Baking Industry (Hours of Work) Act 1954

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1954 c. 57
Year1954


Baking Industry (Hours of Work) Act , 1954

(2 & 3 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 57

An Act to restrict night work in the baking industry, and for purposes connected therewith.

Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

S-1 Hours of work at bakeries other than night-bakeries.

1 Hours of work at bakeries other than night-bakeries.

(1) Except at an establishment with respect to which a notice under subsection (1) of the next following section is for the time being operative, and subject to the other provisions of this Act, a person shall not be employed as a bakery worker between the hours of ten o'clock in the evening and five o'clock in the morning:

Provided that a person may be so employed on dough-making or oven-firing at any time in the morning not earlier than three o'clock.

(2) In this Act, the expression ‘bakery worker’ means a person employed in any undertaking carried on by way of trade or for the purposes of gain under a contract of service or of apprenticeship in the manufacture of bread or flour confectionery or on work incidental to such manufacture, including the slicing, wrapping, loading or other preparation for sale or distribution of bread or flour confectionery, but does not include—

(a ) any person employed wholly on one or more of the following classes of work, that is to say, distribution, work (other than such preparation as aforesaid) incidental to distribution, cleaning, the maintenance, repair or servicing of plant, buildings or equipment, and office, administrative or welfare work; or

(b ) any person employed partly on loading who is mainly and, apart from his employment on loading, wholly employed on one or more of the classes of work specified in the foregoing paragraph; or

(c ) a foreman, that is to say, a worker with four or more bakery workers under him; or

(d ) any person employed in the kitchen of an hotel, boarding house, restaurant, cafe or other similar establishment so far as he is so employed in, or on work incidental to, the manufacture of flour confectionery for consumption at that establishment;

and for the purposes of this definition the expression ‘flour confectionery’ includes oat-cakes and shortbread but not biscuits.

(3) For the purposes of the last foregoing subsection, where any undertaking such as is mentioned therein is carried on by a company, a director of the company who holds as beneficial owner shares therein amounting in nominal value to more than one-quarter of the issued share capital of the company shall not, but any other director of the company shall, be deemed to be employed by the company under a contract of service.

S-2 Hours of work at night-bakeries.

2 Hours of work at night-bakeries.

(1) An employer may at any time give notice in writing to the Minister that he intends to use any establishment as a night-bakery, and any person employed as a bakery worker at that establishment while that notice remains operative (in this Act referred to as a ‘night-bakery worker’) may be so employed at any time of the day or night, subject, however, to compliance with the conditions set out in the next following subsection.

(2) The conditions referred to in the foregoing subsection are that, subject to the provisions of this Act—

(a ) a person shall not be employed as a night-bakery worker between the hours of six o'clock in the evening and six o'clock in the morning for more than twenty-six working weeks in any one year;

(b ) except in accordance with such a consent as is mentioned in subsection (4) of this section, a person shall not be employed as a night-bakery worker between the hours aforesaid for more than four consecutive working weeks at any one time; and

(c ) except in accordance with such a consent as aforesaid, a person shall not at any time in any one year have been employed as a night-bakery worker between the hours aforesaid for an aggregate number of working weeks exceeding by more than four the aggregate number of working weeks in that year for which he has been in employment as a night-bakery worker without being employed between the hours aforesaid.

(3) For the purposes of the last foregoing subsection—

(a ) all employment as a night-bakery worker by the same employer in any year shall be taken into account, whether or not the employment is continuous or is at the same establishment, but no account shall be taken of any period of employment by another employer;

(b ) a person shall be deemed to have been employed as a night-bakery worker between the hours aforesaid for the whole of any working week in which he has at any time been employed as a night-bakery worker between those hours;

(c ) where a working week falls partly in one year and partly in another year—

(i) if the greater part of that week falls in one of those years, the whole week shall be deemed to fall in that year;

(ii) if an equal part of that week falls in each of those years, the whole week shall be deemed to fall in the later of those years.

(4) If in the case of any establishment, by reason of the seasonal requirements of a holiday resort or other special circumstances, it appears to the Minister reasonable and proper so to do, he may grant his consent in writing for the employment at that establishment, subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the consent, of persons as night-bakery workers otherwise than in accordance with either or both of the conditions specified in paragraphs (b ) and (c ) of subsection (2) of this section, and any such consent may be revoked by the Minister at any time.

(5) Any notice under subsection (1) of this section shall be in a form approved by the Minister and shall include the following particulars—

(a ) the address of the establishment intended to be used as a night-bakery;

(b ) the date on which the establishment is to commence to be used as a night-bakery; and

(c ) the day of the week and the time on that day at which the period of seven consecutive days which is to be treated as the working week at that establishment for the purposes of this section is to begin and end.

(6) While any such notice remains operative, the working week aforesaid shall not be changed except on and from one of the first seven days in January in any year and after at least one month's notice has been given in writing by the employer to the Minister.

(7) An employer may at any time give notice in writing to the Minister that, as from a date specified in the notice, he intends to discontinue the use of any establishment so specified as a night-bakery, and where such a notice is given the notice under subsection (1) of this section with respect to that establishment shall cease to be operative as from the date so specified.

S-3 Special exceptions.

3 Special exceptions.

(1) Subject to the proviso to subsection (4) of this section, the provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding anything in section one of this Act, and any work on which a night-bakery worker is employed by virtue of this section shall be left out of account for the purposes of section two of this Act.

(2) If it is necessary in order to meet the requirements of the public immediately before or immediately after Sunday or the Jewish Sabbath, a bakery worker may be employed during one night work period in each week to be selected by the employer:

Provided that, in the case of any one establishment, not more than two night work periods in the week shall be selected for the purposes of this subsection, which shall be on the same days in every week in any one year unless, on an application made to him by the employer for the purpose, the Minister is satisfied that it is reasonable to change those days and grants his permission in writing.

(3) Without prejudice to the last foregoing subsection, if it is necessary in order to meet the increased requirements of the public before an ordinary or special public holiday, a bakery worker may be employed during any one night work period, to be selected by the employer, in the period of seven days immediately preceding that holiday:

Provided that, in the case of any one establishment and any one such holiday, not more than two night work periods in the said period of seven days shall be selected for the purposes of this subsection.

(4) Without prejudice to the two last foregoing subsections, a bakery worker may be employed during any night work period when it is necessary in order to avoid serious interference with the ordinary work of an...

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