance of this Act should be a l tered to the day specified in the memorial .

(3)

On receipt of the memoria l the Minister shall notify in the Gazette, and in a t least two issues of a newspaper circulat ing in the dis­ trict , t ha t on a day therein named (not being less than twenty-one nor more than twenty-eight days af ter the first notification) a poll will be

taken as to the a l te ra t ion proposed.

( 3 ) On the day named a poll shall he taken as prescribed by

the regulations, and at such poll each shopkeeper and shop-assis tant of a shop not being a shop mentioned in Schedule One to the Pr inc ipa l Act shall, subject to the regulations, have one vote.
If a major i ty of those voting at the poll, vote that the said days or any of them be so altered, the Minister shall so notify in the Gazette, and the closing days for such shops in the distr ict shall he so al tered accordingly.

(4) W h e r e a poll has been taken in pursuance of this section,

no other such poll shall be taken for a period of two years .
F o r the purposes of this clause " shop-assis tant " means any person who shall have been engaged for three months at least in a shop not being a shop mentioned in Schedule One of the Pr inc ipa l Act in the shopping district in which he claims to vote, and who, at the time of voting, shall be above the age of eighteen years .
4. The Governor may by proclamation consti tute any area not
now declared a country shopping distr ict to be a country shopping
district , and shall in such proclamation define the boundaries thereof.
The closing time for all shops (except those mentioned in Schedule

One of the Principal Act) s i tuate within such country shopping distr ict

shall b e -

On one week-day, one o'clock; On one week-day, ten o'clock;

such days (until altered in the same manner as provided in the preceding section for existing country shopping dis tr ic ts) to be those respectively declared in such proclamation, and—

On the four other week-days, six o'clock ;

and all such shops shall close on those days not later than the hours above mentioned, which shall be hours after the hour of noon each day.
5. Notwiths tanding anyth ing contained in Pa r t One of the Pr in­ cipal Act, the closing time for newsagents ' and booksellers ' shops within the metropol i tan area shall be eight o 'clock on five week nights and ten o 'clock on Sa tu rday . A newsagent 's shop shall include a shop where

newspapers , periodicals, magazines, novelettes, s tat ionery,	school
requisi tes, or books are exposed for sale.

6. In the case of any shop si tuate within the Newcastle shopping distr ict , and mentioned in section one of the Principal Act, any shop­ keeper who has elected to close at one o'clock on Wednesday may keep his shop open till ten o'clock on F r i d a y :

Provided that in such case his closing time on Sa tu rday shall

be six o'clock.
7. Where in any shopping distr ict a shopkeeper occupies two or more shops not being shops mentioned in Schedule One to the Principal Act, all such shops shall on each day close a t the same time, notwith­ standing any choice which the shopkeeper has made under the said Ac t ;

A n d

And subject to the provisions of this section, the shopkeeper may, under subsection two of section one of the said Act (notwi ths tanding tha t the period of three months af ter a choice made before the commencement of this Act has not expi red) , make a fresh choice in respect of all or any of such shops, and the provisions of tha t subsection shall apply in respect of any choice so made. Until he makes such choice he shall be deemed to have chosen, in respect of all his said shops, one o'clock as the closing t ime on Wednesday .

8. Where a shop in any shopping district , not being a shop mentioned in Schedule One to the Pr inc ipa l Act, is closed dur ing the whole of any week day set a p a r t in any week as a bank holiday or as a public holiday under the Banks and Bank Hol idays Act, 1898, and the shop-assis tants a re not employed therein dur ing such day, such shop may be kept open until six o'clock on the day of such week on which the closing time is one o'clock, and where such holiday as aforesaid is Chr i s tmas Day, New Y e a r ' s Day, or Good F r iday , such shop may also be kept open until ten o'clock on the week day next preceding.

W h e r e any such shop as aforesaid is closed dur ing and until six o'clock on any week day observed in any week as a holiday for any religious purpose , and the shop-assis tants a re not employed therein dur ing such time, such shop may be kept open until six o'clock on the day of such week on which the closing time is one o'clock.

The t imes fixed under this section in respect of any shop shall be deemed to be the closing times of such shop on the days mentioned.

The proviso to subsection one of section one of the Pr inc ipa l Act

is hereby repealed.

Shop-assistants, minors, and carters.

9. Subsection (1) of section eight of the Pr inc ipa l Act is hereby amended by the insert ion of the words " or about the business of any shop " after the words " in any shop " in the first line of the said section.

10. W h e r e a shop-assistant , empolyed in a shop not being a shop mentioned in Schedule One to the Pr inc ipa l Act, is allowed a holiday on full pay for the purposes of recreat ion dur ing the whole of any day other than a bank holiday or day appointed within the por t ion of the distr ict in which the shop is s i tuated as a public holiday under the Banks and Bank Hol idays Act, 1898, or day observed as a holiday for any religious purpose, as provided in section six, the shopkeeper, for each day so allowed, may employ the ass is tant for a period not exceeding three hours (exclusive of the hour to be allowed for refreshment under this section) on each of any two other days (not being a day on which the shop closes at one or ten o'clock, or a bank or public holiday as aforesaid) after the closing t ime on each such day, but after the said closing

closing time the shop shall he kept closed, and the ass is tant so employed shall be allowed by the shopkeeper one hour for refreshment between six o'clock and seven o'clock.

