Full text of Night Work for Women in Hotels and Restaurants : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 233

View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

• hotels
and

• restaurants

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
WOMEN'S BUREAU BULLETIN NO. 233

Night Work for Women
in

HOTELS
and

RESTAURANTS

BULLETIN OF THE
WOMEN'S

BUREAU

NO. 233

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Maurice J. Tobin, Secretary

WOMEN'S BUREAU
Frieda S. Miller, Director

Letter of Transmittal
United States Department of Labor,
Women’s Bureau,

Washington, June 3,1949.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit a report on night work for women
in hotels and restaurants. If night work for women has been condemned,
it has also been recognized that some night work is necessary in our highly
complex industrial society. Conditions under which women worked in the
19th century have undergone tremendous changes. The Women’s Bureau
therefore regards it an appropriate contribution to the current considera
tion of the question to issue this report based on a survey of night work
in hotels and restaurants in a few selected areas. These industries were
chosen chiefly because of the current pressure to withdraw restrictive legis
lation on night employment in restaurants in a few States and because
these industries are an important source of jobs for women.
The survey was planned and the investigation conducted by the Re
search Division of the Women’s Bureau. The report was prepared by
Winifred F. Kerschbaum under my direction.
Respectfully submitted.
Frieda S. Miller, Director.

Hon. Maurice J. Tobin,
Secretary of Labor.

