Excerpt from Minimum-Wage Legislation in the United States and Foreign Countries The minimum-wage law, as it has been known in recent American discussion, and as it is usually understood in Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, does not refer to a law in which is fixed a single rate below which no worker may be employed, although such laws are in existence in most of the. Australasian States. The minimum wage, as understood in this country and Great Britain, is a wage fixed by some agency created by law, after due investigation has been made. Two methods have grown up in Australia and New Zealand, one or the other of which has been followed in practically all of the States where minimum-wage legislation has been put in force. In Victoria, since the enactment of the first law, July 28, 1896, minimum wages have been established by wages boards, made up of equal numbers of representatives of employers and employees, pre sided over by an impartial chairman, who has a deciding vote. These wages boards are set up for each trade or industry and are required to discuss conditions and to determine by agreement the minimum wages to be paid in the various processes and occupations in their own indus try. These minimum rates, when fixed and published, are for the time being legally binding upon all employers in the industry within the area for which the board is appointed. This method was intro duced in South Australia in 1900, in Queensland in 1908, in Tasmania in 1911, but some modification has been made in more recent legislation. A second method of fixing the minimum wage has been followed in New Zealand since 1894. The compulsory arbitration law of New Zealand, adopted primarily for the prevention of strikes and lockouts conferred upon the arbitration court the authority to fix the condi. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.