808 REPORT— 1902. 



Yin.— Holland. 



The law of May 5, 1889, applies to all industrial undertakings except 

 agriculture, forestry, stock rearing, peat cutting, and fishing. It pro- 

 hibits the employment of children under twelve, and places young 

 persons under sixteen years of age and women of all ages under legal 

 protection. Protected persons may be excluded fi'om dangerous or 

 unhealthy trades by royal decree. These industries are specified by the 

 decree of January 31, 1897. 



Protected persons may not work more than eleven hours a day, with 

 at least one hour for rest between eleven and three o'clock, which hour 

 may not be spent in a work-room. 



Night work, i.e., from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., is prohibited, as also is work 

 on Sundays and church festivals. This general prohibition of Sunday 

 work was withdrawn on December 31, 1896, in favour of women over 

 sixteen years of age employed in butter and cheese making, provided that 

 certain conditions specified by an administrative order were observed. 



Employers are bound to demand a labour passport from the mayor 

 for each protected person in their service. These passports must give 

 the dates of entering upon and of quitting an engagement ; the hours of 

 starting and of finishing work and the day elected as the weekly holiday 

 must also be posted up in the factory. 



Women may not be employed for the four weeks subsequent to their 

 confinement. 



Certain exceptions as to overtime were anticipated as necessary by 

 the law of 1889, and they have since been dealt with by the decrees of 

 December 9, 1889 ; October 30, 1890 ; October 17, 1891 ; and June 10, 

 1892. Overtime from 7 to 10 p.m. is allowed in certain industries (fruit 

 preserving works, laundries, ifec.) when necessary. 



Women and young persons under sixteen are prohibited from work- 

 ing underground ; but as only two mines employing some 300 persons 

 are worked in Holland the benefit of this prohibition is theoretical 

 rather than practical. 



The execution of the law of 1889 was entrusted in the first place to 

 three inspectors whose duties were defined by a decree of February 21, 

 1890. They are appointed by the Queen and placed under the direction 

 of the Minister of Justice ; their functions are to examine the labour 

 passports of individuals, the factory registers, and to report all infractions 

 of the law. The limitation of their number to three was removed by 

 the law of July 20, 1895, and they were charged by the same law to 

 substitute a half-yearly for a yearly report of their operations.^ 



The first legislative provision made in Holland for the health and 

 safety of factory workers dates from July 20, 1895. This law prescribes 

 the cubic space to be allotted to each worker, the ventilation, lighting, 

 precautions against fire, and sanitary accominodation. Factories are to 

 be kept clean and free from noxious gases or dust, and to have a com- 

 fortable temperature. Precautions are to be taken against accidents 

 arising from machinery, explosives, boiling liquids, or molten metals. 



' Ilygihie et SrouHtc dcs Travailleiirs, pp. 58-G2 and 365-76 ; C&ngrcs Inter- 

 natldual de Legislation du Travail, pp. 451-53; Annuaire de la Legidation du 

 Travail, 1897, pp. 268-79. 