Contents
PART I—THE PROBLEM OF NIGHT WORK IN ITS HISTORICAL SETTING
Interest in Control
___________________________________
1
The Nature of the ConcernZZ_
,
Night Work and the Movement Toward aShorter Work Day
4
Constitutionality______________________________
~
Night-Work Legislation TodayI
~~~ ~~
g
Night Work and the Matter of NecessityZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ— " " 9
PART II—NIGHT WORK IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS
Introduction _________________________________
General Objectives__________________________
Why Hotels and Restaurants Were Selected for Study
"
Description of the Areas Studied_________
_
"ZZ
Legislation Affecting Women in the Areas Studied"~Z"Z
Night Work in Hotels _
_ZZ_'”Z
Description of the IndustryZZ_ZZZZZ_ZZ_Z
Establishments and Total Employment____________
Extent of Night Employment_________________
Factors Influencing the Extent of Night Employment
__
Conditions Accompanying Night Employment _
Night Work in Restaurants______________
_
Description of the IndustryZZZZ
Z
ZZ
Establishments and Total EmploymentZZZ__ZZZZZZZZZ_ZZZZZZ
Character and Extent of Night Employment _
_ _
Factors Influencing Night EmploymentZ.ZZZZZZZ "
Z
Conditions Accompanying Night Employment"
Follow-up Survey: Hartford Restaurants, 1948 - __
'ZVZ
1 he Attitudes and Problems of Night Workers ___
ZZZZ" Z_
Introduction ______________________________
General Characteristics of Workers Interviewed ZZ
Z
ZZ
Why Women Worked at Night and Their Attitudes Toward NighiTWork
Problems of Night Work Revealed by Women Workers________
Attitudes and Problems of Men Interviewed___
Attitudes About Shift PatternsZZZZZZZ..Z "ZZ
T lT,,
PART III-CONCLUSION
Text Tables:
Table 1. Distribution of men and women employed full time in hotels by
ending hour of work_____ _
__
_
___
Table 2- Number employed full time in hotels after lo'pZmZand"thepensmt
„ ,, n ^.wh° w?rked more than 48 hours a week, by sex________ _____
1 able 3. Distribution of men and women employed full time in hotels after
m .
10 p. m., by number of shifts worked per week___
_
_
Table 4. Number employed in eating places, by areaZZZ.ZZZZ
fable 5. Distribution of men and women employed full time in eating places
by ending hour of work___________________________
’
Table 6. Distribution of eating places serving and not serving alcoholic
T ,
beverages in three cities, by closing hour 23
1 able 7. Distribution of men and women employed full time after 10 p. m
n, .
in eatmg Places in each area, by weekly hours of work_____Z__ '
Chart. Who works by day and by night in hotel departments ig
Appendixes:
A. Methods of the study___________________
__
B. Summaries of international regulations concerning the "employment "of
women during the night __________________ _____
*
___
C. State laws relating to night work for women as of April 1 1949 _ ""
E'
!-WS appl!Cable t0 Hartford, Indianapolis, andTtlanta
E. Distribution of full-time employees in departments of hotels in each area
by ending hour of shift and by sex_______ ___ _____ _
F. Schedule forms
“

1.
U
11
11
10
19
1?
14
ic
15
17
10
IQ
09
22
94
25
27
XX
28
28
82
99
33

15
10
is
20
2l

25
„„
„„
42
45
4R
.2

iii

Night Work for Women in Hotels
and Restaurants
PART I

The Problem of Night Work in Its Historical Setting
INTEREST IN CONTROL

Night work has been generally condemned by groups and agencies
concerned with problems of social welfare and the improvement of condi
tions surrounding the employment of women. Public and private welfare
agencies, labor unions, and the International Labor Office have generally
agreed that night work for women is undesirable and have actively pro
moted legislative proposals for control. Management has itself lent sup
port to this view. Experience has often led management to conclude that
performance is less efficient on night shifts, and that women particularlv
suiter from fatigue, demonstrated by lowered efficiency, absenteeism, and
a higher morbidity rate. The experiences of management with difficulties
attendant upon the use of night shifts, including problems of supervision
and general organization, have led to an increasing hesitation to operate
at night The justification for such usage has been looked upon as a
matter of economic expediency, and the attitudes of management toward
night work have varied greatly with the general state of industrial effi
ciency, with the special demands for output wrought by wars, and with
the particular requirements of an industry of which night work may seem
to be a necessary ingredient.
The attitude of labor toward night work for women is less easily
delineated. That night work is generally speaking considered less desir
able, is demonstrated by labor’s demands for a wage differential in union
m many industries where night work is a customary practice.
VV hue it is often accepted by labor as necessary, a premium wage rate is
demanded to offset its inconvenience. In some areas organized labor has
in the past supported the movement to control night work and in some
important instances has made a determined effort to achieve it for men
as well as for women. However, the question of how far the prohibition
of night work restricts the employment opportunities of women has in
certain special occupations often been a matter of controversy. Organized
women workers have from time to time opposed legislative controls
because they objected to what they considered a restriction of their
opportunities to compete on equal terms with men, while at the same
time other groups of organized women workers have supported such
controls.
THE NATURE OF THE CONCERN
Health and Morals

Concern about night work, whether for men or for women, has centered
chiefly about two general phases, its harmful physiological effects and
its undesirable social consequences. The first relates to the health of
workers, and the second has to do with the problems of social hazards
disruption of family living, the requirements for the proper care of chil-

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

dren, and the deprivation of opportunities for recreation and participa
tion in community life.
_
For women these effects have been considered particularly serious on
two grounds—that they were physically less strong and hence more sub
ject to fatigue and that women workers bore the dual responsibility of
wage earner and homemaker. It is upon these general welfare grounds
that legislation prohibiting or regulating the employment of women at
night was promoted and was finally upheld in this country by the courts.
The effects of night work upon the health of women workers has for
some years been the subject of more controversy than any other phase
of the problem. Prior to World War I there was a wide acceptance of the
view that night work resulted in serious detriment to the health of women.
The argument centered chiefly about a belief that man was a “diurnal”
rather than a “nocturnal” animal and a reversal of his habits was con
trary to nature. Therefore daytime sleep was inferior in value to sleep
at night in bringing about recovery from fatigue. While applicable to
both men and women, it was particularly serious for women in view of
their lesser strength and their physiological function of child-bearing.1
Scientific research in the period between the two World Wars now indi
cates that a reversal of functions is quite possible because it is not condi
tioned by a cosmic force, but rather by internal physiological factors
which operate in relation to bodily or mental activity. This means that
sleep by day can be in quality equal to that of sleep at night provided
the necessary time to complete a reversal of functions is allowed, and
provided of course that social factors do not intervene to make sleep
difficult to achieve. This change in point of view about the problem of
daytime sleep was very important in directing the emphasis in investiga
tion to a treatment of the problem of shift patterns, and much of the
literature of the past 10 years is devoted to the consideration of what type
of shift best enables the worker to reverse his sleep habits with a minimum
of harm.2 Progress in this direction has, however, not resolved the prac
tical difficulties of obtaining adequate sleep by day.
That women are more subject to fatigue at night because of their weaker
physical structure has also been challenged by on-the-job studies and
medical research. While evidence from efficiency and fatigue studies has
often been in conflict, the preponderant opinion is that while women some
times have a lower efficiency rate than men, the explanation is not to be
found in their lower physical stamina, but in their greater practical diffi
culties in getting daytime sleep. Says an expert in industrial hygiene,
“The influence of night work on sickness and output has been discussed
without any very conclusive evidence. Some people believe that night
work is physiologically unsound since it interferes with the normal diurnal
variation of the body, but there is no definite proof that this is harmful
and no evidence to indicate any specific effect upon women as compared
with men.”3
The question of fatigue, however, cannot be resolved so easily. If
there is no physical reason why sleep is not possible by day, nor why
1 For detailed statement including medical and social testimony, see Brandeis, L., and Goldmark, J.
The Case Against Night Work for Women. Revised with new introduction to March 1, 1918. National
Consumers League, 289 4th Ave., New York. pp. 1-46.
2 gee “Bibliography on Night Work for Women.” U. S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau,
August 1946, for recent views.
3 Baetjer, Anna M. Women in Industry. Philadelphia, Pa., W. B. Saunders Co., 1946. p. 26.

THE PROBLEM IN ITS HISTORICAL SETTING

women cannot work by night, there may still be social reasons why
fatigue remains a problem. Daytime sleep is complicated for both men
and women by factors which are difficult to control. The noises within a
household, and the noises of a city awake and active, the psychological
distuibance created in the worker who needs to sleep when the rest of his
world is awake and busy, all combine to create distractions which make
sleep more difficult to achieve. For women the problem is greatly increased
by the domestic responsibilities of housekeeping, child care, and the
variety of duties that accompany the running of a household—shopping,
mending, cleaning, washing. The accumulated testimony of years of in
vestigation tends to substantiate the conclusion drawn long ago that
women more than men, suffer from fatigue on night work because ade
quate sleep by day is impossible for the worker who leaves work to
assume a multitude of domestic responsibilities.
The elimination of the purely physiological argument against night
employment either for men or women, assuming that scientific opinion
warrants it, clarifies the problem to the extent that it leaves for further
study the practical issue of how far it is possible for workers, and women
especially, to so organize their lives as to assure a proper amount of sleep,
lne many facets of this question cannot be elaborated here, but obviously
depend upon a multitude of variables—including the personal qualities
and abHitms of the workers, their general standards of living, the extent
of their domestic responsibilities, and many other factors of an individual
nature.
