STATE OF NEW YORK

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE

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In pursuance of the authority vested in me, by section 932 of the Code of Civil Procedure, I, Francis M. Hugo, Secretary of State, hereby certify that the copies of the laws contained in this volume are correct transcripts of the text of the original laws, and in accordance with such section are entitled to be read in evidence.

Given under my hand and the seal of office of the Secretary of State, at the Capitol in the City of Albany, this 5th day of July, 1916.

[L. S.]

FRANCIS M. HUGO,
Secretary of State.

The annotations in this book close with the cases reported in the following volumes:

218 New York

172 Appellate Division

• 95 Miscellaneous

160 New York Supplement

The Supplement will cover decisions from these points.

CONSOLIDATORS' NOTES ON THE LABOR LAW

Scope of Law

The Labor Law is the result of an examination of the various general statutes relating to the regulation of labor and the duties. of employers with respect to the health and welfare of their employees, and includes legislation beginning with L. 1853, Ch. 641, entitled "An act regulating the hours of labor on public works," and embracing that passed at the session of 1907.

The scope of the Labor Law covers the organization of the department of labor, its powers and duties, and the regulations for all employments and trades which come within its supervision, viz.: Factories, tenement manufactures, bakeries and confectionery establishments, mines, tunnels and quarries, mercantile establishments, employment of children in street trades and also the law in relation to employers' liability.

The intention of the Board has been to embody in the consolidation all the live provisions of statutes in relation to the subject of labor and to eliminate, by a comprehensive schedule of repeals, all the defunct and obsolete general statutes which relate to that subject.

Historical Note

Legislation on the subject of labor in this State began with the regulation of the hours of labor, the earliest general statute in relation thereto having been enacted in 1853, chapter 641. In 1881 an act was passed [chapter 298] requiring that seats be provided for female employees in mercantile and manufacturing establishments. Thereafter laws were passed for the protection of employees working on scaffolds [L. 1885, Ch. 314; L. 1892, Ch. 517]; to secure the payment of wages [L. 1885, Ch. 376; L. 1889, Ch. 381; L. 1890, Ch. 388; L. 1895, Ch. 899]; the protection of labels of labor unions [L. 1889, Ch. 385; L. 1893, Ch. 219]; for the safety of workmen in mines [L. 1892, Ch. 667] and other laws for the protection and health of workmen, women and children.

The report of the Board of Statutory Consolidation is dated June 26, 1907, and the Consolidated Laws were enacted in 1909. The legislation for 1908 was examined by the board and any changes that affected the laws as reported in 1907 were embodied in the laws as reported by the board to the legislature of 1909.

Consolidators' Notes

In 1883, by chapter 356, a bureau of labor statistics was established. By section 3 of L. 1886, Ch. 409, the Governor was empowered to appoint a factory inspector and assistant, and by L. 1886, Ch. 410, a State board of arbitration to settle disputes between employers and employees, to be appointed by the parties in dispute, was provided for; which was subsequently changed to a permanent board appointed by the Governor. By L. 1901, Ch. 9, these offices were merged and a department of labor created, to be under the control of an officer to be known as the commissioner of labor.

In the consolidation of this law an examination of upwards of 100 general statutes has been made, and the schedule of repeals has been extended to cover 111 laws or portions thereof, as against 50 repeals contained in the schedule of repeals in the "old" Labor Law.