p. xx. and 293 et seq.). These treaties mark a further step in the advance towards regulating the position of foreigners under systems of accident insurance, the first being that taken by the first section of the Franco-Italian Labour Treaty. The other contracting parties are Belgium and Germany respectively. The treaty with Belgium is dated 15th April, 1905, and that with Germany, 2nd September, 1905. The two treaties have in common only the object of ensuring to workmen employed abroad the advantages of accident insurance. The means adopted in the respective treaties to bring about this end are different. The principal points of difference are as follows:-The treaty with Belgium applies to all subjects of either Belgium or Luxemburg who are working in the other country, whereas the treaty with Germany applies merely to branches of establishments domiciled in one country and bound to insure their workmen therein set up temporarily in the other. Further, under the Belgian treaty, a subject of either state who meets with an accident is compensated in accordance with the law of the country where he was employed, but under the German treaty in a similar case the law of the country where the headquarters of the establishment are situated applies. As regards the details of these treaties, §1 of the Belgian treaty sets up the principle that a subject of one contracting state who meets with an accident in the other shall enjoy the same compensation and guarantees as the subjects of the state where the accident happened. §2 of the Treaty allows an exception to this principle in the case of workmen who are employed only temporarily (i.e., for not more than six months) in the country in which the accident occurs, and who are in the service of a firm domiciled in the other country. In the case of accidents sustained by workmen coming under this category, the law of the state in which the employing firm is domiciled applies. It may be noted here that cases of this kind, treated as exceptions in the treaty with Belgium, form the chief subject of the treaty with Germany. Besides this, the Belgian treaty provides the same privileges as regards stamps and court fees for subjects of the two states, and imposes upon the authorities of the two countries the duty of providing mutual assistance in cases of accidents of the kind in question. The German Treaty of the 2nd September, 1905 (G. B., IV., p. 306), unlike the Belgian one, is not intended to guarantee to subjects of one of the contracting states living permanently in the other the advantages of accident insurance, but to "regulate by agreement the application of the German and Luxemburg Accident Insurance Laws (except those relating to agriculture and forestry) for such establishments as extend their business over the borders of their own country." Accordingly, §1 of the treaty provides that persons employed by such establishments belonging to one country, even in cases where the period of employment does not exceed six months in the territory of the other contracting state, shall come under the accident insurance law of the state in which the head-quarters of the firm in question are domiciled. If any doubt arises as to which law should apply, in the absence of agreement on the part of the persons bound to insure or entitled to compensation, the authorities of the state in which the firm in question is domiciled shall decide-that is to say, in Germany, the Imperial Insurance Office, and in Luxemburg, the Govern ment. As in the Belgian Treaty, so also in that with Germany, the two contracting states pledge themselves to give mutual assistance, through their competent administrative bodies or authorities, in the administration of the accident insurance laws, especially in determining which accidents come under the insurance laws of one country although they arise within the territory of the other. INTERNATIONAL LABOUR LEGISLATION Franco-Belgian Treaty relating to compensation for injuries resulting from industrial State Insurance Office: Rules for the prevention of accidents Austria: Order relating to Sunday rest in cement stone works. May 5, 1906 Belgium: Act ratifying the convention relating to compensation for injuries resulting from industrial accidents, concluded on February 21, between Belgium and CONTENTS (Continued). PAGE Denmark: Act regulating work in bakeries and confectionery businesses, April 6, 1906 177 Spain: Royal Decree relating to the application of the Sunday Rest Act to the paper trade. April 17, 1906 Royal Decree defining the Sunday Rest Act as regards its application to fairs and markets. May 12, 1906 . 182 182 . 183 France Act extending the provisions of the Act of April 9, 1898, to all commercial undertakings. April 12, 1906 . Act relating to the Merchant Service. April 19, 1906. Act establishing a weekly day of rest for employees and workmen. July 13, 1906 Decree concerning precautions against fire in industrial and commercial undertakings 184 185 188 Circular on the application of the Act of June 12, 1893-July 11, 1903, concerning the health and safety of workmen in public establishments. April 14, 1906. . . 188 Decree amending the decree of September 9, 1905, relating to subventions to unemployment societies Great Britain and Ireland: Order of the Local Government Board amending Art. IV. of the Organisation (Unemployed Workmen) Establishment Order, 1905. October 21, 1905 . 