• Thf ^orf applications of night work for women dominated the thinkmg of the leaders of reform in the period prior to the First World War.
i he concrete expression of this concern was couched in terms which to the
current generation may seem quaint. The full impact of this emphasis can
only be appreciated, however, by realizing that those who were fighting
night work were also fighting in a larger sense the encroachment of indus
trialism upon the family and other social institutions, which are integral
parts of a well-ordered society. Night work was only one part of a total
situation about which they were concerned. Their convictions arose out
of direct experience with general conditions in the factory and home
environment to which women were subjected. It was unnecessary to pro
vide scientific evidence about conditions which were apparent Comm,°p sen®e indicated that the working woman’s lot was bad enough without
adding the hazards of night work.
More recent students of the night-work problem present a point of view
about moral hazards less broad in scope and directed toward the practical
problem of minimizing hazards. Recognizing potential hazards for the
woman night worker one writer says, “the possibility of annoyance or
criminal assault may be a problem either in the plant or in transit where
women live at some distance from the industry. To combat this many
industries end the swing shift earlier than that for men, so that they can
leave the plant before the men, and some industries have found it desirable
to supply transportation for their women employees during the night4
4 Idem.

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

Night Work and Other Problems Involving Social Welfare

Although the effect of night work upon health and morals was given
prominence in the earlier argument for its prohibition, the relationship
of night work to other problems involving social welfare was also recog
nized. The matter of its effects upon the workers’ family and personal
life was again viewed as part of a total picture of working conditions.
Says the late Justice Brandeis on the subject of the bad effect of night
work on general welfare—“Night work inevitably destroys the family life
which is essential for the welfare of the Nation. Women who work at
night and try to make up sleep by day, must inevitably neglect domestic
duties. They are deprived of the benefits of family intercourse and of all
opportunities for recreation. This must necessarily react disastrously
upon the community as well as upon the individual. For the deterioration
of any large portion of the population inevitably lowers the entire com
munity, physically, mentally and morally.” 5 _
_
The testimony to support such conclusions is also testimony to sup
port the need for a general improvement in work standards. Many cases
pictured the shocking conditions found in homes where all the family
worked by turns in the mill, on 12-hour shifts. The conditions surround
ing these working families were, however, so much a part of an industrial
picture characterized by low standards of living, long hours, meager earn
ings, without the many improvements brought about later by social con
trols, that night work itself could not be differentiated from the general
problem of employment conditions.
NIGHT WORK AND THE MOVEMENT TOWARD A
SHORTER WORKDAY

The movement to control the employment of women at night had its
origin in England in a period of rising concern about the abuses of the
factory system. The first law prohibiting the employment of women at
night was enacted in 1844 and covered only the cotton textile industry.
This happened 11 years after the first real effort was made to enforce
factory legislation through the appointment of full-time inspectors, which
occurred at the same time that night work was forbidden to all under
18 years of age.
. .
The establishment of these first laws followed many years of agitation
against the evils accompanying the transition from a domestic to an in
dustrial economy. The employment of women and children at starvation
wages, crowded housing conditions, long hours—starting early in the
morning and often ending in the night, unhealthful working conditions,
were all accompaniments of a period in which “it was the fashion to
think of men as things.” 6 It was a period in which the general impover
ishment of the working classes was such that women and children were
obliged to work at whatever cost. These conditions were especially
characteristic of the textile industry toward which much of the early
efforts at reform were directed. During the first half of the 19th century,
the worst aspects of an unregulated factory system reached a peak.
6 Brandeis, L., and Goldmark, J. The Case Against Night Work for Women. Revised with new
' introduction to March 1, 1918. National Consumers League, 289 4th Ave., New York p. 251
6 Hammond, J. L.., and Barbara. The Rise of Modern Industry. New York, Harcourt, Brace & L-o.,
1926. p. 195.

THE PROBLEM IN ITS HISTORICAL SETTING

In the United States it was not until the period following the Civil
War that industrialism reached a high state of development. Only then
did employment of women and children in factories take place on a
relatively large scale. The first enforceable law regulating hours for
women became effective in Massachusetts in 1879, and the first law to
prohibit night work for women was enacted in the same State in 1890.
This first legislation was directed against the exploitation of women in
the manufacturing industries, of which, as in England, the textile in
dustry was an important employer of women, and it was in factories that
most of the night work occurred. The ILO, in the various revisions of its
night-work Convention for women, has limited restraints to “industrial
undertakings” which include principally manufacturing, mining and
construction.
The movement to control the employment of women at night has been
closely linked with the general movement to gain a shorter workday.
Indeed, the early legislation in England, France and in the United States,
was directed at removing the undesirable effects upon women of an
excessively long workday, rather than upon the elimination of the night
shift, as night work is more commonly understood today. In that early
period, the practice of overtime work, more than a night shift per se,
was responsible for the employment'of women beyond the normal day
Those working toward reform in England were therefore chiefly con
cerned about a growing practice of employing women in the textile
industries at hours beginning at 5 or 6 in the morning and ending at
9 or 10 at night. The law as finally passed in 1844 prohibited employ
ment between 8:30 p. m. and 5:30 a. m., a prohibition which was far
short of the desired goal.7 Later the law was amended to cover other
industries, and still later, amended to prohibit employment in the textile
industry between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Likewise in France, those behind
the movement to secure passage of the first Act (1892) regulating night
work were concerned with the harmful effects of prolonged evening
work that was common in dressmaking, millinery and certain other
luxury industries.8 *
.
the United States the early Massachusetts night-work law was a
direct outgrowth of agitation to reduce the workday in textile mills
where extension of hours for women to 9 or 10 p. m., following a long
workday, was common. This interest in night-work prohibition as a
means of controlling a long workday has persisted through the years
when hours of work were either unregulated or when the maximum hours
laws were difficult to enforce. The first night-work law in New York
State, enacted in 1899,® developed in part because factory inspectors
reported that it was impossible to enforce the recently enacted 10-hour
law for women, when the latter could be employed at any time of the
day or night.
As late as 1914, the late Justice Brandcis said that, “Overtime work
was the commonest form of night work,” 10 *and he stated further that,
LZureOffi:eaCdenTvami939WOrk' StUdi“

ReP°rtS' Se™s '' N°' 4' *

V- International

8 Ibid., p. 171.

TPrintog0Offi",T9°3rnp“
8 P,* ?.* Department of Labor.
5

Women’s Bureau,
66-11, Chronological
Development
of Labor
RevmedBull.
December
1931. Washington,
ILS. GovernS

“ Brandeis L , and Goldmark J. The Case Against Night Work for Women. Revised with new
introduction to March 1, 1918. National Consumers League, 289 4th Ave., New York. p. 114.

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

“The establishment by law of uniform opening and closing hours is
indispensable in order to enforce both the legal working day and the
prohibition of night work.”11
The early emphasis upon the establishment of prohibited hours as
a means of gaining a shorter workday and controlling the use of over
time is noteworthy because it is apparent that the objections to night
work were mainly objections to a work period whose length disregarded
need for rest, for leisure, and for family and community life. If humani
tarian impulses led people to demand limits to the time at which women
should be allowed to work, it was because they believed that employment
from daybreak to long after dark, at jobs to which they were unaccus
tomed, and at a pace set by machines, must inevitably have disastrous
effects upon health and well-being. There was no attempt to distin
guish clearly between the evils of long hours, and those of night work—
they were virtually the same.
As the shorter workday gradually became established through the
enactment of legislation, through union activity, and general develop
ments in industrial organization, night work began to be regarded as a
separate problem. The “night shift” became a matter of increasing con
cern to those who felt that women needed protection, and the problem
of work by night, as contrasted with long hours extended into the night,
became more clearly differentiated.
Industry, in order to maintain continuous production for otherwise
idle machinery, introduced additional shifts.12 Towards the end of the
nineteenth century, in some industries which employ large numbers of
women, the number of establishments working night shifts increased
from year to year, although technical processes did not require continu
ous operation. The threat of general adoption of night work was an
important factor in preparations for the Berne Convention (1906), and
signatories to this first convention restricting night work for women were
fighting to prevent its spread.13
Attacks on long hours and night work in the United States were
heaviest from the late nineties up to the First World War. The period
between 1908 and 1917 particularly witnessed the spread of general hours
legislation among most of the States, many of which adopted a 9- or
10-hour day, and some an 8-hour day. It was also a period in which
women were employed on night shifts in certain industries, where tech
nical processes did not necessitate night shifts. The textile industry is
illustrative, and much of the concern about night work centered in this
industry, as has been indicated.
_
_ *.
Development of sound industrial practice in the cotton textile industry,
which experienced a tremendous expansion in the nineteenth century,
lagged behind that of other industries. Inefficiencies in management and
severe competition for markets led management to make intensive use