If the shopkeeper of the shop, or any person act ing or apparen t ly acting in the management of the shop, contravenes any provision of this section he shall be guilty of an offence agains t the Principal Act.

11.    In the case of shop-assistants employed in hotels, r e s t auran t s ,

or eating-houses, the half-holiday mentioned in subsection (2) of section nine of the Principal Act may be allowed from two o'clock instead of from one o'clock. In the case of shop-assis tants employed in hair­ d re s se r s ' shops in the metropoli tan district , the half-holiday mentioned in subsection two of section nine of the said Act shall be allowed on Wednesday or Sa tu rday of each week, and the closing time on the former day shall be notified as provided for in subsection two of section one of the Principal Act.

12. Notwi ths tanding anything to the contrary in the principal Act, every baker in the metropol i tan a rea shall give to every person engaged byr him as a bread car te r or acting for him in tha t capacity, one whole day as a holiday, on the thi rd Wednesday in each month : Provided tha t in the event of any public holiday under the Banks and Bank Holi­ days Act, 1898, falling in the same week as the thi rd Wednesday in any month, such whole day holiday shall be observed on such public holiday, and not on the thi rd Wednesday.

And on such thi rd Wednesday in each month or on such public holiday, as the case may be. no bread shall be delivered by car t to a customer by any person engaged by a baker in the metropol i tan area.

13. Every baker outside the metropol i tan area, and every shop­ keeper, butcher, or milkvendor, whose place of business is si tuated in any shopping district , shall allow every person usually employed by him in del ivering goods from the shop, or in delivering meat, milk, or bread, four half-holidays from the hour of two o'clock in the afternoon on seme

week-days in each month, or a whole holiday on one week-day in each month of his employment. And if, in any month, he fails or refuses to	allow any person so employed by him such half-holidays or such whole
holiday, he shall be guilty of an offence agains t the Principal Act.
In any prosecution for a contravention of the provisions of this section, proof that dur ing any month any person used, for the purpose of delivering goods from a shop, or delivering meat, milk, or bread, a e a r t bear ing the name or title of. or in any other way purpor t ing to be the proper ty of, the defendant, shall be prima facie evidence that the said person dur ing the said month was employed by the defendant in delivering goods, meat, milk, or bread, as aforesaid.

Section ten of the Principal Act is hereby repealed.

Supplemental

Supplemental and exemptions.

14. The Governor may make regula t ions—

(a)	determining, in respect of any shop mentioned in Schedule One to the Pr inc ipa l Act, wha t classes of t r ade shall, for the purposes of tha t Act, be deemed to be classes of t r ade usually carr ied on in such shop, and thereupon such classes of t r ade and no other classes of t r ade shall be deemed to be the classes of t r ade usually carr ied on in such shop ;
(b)	for the keeping of records and the giving of information by shopkeepers concerning the hours and ex t ra hours of employ­ ment of and the holidays and half-holidays allowed to shop- ass is tants , and the giving of information by shopkeepers, butchers , milk vendors , and bakers concerning the holidays and half-holidays allowed persons employed in delivering goods from a shop, or meat , milk, or b r e a d ;
(c)	prescribing the manner in which such records shall be kept and such information given, and the person to whom such informa­ tion shall be given;
(d)	providing for the certifying of the correctness of such records and informat ion; and
(e)	providing for the publication to shop-assistants of information concerning the Principal Act and this Act, and the regulat ions the reunder ;

and may in those regulat ions author ise any penal ty not exceeding five
pounds to be imposed for any breach of the same.

The provisions of the Principal Act, as to regulat ions made under tha t Act, shall apply to regulat ions made under this section.

15. Section twenty-three of the Principal Act is hereby amended
by inser t ing af ter the word " employment " the words " and half-

h o l i d a y s , " and after the word " r a i l w a y , " wherever used, the words

" t r a m w a y or f e r r y . "

16. Section twenty-one is hereby amended by the insert ion in the definition of " shop " of the word " place " between the word	" means " and the word " bu i ld ing , " and " p a r t n e r under the age of
twenty-one yea r s " after the words " clerk employed in a shop " in the
definition of " shop-ass i s tan t . "
The definition of " shopkeeper " in the Pr inc ipa l Act shall not include a commercial t ravel ler bona fide engaged in selling goods to a shopkeeper by sample only.
17. No person shall be convicted under the Pr inc ipa l Act or this Act for not closing or keeping closed a shop if he proves that the shop was not closed or not kept closed only for the purpose of venti lat ion or of persons vis i t ing or resor t ing to the premises for purposes other than for t r ade in the shop, customers refer red to in the first proviso to section

e

seven of the said Act or, in the case of a regis tered pharmacis t , persons enter ing or leaving in connection only with the supply of art icles in pursuance of the second proviso to that section, or, in the case of a retai l butcher, persons enter ing or leaving only in connection with the delivery of meat to the shop of such butcher.

18. In cases of emergency caused by fire, flood, or disease, the Minister may suspend the operat ion of such provisions of the Pr inc ipa l Act or this Act as he deems necessary in respect of any persons, class of persons, or shops for such period within such locality, and under and subject to the performance of such conditions as he may prescribe, and al ter or annul such notice.
Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any condition prescribed under this section shall be guilty of an offence against the Principal Act.

19. Nothing in the Principal Act or this Act shall apply, or be deemed to have applied, to any bazaar, or fair, where goods are sold or exposed for sale in order that the net proceeds of the sale of the goods m a y b e devoted to religious, charitable, or public purposes only.