188 189 The Burgh Distress Committees (Unemployed Workmen) (Scotland) Order, 1905. 189 The regulations (Organisation for Unemployed, Scotland), 1905. November 14, 189 1905 Circular of the Local Government Board for Scotland concerning the regulations 189 189 Regulations made by the Secretary of State in respect of the processes of spinning and weaving flax and tow and the processes incidental thereto. Feb. 26, 1906.. 189 British Colonies : New Brunswick: An Act providing for compulsory attendance at school. Chap. III. passed March 22, 1906 Victoria Regulations under the Factories and Shops Acts. February 19, 1906 Regulations made by the Board of Public Health under §12 of the Factories and and Shops Act, 1905. Norway: Act relating to State and local contributions to the Norwegian Unemploy- The Netherlands: Act containing regulations for the protection of workers engaged Tessin Decree forbidding night-work in bakehouses and pastrycooks' businesses. 192 192 192 193 On February 21, 1906, an Insurance Treaty (E.B. I., p. 153) was concluded between Belgium and France, the essential provisions of which are as follows:— The Treaty brings into operation in both countries the principle that the subjects of one of the contracting States meeting with industrial accidents in the other shall enjoy the same guarantees and compensation as is assured by the legislation of the State in which the accident happened to the subjects of the same State. Exceptions from this principle are made (1) in the case of persons who have been employed for less than six months within the territory of the State in which the accident happened on transitory work in the service of an undertaking located within the territory of the other State; and (2) in the case of persons in the employment of transport undertakings who work regularly, but at intervals, in a country other than that in which the undertaking is domiciled. In case of accident to persons belonging to these two categories of employees the legislation of that country applies in which the undertaking, in the service of which they were employed, is domiciled. With the object of facilitating the execution of the treaty, all exemptions from stamp duties, fees, etc., allowed by the legislation of one of the contracting States will accrue ipso facto to the benefit of the subjects of the other contracting State who meet with accidents; (3) the authorities are to afford each other mutual assistance. The Treaty has been ratified by the Legislatures of the two States, ratifications being exchanged at Paris on June 7, 1906. 2. National Labour Legislation 1. Labour Legislation of General Application. 1. Sunday Rest.-The German notification of February 5, 1895, relating to exceptions from the prohibition of Sunday work in industrial establishments has been so amended by a notification of the Federal Council dated May 23, 1906 (E.B. I., p. 155), in Group B, No 1, as to limit the number of persons admitted to Sunday work in glass factories. An Austrian Ministerial Order, dated May 5, 1906 (E.B. I., p. 176) extends the application of exemptions from the prohibition of Sunday work to particular processes in the manufacture of cement. The French Weekly Day of Rest Act of July 13, 1906 (E.B. I., p. 185) establishes the principles (1) that all workmen and employees in all industrial and commercial establishments shall be allowed a weekly day of rest; (2) that this day of rest shall last 24 consecutive hours; (3) that the day of rest shall fall on Sunday. The Act allows a series of exceptions from these principles, viz. :— (1) The suspension of the day of rest: (a) In cases of pressure of work of a kind more exactly defined in §4 of the Act; (b) in occupations carried on in the open air; (c) in industries dealing with perishable materiais; (d) in season trades; (e) in State undertakings; (f) in establishments in which work is carried on on behalf of the State and for the defence of the country, the day of rest may be suspended five times in the year without compensation in the cases indicated in (b) to (ƒ), or in cases indicated in (a), provided that the work in question is in another undertaking not directly affected by the pressure of work, with a compensating period of rest of equal duration. (2) Reduction of the hours of rest. In establishments where the weekly day of rest is the same for the whole staff, the period of rest for persons employed in attending, cleaning, and supervising the boilers, machinery, and premises may be reduced to half a day. (3) Division or modification of the period of rest. In a series of industries indicated in §3 and §5, paragraphs 2, 3, 4, division or modification of the period of rest is permitted in various forms-viz. (a) the day of rest may be given for the whole of the staff on a day other than Sunday; (b) the day of rest may be given from midday on Sunday to midday on Monday; (c) on the afternoon of Sunday with a compensating period of rest of one whole day in every fortnight by rotation; (d) the period of rest may be given by rotation for all or part of the staff. As regards the execution of the Act and penalties for breaches thereof, see text of the Act, §§8 to 18. 2. Protection of Children and Apprentices.-A New Brunswick Act, dated March 22, 1906 (E.B. I., p. 192) absolutely prohibits the employment of children under 13, and provides that children from 13 to 16 years old shall only be employed when definite requirements set forth in §31 of the Act are satisfied. |