of equipment. When reformers inveighed against employers for using
women on night shifts, the employer’s answer was that he could not help
12 “When* the daily hours of work are reduced to less than half or to a third of the calendar day,
there is a temptation to employ two or three successive shifts on the same equipment so as to recoup
the cost of installation by a more intensive production.” The Law and Womens Work, Studies and
Reports, Series 1, No. 4, p. 172, ch. V. International Labour Office, Geneva, 1939.
is The Law and Women’s Work, Studies and Reports, Series 1, No. 4, p. 172, International Labour
Office, Geneva, 1939.

THE PROBLEM IN ITS HISTORICAL SETTING

it—so long as his competitors used them, he had to do so in order to
survive. It was only after years of pressure from welfare groups, sup
ported by the more forward-looking managers, that the textile industry
concluded that night work was neither necessary nor efficient.
It should be noted that prior to the First World War there were only
the beginnings of a “science” of management, and much less was then
known about the factors determining the productivity of labor. The
period beginning roughly at the First World War and the period fol
lowing it brought many new developments. Among these was a con
tinued trend toward the establishment of the 8-hour day, by legislation,
by union activity and by custom. This trend, along with the tremen
dous requirements for output brought on by modern warfare, led to an
extension of the use of three shifts in industry, or often two so-called
day shifts. Under war conditions night work for women is generally
accepted as a necessary practice to insure maximum output, with less
than the usual regard for social costs.14 15
. Following World War I the ILO first adopted its convention prohibit
ing night work for women in industrial undertakings. Although affirm
ing the principles established by the Berne Convention of 1906, the con
vention of 1919 implied acceptance of the second or evening shift as day
work, by continuing to define night work as the 10 p. m. to 5 a. m. shift.
In the revisions of 1934 and 1948, there is apparent a marked tendency
to icgard only the third shift as night work, since the permitted hours
have been gradually made more flexible to permit the operation of a
two-shift system.18 Thus night-work legislation which meets the stand
ards established by the ILO Convention will not affect control of the
second shift, nor will it be a controlling influence in industries to which
it is not applicable, such as hotels, restaurants, and mercantile establish
ments.
CONSTITUTIONALITY

While in the period prior to 1908 there was a great deal of interest in
the passage of laws governing hours of work, the passage of enforceable
laws and their effective administration were complicated by the prob
lem of constitutionality. Early State court decisions were in conflict
on maximum-hours legislation for women and unfavorable on nightwork legislation. Prior to 1908, the United States Supreme Court, in a
series of decisions, first sustained, then invalidated, maximum-hours legisation of general worker coverage. However, in 1908, in the first “women’s
law to come before it, the Court upheld the constitutionality of the
Oregon 10-hour law for women in the famous case of Muller v. Oregon 16
The progress of night-work legislation in the courts was similarly un
even In 1907, the New York Court of Appeals (the highest New York
court) declared unconstitutional the law prohibiting night work for adult
women.17 Subsequently, a new law was enacted, which reached the
Court of Appeals in 1915, and its constitutionality was sustained.18 The
,,14
J^ar If many States with night-work laws continued to regulate night work through
this §0^4™B°r c.01.nPrehenslye analysis see Women's Bureau Bulletin No. 202 pts I and V
u fol uP s °dl“ q90S)°™IOnS °f varl0us revisi0ns of International Labour Convention on night work!
17 People v. Williams, 189 N. Y. 131 (1907).
15 People v. Chas. Schweinler Press, 214 N. Y. 395 (1915).

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

United States Supreme Court in 1924 upheld the constitutionality of the
New York night-work law in the first such case to come before that
Court.19
The extent to which the constitutional factor affects the enactment of
laws regulating hours of work of women is open to question, but some
students of the history of labor legislation are inclined to consider it an
important factor. The period following 1908, when the constitutionality
of women’s maximum-hours legislation was established, was marked by
the enactment of such laws by many States which had not previously
had them, and the improvement of earlier laws by other States. How
ever, the effect of a favorable court ruling on the enactment of nightwork laws is less apparent. In the period between 1907, the date of the
New York decision invalidating the original New York law, and 1924,
when the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of
the subsequent measure, the number of States with night-work laws
increased from 4 to 18. Thereafter, several States improved their ex
isting night-work laws and regulations, but only one State with no en
forceable law in effect in 1924, New Jersey, adopted such a measure, and
that addition was offset by the repeal of the night-work law in New
Mexico.
NIGHT-WORK LEGISLATION TODAY

Since VJ-day, there has been a, continuation of wartime pressures in
some areas to relax night-work laws for women. No new States have
adopted night-work legislation, one State (Ohio) has repealed its law
applicable to adult women, and another State (Indiana) has continued
until 1951 the wartime suspension of its law.
As of April 1, 1949, there were a total of 18 States with legislation
either prohibiting or regulating night work for women. Included in this
total are eight States which have taken some action on their night-work
laws since the close of the war (California, Connecticut, Indiana, Massa
chusetts, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania). Aside
from Indiana, in which the legislative action was for a temporary period,
the postwar night-work legislation in all such States has resulted in
relaxation of previously more stringent prohibitions or regulations for
one or more industries. It should be noted, however, that in States in
which the night-work law covered a number of different industries, the
postwar legislative action did not necessarily involve all of them or affect
them in the same way or to the same extent. Only one State, Ohio,
relinquished all control, but this had applied to only one occupation.
In general, postwar action has been of two kinds. In a few States it
consisted of an extension of the permitted hours of evening work for one
or more industries, with the establishment of a later cut-off period at
which the night-work prohibition becomes applicable.20 In a larger num
ber of States, postwar legislative action involved either the substitution
19 Radice v. New York, 264 U. S. 292 (1924).
20 New York extended permitted hours from 11 p. m. to 12 p. m. in factories and restaurants, retain
ing previous cut-off hours for mercantile, elevator operators, beauty shops, and certain other industries.
Massachusetts extended permitted hours from 10 p. m. in manufacturing and mechanical and 6 p. m.
m leather and textiles to 11 p. m., retaining previous cut-off hours for mercantile, amusement places,
messengers, and certain others.

THE PROBLEM IN ITS HISTORICAL SETTING

of regulation for prohibition, or in a few cases, outright repeal of prohibi
tions in one or more industries.21
While, at the present time, 18 States have some kind of night-work
legislation, there is wide variation in these laws with respect to the in
dustries covered, the hours regulated and the significance for women.
Five of the State laws do not prohibit night work for women in any in
dustry but regulate it, usually limiting the hours worked to something
less than the law in that State requires for day work, or prescribing regu
lations with respect to transportation and meals. Of the 13 remaining
States which have prohibitory laws, 5 apply only to certain nonmanu
facturing industries or occupations,22 7 prohibit employment both in
manufacturing and certain other nonmanufacturing industries or occu
pations, and 1 prohibits night work in manufacturing industries only.23
Not only is State legislation limited in comprehensiveness, but there
is a very considerable lack of uniformity in the definition of what con
stitutes night work. The hours prohibited start as early as 6 p. m. in one
State (Wisconsin) and as late as 1 a. m. in another (Nebraska), although
more States use 10 p. m. or 11 p. m. as the beginning of the prohibited
period.
An examination of legislation in the United States with respect to
industries and occupations subject to prohibition or regulation indicates
how cautiously legislators have proceeded in imposing or removing re
strictions. While very limited coverage cannot be attributed solely to con
siderations of business and economic welfare, these have undoubtedly
been a factor. An example may be cited of legislation controlling night
work in restaurants. Only five States have had such laws, and for the most
part such occupations as cigarette girls, cloakroom attendants and other
occupations accessory to night dining and entertainment, characteris
tically filled by women, have been exempt. Furthermore, hotels, roughly
half of whose employees are restaurant workers, have been excluded from
restriction.
NIGHT WORK AND THE MATTER OF NECESSITY

The determination of the extent to which night work should be pro
hibited in the interests of workers and the general social welfare has
always been a more knotty problem than that of controlling the length
of the workday and the workweek. While the arguments for a shorter
workday have been both manifold and varied, there seems to be nothing
inherent in our economic and social organization which makes impossible
the general acceptance of a shorter workday. But, from the time the
21 California in the revision of its minimum-wage orders removed the requirement of permits for
night work in manufacturing, personal service, and canning and preserving occupations orders, but
retained the prohibition of night work in taxicab driving, in transportation order, and incorporated
in all of 10 of its 1947 revised orders a requirement that suitable transportation must be available and
provision for meals must be made. Connecticut repealed its prohibition of night work for all industries
to which it applied, but expressly authorized the Commissioner of Labor to make regulations pro
tecting health of women, prescribe adequate transportation facilities, and to prohibit night work
where the employer fails to comply. Ohio repealed its night-work law for adult women which had
applied only to ticket sellers. North Dakota in the revision of its minimum-wage orders removed
night-work prohibitions for women in the mercantile industry and in laundry, dry cleaning and dyeing,
but retained the prohibition for elevator operators in the public housekeeping occupation. Pennsyl
vania repealed its prohibitions applicable to manufacturing and “any establishment,” provided that
the employer complied with regulations of the Industrial Board, but directed that “applications for
employment on a one-or two-shift basis shall be made to the Department of Labor.”
