Chap. 105.—An ACT to authorize the Commissioner of Labor to permit females to
be employed for hours in excess of those otherwise prescribed by law, under
certain conditions, for temporary periods in time of war; and to prescribe
penalties. [S B 139]

Approved March 4, 1942 |

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, as follows:

Section 1. Purpose. During any period of war declared by the
Congress of the United States to exist between the United States and any
foreign nation, the Commissioner of Labor, irrespective of any other
provision of law, may issue, under the conditions prescribed herein, to
any individual employer engaged on war work a temporary permit author-
izing such employer lawfully to employ under valid contract any female
or females, eighteen years of age or over, in excess of the daily or weekly
hours of employment limited by law in respect to females. No permit,
however, shall authorize the employment of any female in excess of ten
hours in any one day or fifty-six hours in any one week. .

Section 2. Definition. As used in this Act, “war work’ shall
mean work in producing articles or materials or performing services on
or for contracts for the United States Army or Navy, or any other agency
of the United States authorized to let contracts for work necessary for
the successful waging of war and which necessitates immediate produc-
tion.

Section 3. Conditions for Granting Temporary Permits. The
temporary permits authorized under this Act shall be issued only upon
the following conditions:

A permit shall be granted only where it is reasonably clear that it is
necessary for maximum production on war work.

Employers engaged on war work shall make application for permits
in such manner and upon such forms as the Commissioner of Labor shall
prescribe.

Where preliminary information submitted by an employer engaged
on war work shows the immediate issuance of a permit is necessary for
maximum possible production on such work, it may be granted by the
Commissioner of Labor provisionally for a period not to exceed thirty
days and subject to revocation if subsequent investigation indicates the
permit is unnecessary. ,
Each permit shall be valid only for the temporary period speciled
herein, which period shall be for the duration of the specific contract for
war work unless all the facts and circumstances of the particular case as
found upon investigation by the Commissioner of Labor or his authorized
agents warrants a longer period.

Each permit shall be limited to the plant or establishment, or to the
Jepartment or division thereof, or to a certain kind of work done therein
which shall be specified in the permit.

No permit shall be granted any employer engaged on war work who
can by the utilization of available labor supply or by organizational or
other reasonable adjustments, including the training of workers, secure
maximum production on said war work.

All permits are granted subject to such terms and conditions as are
necessary to safeguard the health, efficiency and general well-being of
female workers or to prevent the abuse of such permit.

Where upon investigation by the Commissioner of Labor or his
authorized agents it is found that the privileges granted by any permit
are being abused or that the conditions or circumstances under which it
was granted have changed so as to no longer make such permit necessary
for maximum production on war work it shall be revoked forthwith by
the Commissioner of Labor after notice and opportunity for the em-
ployer to be heard.

Section 4. Misrepresentation. Any person who makes a misrep-
resentation of fact or purpose to the Commissioner of Labor in further-
ance of an application for a permit hereunder, is guilty of a misdemeanor ;
and a permit issued upon the basis of such misrepresentation constitutes
no defense for any violation of the law regulating the hours of work o!
females.

Section 5. Records. The Commissioner of Labor shall maintair
a public file of all permits granted pursuant to this act, and a statement!
of the investigations and findings upon which the permits are granted.

2. An emergency exists and this act is in force upon its passage