Chap. 214.—An ACT regulating the hours of labor of women. [S B 223]
Approved March 14, 1918.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That no
female shall work as an operative in any factory, workshop, laun-
drv, mercantile or manufacturing establishment in this State more
than ten hours in any one day of twenty-four hours. Al] contracts
heretofore or hereafter made for the employment of any female as
an operative in any factory, workshop, laundry, mercantile or manu-
facturing establishment to work for more than ten hours in any one
day of twenty-four hours shall be deemed to be void.

2. Any person having authority to contract for the employment
of persons as operatives in any factory, workshop, laundry, mercan-
tile or manufacturing establishment, who shall engage or contract
with any female to work as an operative in any factory, workshop,
laundry, mercantile or manufacturing establishment during more
than ten hours in any one day of twenty-four hours shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and be fined not Jess than five nor more than
twenty dollars. But nothing in this section shall be construed to
apply to females whose full time is employed as bookkeepers, ste-
nographers, cashiers, or office assistants, nor to persons employed in
factories engaged exclusively in packing fruits or vegetables, nor
shall this section apply to mercantile establishments in towns of less
than two thousand inhabitants, or in country districts, provided,
however, that the commissioner of labor shall be, and he is hereby
authorized to grant a permit to leaf tobacco prizeris in towns and
cities of less than 30,000 population to employ women for more than
ten hours in a day where it appears to the commissioner that such
a permit is necessary to provide for an emergency and where such
additional time is voluntary on the part of the employees. Such
permit shall state the time and conditions of such employment, and
such plant may employ such labor for the time and under the condi-
tions set forth in such permit; and this provision shall terminate
February first, nineteen hundred and twenty.