22 In some instances only one occupation is covered, as in North Dakota, where the law applies only
to elevator operators, and in California where the law prohibits the employment of women at night
as taxicab drivers, or chauffeurs, automobiles for hire.
28 For a full description of night-work legislation in effect in United States, see Appendix C.

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

question first arose, a certain amount of night work has been considered
necessary. If night work has long been considered an evil of the indus
trial system, so it has also been considered to some extent essential. Even
those most strongly convinced of the harmful effects of night work seem
not to have considered the possibility of eradicating it completely. Pub
lic utilities, the transportation and communication industries upon which
our highly urbanized and differentiated society depend; the “continuous
process” industries which, due to the nature of present industrial tech
niques, require round-the-clock operation; the protective service occu
pations such as police, among others, have long been considered to be
outside the realm of complete night-work prohibition. Although in many
of these industries the employment of women is not numerically signifi
cant, some of these occupations, such as telephone operators, are those
in which women predominate. The general attitude has been that in
these customary women’s occupations which are “essential,” prohibitory
legislation cannot reasonably be expected to apply.
.
Beyond these apparently indispensable productions and services the
matter of necessity is by no means so easily defined. The question of
how far management in other than these “essential” industries will con
sider the use of two or three shifts profitable, and therefore desirable,
will depend upon many factors such as general business conditions,, the
length of the workday, customary demands for the product or services,
the labor requirements attached thereto, and the availability of labor
and plants.
The night services provided by the hotel and restaurant industries are
an interesting instance of services accepted as part of our current social
and economic organization, but not considered indispensable in the
same sense in which telephone service or train service is indispensable.
Hotels are in a somewhat different category from restaurants in that
some night service is essential to the provision of sleeping accommoda
tions.
.
The concern of recent years, aside from the war emergency period dur
ing which two and three shifts were used extensively, has centered chiefly
around night employment in the service industries, mercantile establish
ments, and some miscellaneous occupations in which some night work
is common.

PART II

Night Work in Hotels and Restaurants
INTRODUCTION
General Objectives

As Part I indicated, the problem of night work has many facets, not
all of which lend themselves to analysis and evaluation by statistical
methods. The need for answers to the many questions which have arisen
in connection with the economic and social phases of night work has led
the Women’s Bureau to undertake an exploratory study of some of them.
This study of the employment of men and women in hotels and restau
rants at night was directed toward clarifying the following questions:
1. To what degree is “night work” essential to the conduct of these
industries?
2. How extensive is night work in hotels and restaurants? Is it
chiefly second-shift or third-shift employment?
3. Who is employed at night in hotels and restaurants, and what
are the factors influencing the extent of night employment,
particularly for women?
4. What are the general conditions surrounding night employment—
the hours worked, the prevalence of wage differentials, the re
ceipt of higher tips?
5. What are the attitudes of night workers toward such work?
6. What are the social or economic problems of night workers?
7. By what standards is the need for legislation, or other forms of
social control to be determined?
Why Hotels and Restaurants Were Selected for Study

Since the close of World War II there has been pressure to repeal or
modify the restrictions on night employment of women in restaurants,
and concern about night work has therefore recently been focused upon
this industry. Hotels were included chiefly because organizations of
labor have jurisdiction over both industries, and some stimulus for the
study came from this source. These industries together also offer a
useful field of inquiry because they employ important numbers of women
both in the aggregate and in significant proportions.
Hotels and restaurants are also industries in which some night work
is a more or less permanent feature. In the case of hotels, round-theclock operation, which is inherent to the industry, requires some night
labor. With reference to the preparation and sale of food, night service
has become an established practice, firmly entrenched as a demand of
present-day living.
Description of the Areas Studied

This study is limited to a few selected areas, and therefore should not
be considered generally representative of hotels and restaurants through

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

out the United States.1 The cities selected were in Connecticut, Indiana,
and Georgia. Certain rural areas on highway routes leading into these
cities were also included. These States were chosen partly because of
possible regional differences in night employment, and also because each
had a different experience with night-work legislation, and with other
protective legislation relating to women.
The cities studied—Hartford, Indianapolis, and Atlanta—each had a
population of more than 100,000 and each is a State capital.
_
Hartford is well known as an insurance center whose substantial
“white collar” population accounts for one-fourth of its gainfully em
ployed. In recent years, however, it has become increasingly important
for its manufacturing with nearly a third of the gainfully employed
engaged in these industries.
_
_
Indianapolis, which also has about a third of its working population
engaged in manufacturing, is an important commercial center for the
State. The city prides itself on having more conventions than many
larger cities, and these contribute heavily to the hotel business. In
1947 it was host to more than 400 State and national conventions.
Due to its strategic location, Atlanta is a distributing center for the
agricultural and industrial areas of the Southeast. Although character
istically a white-collar city, a fifth of Atlanta’s working population is
engaged in manufacturing, chiefly textiles, metal products, food, and
apparel.
Legislation Affecting Women in the Areas Studied

Connecticut is the only one of the three States which has extensive
legislation regulating the conditions under which women are employed.
At the time the study was made, Connecticut had a law which pro
hibited the employment of women at night in restaurants between the
hours of 10 p. m. and 6 a. m. Effective June 9,1947, an amendment to the
law removed the prohibition for women 18 years of age and over, and
substituted instead a regulatory measure, which gives the Labor Com
missioner power to make health and welfare regulations and to require
adequate transportation between the hours of 1 a. m. and 6 a. m.
Connecticut has had a maximum-hours law covering restaurants since
1917. The law in effect at the time the study was made specified a max
imum 48-hour week, and a 9-hour day. It also has a minimum-wage law,
but it has not issued an order for either hotels or restaurants. A follow
up study of the same establishments in Hartford was made in 1948 to
inquire into possible effects of the change in the night-work law.
Indiana has a night-work law prohibiting the employment of women
and minors in manufacturing establishments after 10 p. m. or under cer
tain conditions, after midnight, but it has never had a similar law
relating to hotels and restaurants. Suspension of this night-work law,
first made during the war and retroactive to December 7, 1941, has been
reenacted every two years since 1943, and at time of study the law had
not been reinstated. Wartime needs for production furnished the im
1 See Appendix A for detailed statement of the methods used. The study should be viewed as
experimental, and its primary use lies in a suggested method of approach to an investigation of night
work, its problems, and the possible need for public control. The findings are therefore less important
as statistical evidence. They have greater value in clarifying some of the issues concerning night
work, and in suggesting the’kinds of informatimn required for sound judgments.

IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

petus for the first suspension. Indiana has no maximum-hours law, and
no minimum-wage law.
In Georgia the only law relating to women’s hours is a statute estab
lishing maximum hours for both men and women in the textile manufac
turing industry. It has no night-work law and no minimum-wage legis
lation.
&
&
NIGHT WORK IN HOTELS
Description of the Industry

Historically, hotels have provided lodgings primarily and this is still
their major function. The services attached to the provision of sleeping
accommodations account for the preponderance of workers under the
direction of hotel management. The services considered necessary to
maintain this basic function have, however, become more elaborate and
specialized with the growth of the large modern hotel.
Hotels have come to offer a great many additional facilities which
along with sleeping accommodations, have contributed to their im
portance as a community institution. Chief among these added facilities
are restaurants, which are patronized by citizens of the community as
well as by the hotel guest. Hotels are centers for conventions, business
and social gatherings, concerts, lectures, private dances, and many other
activities The typical modern hotel is therefore often “not simply a
lodging place but a complex organization offering many kinds of service
to its guests, from providing them with food, and doing their laundry
0 J"”Pln§ them get theater tickets and make travel arrangements ” 2
these various extra services affect the number of people employed
m hotels, but these services are often leased and they are not included
in the Census definition of hotel employment unless owned and operated
by the hotel In contrast to other auxiliary services, hotel restaurants
are frequently owned and managed by the hotel and they constitute an
important part of all hotel employment. Other auxiliary services are
ot interest m the present study chiefly because they help to explain the
importance of hotels as community institutions.
Hotels are of three general types: commercial, catering chiefly to tran
sients, residential, catering to those who like the convenience of per
manent hotel living; and resort hotels (seasonal hotels operating less
than y months in a year), catering to vacationers. Three-fourths of the
country s hotels are those which cater chiefly to transients
In contrast to many other industries, the hotel business is made up
of comparatively small units but with employment concentrated in a
relatively few large establishments. Individual establishments vary
greatly in size, but even the largest is hardly comparable in concentra
tion of employment under a single roof to that which may be found
