Chapter 28. To regulate the hours of employment and safeguard the health of females employed in the District of Columbia
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CHAP. 28.— An Act To regulate the hours of employment and safeguard the health of females employed in the District of Columbia.February 24, 1914.[[S. 1294](/us/bill/63/s/1294).][[Public, No. 60](/us/pl/63/60).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That no female shall be District of Columbia. Regulation of female employmentemployed in any manufacturing, mechanical or mercantile establishment, laundry, hotel, or restaurant, or telegraph or telephone establishment or office, or by any express or transportation company in the District of Columbia more than eight hours in any one day or more than six days or more than forty-eight hours in any one week.
Sec. 2. That no female under eighteen years of age shall beNo night work permitted if under 18. employed or permitted to work in or in connection with any of the establishments or occupations named in section one of this Act before the hour of seven o’clock in the morning or after the hour of six o’clock in the evening of any one day. Sec. 3. That no female shall be employed or permitted to work forContinuous labor restricted. more than six hours continuously at one time in any establishment or occupation named in section one of this Act in which three or more such females are employed without an interval of at least three-quarters of an hour; except that such female may be so employed for not more than six and one-half hours continuously at one time if such employment ends not later than half past one o’clock in the afternoon and if she is then dismissed for the remainder of the day.
Sec. 4. That every employer shall post and keep posted in a conspicuousNotice to be posted. place in every room in any establishment or occupation named in section one of this Act in which any females are employed a printed notice stating the number of hours such females are required or permitted to work on each day of the week, the hours of beginning and stopping such work, and the hours of beginning and ending the recess allowed for meals. The printed form of such notice shall be furnished by the inspectors authorized by this Act.
The employmentViolations. of any such female for a longer time in any day than that stated in the printed notice shall be deemed a violation of the provisions of this section. Where the nature of the business makes it impracticableAllowance for meals. to fix the recess allowed for meals at the same time for all females employed, the inspectors authorized to enforce this Act may issue a permit dispensing with the posting of the hours when the recess allowed for meals begins and ends, and requiring only the posting of the total number of hours which females are required or permitted to work on each day of the week and the hours of beginning and stopping such work.
Such permit shall be kept by such employer upon such premises and exhibited to all inspectors authorized to enforce this Act. Sec. 5. That every employer shall keep a time book or record forEmployment time books, etc., to be kept. every female employed in any establishment or occupation named in section one of this Act, stating the wages paid, the number of hours worked by her on each day of the week, the hours of beginning and stopping such work, and the hours of beginning and ending the recess allowed for meals.
Such time book or record shall be open at all reasonable hours to the inspection of the officials authorized to enforce this Act. Any employer who fails to keep such record as required by this section, or makes any false statement therein, or refuses to exhibit such time book or record, or makes any false statement to an official authorized to enforce this Act in reply to any question put in carrying out the provisions of this Act shall be liable for a violation thereof. Sec. 6.
That the Commissioners of the District of Columbia areInspectors authorized.*Post*, p. 317. hereby authorized to appoint three inspectors, two of whom shall be women, to carry out the purposes of this Act at a compensation not exceeding 81,200 each per annum. Sec. 7. That the inspectors authorized by this Act may in theEntrance in shops, etc. discharge of their duties enter any place, building, or room where292 any labor is being performed by females which is affected by the provisions of this chapter whenever such inspectors may have reasonable cause to believe that any such labor is being performed therein.
Sec. 8. Examinations and inspections. That the inspectors authorized by this Act shall visit and inspect the establishments and places of employment named in section one as often as practicable, during reasonable hours, and shall cause the provisions of this Act to be enforced therein and also theVol. 28, p. 964. provisions of an Act entitled “An Act to provide that all persons employing female help in stores, shops, or manufactories in the District of Columbia shall provide seats for the same when not actively employed,” approved March second, eighteen hundred and ninety-five.Reports.
They shall make a daily report to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and also report any cases of illegal employment contrary to the provisions of this Act to the corporation counsel of the District of Columbia. Sec. 9. Penalties for violations. That any person who violates or does not comply with any of the provisions of this Act shall upon conviction be punished for a first offense by a fine of not less than $20 nor more than $50; for a second offense, by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $200; for a third offense, by a fine of not less than $250.
Approved, February 24, 1914.