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83
OUTWORKERS.
The lists of outworkers sent in by employers during 1909 contain 674
entries of names of persons in the City to whom work is given out. As one
outworker may be employed by several firms (as many as 16 employers of
one man being notified in some cases), and each firm may send in his name
twice in one year, it is not surprising to find that these 674 entries represent
only 277 outworkers; of this number 175 had been notified in previous
years, and the remaining 102 were newly notified as outworkers, though the
majority of them were already on the Workshop Register, and had been
inspected in the usual course of visits.
In view of the fact that that part of the Home Office Return which deals
with outworkers is headed "Home Work," it is necessary to point out that
the actual number of outworkers carrying on work in their own homes is
only 49, made up as follows:—
Three employ persons other than members of their own families, and
appear on the Register of Workshops.
Thirty-three employ only members of their family, and are classed as
Domestic Workshops.
Thirteen are "occasional workers," i.e., those whose "labour is
"exercised at irregular intervals and does not furnish the whole
"or principal means of living to the family," and who are
consequently exempt from the provisions of the Factory and
Workshop Acts.