m large manufacturing plants. In 1939, there were 28,000 hotels through
out the country. Of these, approximately 2 percent had more than 300
rooms but they employed about 40 percent of all hotel workers. On
the other hand, about 45 percent of all hotels had less than 25 rooms
and they employed only 5 percent of all workers.3
’
p.\U' S' Department of Labor' Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Series, Bull. 905,
3 Ibid., pp. 1-2, Chart. No. 1.

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

Excluding restaurants, hotel employment falls into five general cate
gories: (1) Front office, consisting of desk clerk and other clerical jobs;
(2) house service, including bellboys, telephone and elevator operators;
(3) housekeeping, chiefly chambermaids, linen-room girls, and house
keepers; (4) maintenance, chiefly engineers, janitors, plumbers, etc.; (5)
auxiliary and miscellaneous, including laundry workers, cigar-stand
clerks, and the like. Of these departments the largest is housekeeping
with about 43 percent of the total employment; next in size is house
service with 21 percent, followed by front-office and clerical jobs 18 per
cent, auxiliary and miscellaneous 10 percent, maintenance 8 percent.4
Establishments and Total Employment

A variety of hotels is represented among the 74 establishments cov
ered in this study. They range in size from a second story “walk-up,”
which employed only 4 persons, and provided nothing but sleeping accom
modations, to a large transient hotel with over 400 rooms which em
ployed over 300 persons, and offered not only all the basic services
attached to comfortable sleeping accommodations but also auxiliary
services which provided added conveniences for the hotel patrons. It
should be noted, however, that while the hotels included in the study
are representative of hotels in the communities surveyed, they are not
necessarily typical of those in metropolitan centers where the large hotel
may have a thousand rooms, and where more elaborate service is pro
vided.
Most of the hotels covered in Hartford had less than 200 rooms, while
in Atlanta and Indianapolis several had more than 300 rooms. Most of
those in Indianapolis and Hartford were commercial, while in Atlanta
there were many more residential hotels. With few exceptions, hotels
covered by the study provided all of the basic hotel lodging services,
including bell, elevator, telephone, maid, and desk service. However,
most of them did not provide many extra or auxiliary services.
Employment was concentrated in the larger hotels of 100 units or more,
with nearly two-fifths employing four-fifths of the workers. The com
mercial hotels had for the most part larger staffs than did residential
hotels of comparable size.
,
In the lodging departments of the hotels studied, women constituted
slightly more than half of the total personnel, a relationship that existed
in'the three areas studied. The most important occupations for women
in each area were in the housekeeping department which accounted for
approximately 70 percent of all women employed. These were chiefly
chambermaids, an occupation restricted to women. The only other occu
pations in which women were found in'substantial numbers were those
of elevator operator and telephone operator in the house-service depart
ments The rest were in front office jobs, in various clerical occupations,
or in miscellaneous services. Both men and women were employed as
elevator operators, an occupation shared by men and women m other
industries. There were, however, interesting variations among the three
areas studied. In Connecticut areas only a few of the elevator operators
were women; in Atlanta, on the other hand, the large majority were
* Based on figures presented in U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational
Outlook Series, Bull. 905, pp. 1-2- The figures were adjusted to exclude persons employed in hotel
restaurant.® and executive and salaried officers.

IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

me™™] womuiIn^ana areas this work was evenly distributed among
, The occupations m which men were employed exclusively were those
andI certain maintenance jobs. They predominated in the
front-office positions, especially that of desk clerk. Although about oneseventh of the men employed were in housekeeping jobs, they were in
jobs for which women do not compete.
frnrf nffl

Extent of Night Employment

n:4°
0f the emPloyment in the hotels studied indicates that
n ght work for women was not a very significant part of their total em
ployment. While women accounted for more than half of all employ
ment, only a fifth m Indiana and Atlanta and a tenth in Connecticut
were employed after 10 p. m. Of those who worked after 10 p. m , only
?™0U}1 °f four work(:d a11, most of the night. In sharp contrast, nearly
half of the men employed worked after 10 p. m. Of these roughly half
mjdnight, and the other half worked all or most of the
night. While this distribution varied somewhat for women in the three
areas studied, for men the differences were not marked.
Table I.—Distribution of men and women employed full time

Ending hour of work

Number of employees__

Connecticut areas

Indiana areas

Atlanta

Total

Men

Women

Total

Men

Women

Total

Men

453

213

240

595

278

317

622

287

335

Women

Percent distribution
10 p.m. or earlier______
After 10 p. m__
10:01 to midnight_____
12:01 to 3 a.m. _
After 3 a.m
Irregular______

74
26

55
45

92
8

69
31

57
43

79
21

68
32

53
47

81
19

14
1
10
1

21
1
21
2

15
1
14
1

18
1
22
2

12
1
7
1

20
0)
11
1

25
1
20
1

1 -Less than 0.5 percent.

Factors Influencing the Extent of Night Employment

whnfm?Sb+lmP°wnt Single factor which acco™ts for the limited ex
tent of night work for women in hotels is the curtailment by 10 p m
; , f™rs in t+hoSe departments in which women predominate. Since
in' 4 0pera!,e around-the-clock, the casual observer might well imag“ ’4® considering the many conveniences which even the moderatef ?d lotel Provides, that night work must be extensive for both men
^findings lndlcate’ hoover, a marked tendency to limit
night services to those connected with the provision of sleeping accommodfspeMabled
^ h6Se Services’ to the ones which obviously are inWhat is considered necessary differs, of course, with the size and gen
ic orgam^ation °f the hotel, and with the type of patronage. All 0f the
large hotels studied maintained the basic lodging services of desk, bell,

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

elevator and telephone during all or most of the 10 p. m. to 6 a. m. period.
One-half of the small hotels provided simply desk service during these
hours. Only in the largest hotels were employees on duty for each of
these services during the 10 p. m. to 6 a. m. period. In others, night duties
were usually consolidated and the desk clerk served also as bellboy,
elevator, or telephone operator. The housekeeping department, on the
other hand, often had no services operating at night. Such services were
available after 10 p. m. only in the larger hotels and m these seldom
throughout the night.
While the occupations of elevator operator and telephone operator
were relatively unimportant, in comparison with housekeeping, propoitionately more of the women in these occupations work at night, and it
is chiefly in this department that night work for women is to be found.
Women employed after 10 p. m. in the front-office jobs were limited
entirely to a few cashiers and clerks.
WHO WORKS BY DAY AND BY NIGHT IN HOTEL DEPARTMENTS
PERCl '
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ HOUSEKEEPING- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - i8l.

PERCENT

I MEN
MISCELLANEOUS

HI WOMEN
10. P.M. OR EARLIER
TOTAL

FRONT OFFICE

HOUSE SERVICE

Conversely, night employment for men was concentrated chiefly in
the front-office and house-service occupations. This concentration is
explained by the fact that the occupation of desk clerk, which is the most
important in the front-office department, is dominated by men. In house
service, employment was concentrated in the occupation of bellboy.
It is obvious from the foregoing analysis that night work for women
in hotels is limited, and that the “indispensable” night services con
nected with hotels are those in which men predominate, or which they
occupy exclusively. Women are chiefly employed in those which can be
sharply curtailed without affecting essential night service. That bell
service is provided exclusively by men, and chambermaid service by
women is self-explanatory. But in the case of desk clerk, there seems
no reason from the standpoint of aptitude why women should not be so
employed since women have long since proven their ability in clerical
occupations. However, the fact that most desk-clerk jobs in hotels in-

IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

ARhnnah n Qt f accounts
tb<; more frequent employment of men.
Although no State law prohibits the employment of women at night in
Sf’ management indicated that men are preferred for desk work at
,^ne.re,ason mdl°ated was the frequent consolidation of desk work
Sd1
J0.bs, w^lch.w°men eouid not do, e.g, that of bellboy. Others
said that the job often involved disagreeable situations in the lobby which
women would find more difficult to handle.
The importance of the occupational factor in accounting for the extent
?elatToPn tnmthe
and^°+men at night in hotels is interesting in
relat on to the problem of night-work control. In the first place, a proiffiveTifeiatmg
WOuld affect very few out of the total emLond nWe+r°hlVted h°Ur started at any time after 10 p. m. In the
rpsnpf t
^ °n Y occupation m which women might be limited with
ol Satortpe'rSoT
^ P°Sltl°n ^ men’ W°Uld be the occupation
th-e botel is,a fa«tor which appears to have some bearing on the
over ha°lf ffiMhaT?' M°St °f
employment of women, and
over half of that of men occurred in hotels with 100 or more rooms.
However, the proportions of women employed at night in the large hotels
varied considerably among the three areas covered. In the Connecticut
fnTn 1 fPnfP+JlnrtlflnatC n IT61 °f the women worked after 10 p. m., and
m half of the large hotels no women were employed after 10 p m In
Atlanta, on the other hand, all of the large hotels employed some women
after 10 p m., of whom a few worked all or most of the night. In Indiana
there was less concentration of night work for women in the larger hotels.
Conditions Accompanying Night Employment

With the 48-hour week and the 8-hour day a common practice in
KJ
and ™th a f.eneJal treml in the direction of eSen shorter
’
-.tX be b,ard \° reabze that in some industries longer hours are
sn^011'
w®6 °n^er h0UPS 0ccur 011 iobs that involve work at
some time m the late evening or night, they take on added significance
While more than half of the workers employed after 10 p. m. in the hotels
studied were working a 48-hour week, many were working much longer
Ld l Zl W°ted ?ried rath6r wMdy amon§ the three areas covered,
and a long workweek was more common for men than for women. Table
mo^Lws h
1Ch ”?Cn wd W°men on niSht i°bs were working
Ts
fin8t,h0UrS per,weeb' Very few women were found working
s long as 60 hours a week, while some men were working 70 or 80 hours
TaCh are?h Tb6re WaS considerable variation in the length of the
workweek among the three areas studied. Atlanta hotels had larger pro
portions of both men and women working a long week. In Indiana areas
