Chap. 409.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 1808 of the Code of. Vir-
ginia; as heretofore amended, in relation to hours of labor by women.

{[H B 58]
Approved April 1, 1938 ,

l. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That section
eighteen hundred and eight of the Code of Virginia, as heretofore
amended, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

, Section 1808. Regulation of hours of work of women. No female
shall be employed, suffered, or permitted to work in any factory, work-
shop, laundry, restaurant, mercantile or manufacturing establishment
in this State more than forty- eight hours in any one week, nor more
than nine hours in any one day of twenty-four hours. All contracts
heretofore or hereafter made for the employment of any female in
any factory, workshop, laundry, restaurant, mercantile or manufac-
turing establishment to work more than forty-eight hours in any one
week, or nine hours in any one day of twenty-four hours, shall be
deemed to be void. But nothing in this section shall be construed to
apply to females whose full time is employed (a) as bookkeepers, ste-
nographers, cashiers or office assistants, buyers, managers or assistant
managers and office executives (b) in factories engaged exclusively in
canning, processing or packing fruits or vegetables during the fruit
and vegetable seasons, (c) in the handling or re-drying of leaf tobacco
during the tobacco market seasons, or while engaged in shelling and/or
cleaning peanuts and/or in shucking and packing oysters, provided such
females are not employed more than ten hours in any one day of
twenty-four hours for a period of not exceeding ninety days in any one
year, or (d) in mercantile establishments located in towns of less than
two thousand inhabitants or in country districts.

Every employer to whom this section shall apply shall keep posted
in a conspicuous place in the workroom where such females shall be
employed or permitted to work, a printed or typewritten copy of this
section; and a printed or typewritten schedule stating the number of
hours per day for each day of the weeks required of such persons, and
the time when such work shall begin and end, and the time when the
lunch period shall begin and end, shall be kept posted in a conspicuous
place in each room where females are employed.

Any person having authority to contract for the employment of
persons to work in any factory, workshop, laundry, restaurant, mer-
cantile or manufacturing establishment, who shall engage or contract
with any female, or suffer or permit any female, to work in any factory,
workshop, laundry, restaurant, mercantile or manufacturing establish-
ment in violation of this section, or who shall otherwise violate this
section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction be fined
not less.than ten nor more than twenty-five dollars upon the first con-
viction, and not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars
upon any second or subsequent conviction. Notwithstanding the other
provisions of this act, women employed in florist shops and greenhouses
may be employed for as many as, but not in excess of, ten hours in
one day, for the three days preceding and on February fourteenth,
December twenty-fifth, Easter Sunday and Mothers day.

The Commissioner of Labor is hereby charged with the duty of
enforcing this section and prosecuting all violations thereof, and of
supplying printed copies of the section to employers upon application.