wonmn were not as frequently employed on night jobs at long hours, and
Hie men were so employed m about the same proportion as in Atlanta In
Connecticut areas, on the other hand, a shorter workweek was somewhat
more common for men; virtually no women worked more than 48 hours,
is undoubtedly reflects the influence of maximum-hours legislation for
W OH1GH«

Although a large majority of all workers, both men and women in
each area worked six shifts in a week, there was considerable variation
wh£hthe“ tablShment waHoveredX

°f ,cheduled hours for the

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

in the shift pattern among the areas. A much higher proportion of men
than of women worked seven shifts a week. Most of the women working
7 shifts a week were found in Atlanta, where nearly a fourth of the
women employed at night had no day of rest.
The shift pattern for night workers has been a matter of considerable
interest, and data were gathered from establishments on this subject.
Table 2.—Number employed full time in hotels after 10 p. m. and the
percent who worked more than 48 hours a week, by sex

Sex of employees

Total
number

Atlanta

Indiana areas

Connecticut areas
Percent
who
worked
more
than 48
hours

Total
number

Percent
who
worked
more
than 48
hours

Total
number

Number of employees-------------

116

185

198

Women-------------------------------------------

97
19

121
64

44
20

134
64

45
33

1 Base too small to justify computation.

Although hotels reputedly have used the rotating shift to a considerable
extent, there was no substantial evidence of this in the hotels studied.
The large majority of all workers were on fixed shifts, although propor
tionately more men than women were so employed.
No over-all information on earnings was gathered, but inquiry was
made regarding the practice of tipping and the extent to which night
workers benefited by this practice. There was no evidence of any con
siderable tipping in the occupations important for women, and bellboys
were about the only male occupation benefiting from tips. For the most
Table 3.—Distribution of men and women employed full time in hotels
after 10 p. m., by number of shifts worked per week
Connecticut areas
Number of shifts worked
per week

Number of employees----------

Total

Men

116

Women Total

Men

185

121

Atlanta

Indiana areas
Women Total

Men

198

134

35
61
3
1

40
55
4
1

23
75
2

Women

Percent distribution
11
87
2

11
87
2

c)
«

20
75
5

26
69
5

6
88
6

1 Base too small to justify computation.

part such tipping was more remunerative for those working the day or
evening shifts than for those on night shifts.
Since a wage differential for night work is often paid in organized in
dustries to offset the inconvenience of night work, and has been offered
by management, from time to time, as an incentive to secure night

IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

workers, an effort was made to discover the extent to which higher rates
were paid workers employed after 10 p. m. The results showed that differemial payments either to men or women were rare among the hotels
studied, and for women they were practically nonexistent
Working conditions were reported to vary somewhat in pace, volume,
and content of work according to shift. In general, work was reported
to be less arduous on the third shifts. Work on the evening shift, howf0Vre5’ w1as,
Ieast as f,trerous as on the day
particularly in the
larger hotels. In smaller hotels where one person performed the com
bined duties of several daytime or evening employees, the night shift
was considered more arduous.
’
s
NIGHT WORK IN RESTAURANTS
Description of the Industry

eatmg places and restaurants serving both liquor and food
S7l0yr l0?611 °Ver a half million Persons in the United
states of whom about half were women.6
Like hotels, restaurants are small-unit enterprises. Over four-fifths of
hut fhpng P aCnf
th+ United States employed less than six persons
1939 h On ft ab ?Tnt5 accounted for only two-fifths of total sales in
1939. On the other hand while 3 percent employed 20 or more persons
they represented more than 25 percent of total sales in eating places *
HI R?16 classified by the Bureau of the Census into three
5nd ?and\-^rHta^?ntSf+Cufetfn^,-andlunchrooms; (2) lunch counters
and stands, and (3) soft drink, juice, and ice-cream stands. The first
SSZXS? T Tr 0nThalf 0f a11 eating pIaces and accounted
counter! ter9n S
k ?f*he emPloyment. Lunch counters and stands ac
counted for only about 10 percent of total employment. The third group
study °n 7 1 PCTCent 0f total emP]oyment) was not included in the present
Establishments and Total Employment

ri1A t0^n!.of-44^ eating.Places was studied between April 1947 and Feb
ruary 1948 m Connecticut, Indiana, and Georgia areas. Four-fifths of
all restaurants were in the urban areas of Hartford, Indianapolis and
Atlanta, and the rest were located in the. hotels covered by the survey
A wide variety of eating places was represented in the study. All types
rs!nfrV1C?iWCre inf!ude.d> bu*the largest groups were table-service restauants and a combination of table and counter service. Counter-service
ont™n5meutS Were.,f?wer m number and they were often small, familyoperated units providing service to those who cannot afford more elabo
rate service or who want prompt service. Cafeterias or Telf-service
establishments were few in number, but employed more persons on the
average than the counter restaurants.
WnSlingiu ^eSe rCStourants were over 5,000 persons, of whom about
one-fifth in the Connecticut and Indiana areas, and one-eighth in Georgia
were administrative personnel, unpaid family members, or musicians
8 U. S. Department of Commerce, Census of Business. 1939 Retail Tmrio at
,
and sex of employees, p. 6. Excluded are unpaid persins such
nronrlpin^00?17 em.P,0vment
members.
v u 1& Bucn as Proprietors and unpaid family
1 U. S. Department of Commerce, Census of Business, 1939. Retail Trade, vol. I, part 1, pp. 87-89.

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

Most of the administrative persons were men who not only managed
the business but often performed an assortment of other jobs. The ma
jority of the family workers were women, and these were often found
in smaller restaurants. Nearly all the musicians were men. Although this
group represented a rather significant part of all employment in the
restaurants studied, the following analysis excludes them largely because
they were exempt from the night-work prohibition applicable to women
in Connecticut in effect at the time of the study and because such per
sons are not “wage earners” in the generally accepted sense.8
Women constituted about two-thirds of all employment in the restau
rants outside hotels studied in the Indiana and Georgia areas, and a third
in Connecticut. In the hotel restaurants only about one-third of the em
ployees were women, except in the Indiana area, where the proportion
of men and women in hotel restaurants was about equal.
Table 4.—Number1 employed In eating places, by area
In hotels

Outside hotels

W omen

Women

Area* 1

number
Percent of total
City:
Hartford---IndianapolisAtlanta------Rural area:
Connecticut _
Indiana------Georgia-------

Percent of total

760
1,098
1,159

32
60
60

333
354
265

31
49
35

222

42
72
76

115

1 Excludes administrative, unpaid family members, and musicians, includes all other regular and
part-time employees.

There were also some very marked differences in the ratio of women to
men among the cities in contrast to the rural areas. In each of the rural
areas, women were employed in greater proportions than in the cities.
The smaller proportion of women employed in Hartford is undoubtedly
due to the influence of the Connecticut law prohibiting employment of
women after 10 p. m. The higher proportion of women found m the
rural areas in contrast to the cities may be due to differences in the labor
market, about which no data were obtained.
In marked contrast to the typical hotel occupations m some of which
women predominate and in others men, in nearly all of the restaurant
occupations both men and women were employed in significant numbers.
Although this is descriptive of the general situation in restaurants, cer
tain types of eating places employed women in greater proportions than
men for both dining room and kitchen work.
More women than men were employed in both kitchen and dining room
jobs in eating places outside hotels in Indiana and Georgia areas. In
hotel restaurants in Connecticut and Georgia men outnumbered women
by a ratio of 2 to 1. In both types of eating places in Connecticut, the
a -rj g. Department of Commerce, Census of Business, Retail Trade does not include in total
employment, proprietors, or unpaid help. These workers are, however, a part of total labor force
in restaurants, and constitute significant numbers. Population Census, 1939, Labor Force, vol. Ill,
part 1, PP- 194—195.

Table 5.—Distribution of men and women employed full time in eating places, by ending hour of work

Ending hour of work

Number of employees

Connecticut areas
Total

Men

860

566

Indiana areas

Women Total
294

1,182

Men
449

Hotel eating places
Georgia areas

Women Total
733

1,134

Men
427

Connecticut areas

Women Total
707

Men

421

Indiana areas

Women Total

Men

Georgia areas

Women Total

Men

Women

265

156

352

179

173

261

170

58
42

85
15

73
27

75
25

71
29

89
11

87
13

92
8

1
5
33
2

1
14

9
14
1
2

10
11

8
18
1
2

3
8

2
11

6
2

Percent distribution
10 p.m. or earlier
After 10 p.m
10:01 to 11:59 p.m_________
Midnight_____________
12:01 to 1 a.m_____ ________
All or most of the night _ . _
Irregular___________________
Earlykbeginning hours______

69
31
C1)

56
44

93
7 2

4
18
7

6
24
11

1
6

63
37

56
44

68
32

69
31

58
42

75
25

3
21
3
8

2
28
4
9
0)
1

4
15
3
7
0)
3

7
8
1
9
4
2

7
10
2
12
9
2

7
7
1
8
1
1

(1)2

1 Less than 0.5 percent.
2 Relates to workers in rural area, covered after amendment to Connecticut night-work law.

68
32
0)
4
26
1

IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

Eating places outside of hotels

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

number of men and women employees in the dining room was about equal,
but men held most of the kitchen jobs.
Character and Extent of Night Employment

The extent to which women worked at night in restaurants varied
somewhat among the areas studied. Employment of women after 10
p. m. was highest in the Indiana area, where about one-third were em
ployed at night. In the Georgia area, while a fourth of the women em
ployed in restaurants outside hotels worked after 10 p. m., the correspond
ing figure for hotel restaurants was less than one-tenth. The Connecticut
area, with 7 percent in eating places outside of hotels and 15 percent in
hotel restaurants, provided the least night work for women in the three
areas studied.
Most of the “night work” for women as well as for men was confined
to the evening shift. In hotel restaurants, the number of both men and
women working all or most of the night was negligible. In the restaurants
outside of hotels, however, appreciably more in each area were employed
on a graveyard shift.
There was little variation among restaurant departments in the propor
tion of women employed after 10 p. m. Among men, the variation was
more noticeable. About half the men employed in dining rooms worked
after 10 p. m. in the three areas. This difference indicates that men are
more frequently employed as waiters or for other dining-room jobs in the
restaurants which stay open at night.
Factors Influencing Night Employment

There were marked differences among the regions in the number of
restaurants that stayed open after 10 p. m. In the Connecticut and
Indiana areas nearly four-fifths of the restaurants stayed open, while
in Georgia about three-fifths were open at night. Hotel restaurants more
frequently closed by 10 p. m. than did eating places outside of hotels.
What factors account for the extent to which restaurants will operate at
night and how specifically is night employment of women affected?
Night work occurs in restaurants because there is a demand for restau
rant services which makes it profitable for them to remain open. Some
restaurants close before 10 p. m. because there is insufficient business,
but many more remain open. What is the nature of the demand for
night service, and what factors determine how long restaurants stay
open? An attempt was made to discover the character of the demand,
in the hope of discovering the extent to which night operation of restau
rants is “necessary.”
Eating at least one meal outside of the home is a necessity for most
of the gainfully employed, and a customary practice of many others, who
find it necessary, convenient, or pleasant to “eat out.” A large part of
the people who eat out are the manual and white-collar workers in shops,
factories, stores, and offices who must eat at least one meal a day near
their work. In general, these workers patronize the restaurants where
service is quick and prices reasonable. Another large group of people
want more leisurely dining, often as a form of recreation and entertain
ment, or often as a conclusion to other entertainment, such as theater,
movies, social affairs of one kind or another. These people for the most

IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

part patronize the better-class restaurants, tea rooms, and night clubs.
Much of this kind of eating may be expected to occur at the dinner hour
and in the evening or night hours. Others who patronize eating places in
clude travelers and transients of various kinds, and an assortment of
people such as “roomers,” apartment dwellers, working couples,, and many
others who like or need to “eat out,” usually in neighborhood restaurants.
, ^ is impossible to segregate these many different types of clientele
into mutually exclusive categories, because pleasure seekers are also
workers, and neighborhood diners may be workers or pleasure seekers;
but within these general types of demand an effort was made to discover
what relationship the predominant type of clientele had to the hours at
which eating places did most of their business. It was the hope that such
an analysis would give some basis for determining whether the restauTable 6.—Distribution of eating places serving and not serving
alcoholic beverages in three cities, by closing hour
Hartford

Indianapolis

Number of
establishments
Closing hour

Total
estab
lish
ments

Serving
alco
holic
bever
ages

Not
serving
alco
holic
bever
ages

Atlanta

Number of
establishments
Total
estab
lish
ments

Serving
alco
holic
bever
ages

Not
serving
alco
holic
bever
ages

Number of
establishments
Total
estab
lish
ments

Serving
beer
and
wine

Not
serving
beer
and
wine

Number of eating
121

144

39
8
12
9

18
5

31
20
29
8

51
8
5

18
14

25
8

Percent distribution
10 p.m. or earlier._
10:01 to 11:59 p.m
12:01 to 1 a.m____
1:01 to 3 a.m____
Open all or most
of the night____
Open before 6 a.m.

27
3

50
3

84
3

6
6

51
5
8
8
4

11
13

11
6

rants which were open at night were catering entirely to pleasure seekers,
to travelers, or to workers. These data were gathered from information
provided by employers who described the “bulk of their patronage” and
who gave the peak hour” for their sales. The busiest period for eating
places varied greatly with the clientele, but of all the restaurants studied
that were open after 10 p. m., nearly 25 percent had their busiest period
after dinner and close to 40 percent gave lunch as the peak hour. How
ever, about half of those catering to pleasure seekers had their busiest
period after dinner, and these, together with neighborhood restaurants,
constituted most of the group who gave “after dinner” as the busiest
period. Only one-tenth of the restaurants catering to manual workers
were busiest after dinner. These few restaurants were for the most part
serving night workers employed in nearby plants, taxi drivers, and other
night workers.
The demand for liquor as well as food appears, from the study of

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

restaurants in Hartford and Indianapolis, to be an important factor in
influencing the extent to which restaurants remain open, as well as the
hours at which they close. In both cities well over half of the restau
rants studied served liquor as well as food, and in both cities those
restaurants not serving liquor showed a marked tendency to close by 10
p. m. On the other hand only one-tenth of the liquor serving establish
ments closed early. The sale of liquor, which is permitted up to mid
night and 1 a. m. in Indianapolis and Hartford respectively, thus is an
important factor in accounting for the restaurants open after 10 p. m. in
these cities, and table 6 shows a striking relationship between the hours
at which restaurants close and the hours limiting liquor sales. How
many of these restaurants would remain open after these hours if liquor
sales were permitted after midnight or 1 a. m. is problematical, but it
can be concluded that liquor ordinances act as an important controlling
influence on the closing hour for a substantial proportion of all estab
lishments remaining open after 10 p. m.
That liquor is not the only factor accounting for night operation in
restaurants is indicated by the situation in Atlanta. In this city, no
liquor except beer and wine may be sold at any time in a public eating
place, and the sale of beer and wine is prohibited between midnight
and 6 a. m. In Atlanta there was not a marked concentration of the
restaurants serving liquor closing at midnight, since proportionately more
closed before 10 p. m., and also more remained open after the hours limit
ing liquor sales than in the other cities. The latter may be due in part
to the fact that proportionately more of the restaurants in this city
covered in the survey were smaller, counter, or counter- and service-type
restaurants, which were the kind most frequently found operating all
night in other areas, and the more important part of their business was
probably in the sale of food.
While the sale of liquor may be considered an important influence in
determining how many restaurants stay open and when they close, cer
tain types of service provided also have some relationship to the closing
hour. While nearly all the restaurants closing at midnight or 1 a. m.
were table service or a combination table and counter service, 90 percent
of those remaining open all night were table and counter, or counter
service establishments. These were chiefly places catering to a different
type of clientele (most of them did not serve liquor) and their costs of
operation were sufficiently limited to make it profitable to remain open
all night. Indeed, some managers of these establishments said that it
was cheaper to remain open all night, even with a limited demand for
services in the early morning hours, than to close up for a few hours and
run the risk of having workers come late, and some used the slack hours
of the early morning to make preparations for the next day.
Conditions Accompanying Night Employment

As in the case of hotel workers, many restaurant workers on jobs in
volving night work were employed long hours. As table 7 indicates,
there were marked differences among the areas in the extent to which
employment extended beyond a 48-hour week, but in each area a sub
stantial proportion of all night workers were working these long hours.
Nearly a fifth of the men had scheduled hours of 60 or more per week, and

IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

while fewer women worked these very long hours, a considerable number
were working between 48 and 60 hours a week.
Table 7.—Distribution 1 of men and women employed full time after 10 p. m.
in eating places in each area, by weekly hours of work

Weekly hours of work

Connecticut areas

Indiana areas

Georgia areas

Total

Men

Women

Total

Men

Women

Total

Men

405

360

529

241

288

386

201

185

26
21
6
7
13
17
10

17
15
5
6

36
27
7
8
10
11
1

Women

Percent distribution

.........................

..............

20
19
19
21
5
16

18
19
18
22
5
18

40
18
29
11
2

24
38
11
9
8
10

23
37
8
9
7
16

25
39
13
10
8
5

22
20

1 Excludes administrative, unpaid family members and musicians.

While the six-shift week was more common practice in restaurants than
in hotels, roughly a sixth of the workers were employed seven shifts a
week. Relatively few men and women worked 5 days. There were no
striking variations among the areas except in Connecticut where the
6-shift week was almost universal.
The vast majority of the workers in the restaurants in each area was
employed on a fixed shift. This contrasts with hotels, in which a smaller
proportion worked a fixed shift, although this predominated.
For the most part, waiters and waitresses were busier at the dinner
hour and in the evening, while the cooks and dishwashers tended to
be busier during the daytime. Establishments operating 24 hours were
frequently less busy on the third shift, and the workers employed between
1 a. m. and 6 a. m. more often performed a combination of duties than
did those on other shifts. Some employers reported that they had made
efforts to equalize the volume and pace of work on various shifts.
While waiters and waitresses apparently benefited from tips, the
extent of tipping and the amounts received varied greatly. In general,
tipping was more common in the establishments serving liquor, and
there was some indication that tips were better in the late evening. How
ever, in other establishments the dinner-hour tips were reported to be at
least as high.
A wage differential for night work was reported by only a few res
taurants. In these few, either the rate of pay was higher or 8 hours pay
was received for 7 hours work.
Follow-Up Survey: Hartford Restaurants, 1948

In May of 1948, nearly a year after Connecticut removed its nightwork prohibition for adult women, Women’s Bureau agents again visited
the same establishments covered in the 1947 study which at that time

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

were subject to the provisions of the night-work law.9 Eight leased hotel
restaurants and 98 10 restaurants outside hotels were revisited. Of these,
87 were operating und'er the same management, 13 had changed hands,
and 6 had gone out of business.
Business had slumped since 1947, according to employers’ statements
and as a result employment in the 100 firms in business both years
had decreased 9 percent during the year. Even though the same pro
portionate decrease in workers had taken place in restaurants open after
10 p. m. as in those that closed before this hour, the reduction in force
in restaurants that remained open after 10 p. m. had affected only the
day workers. Women were affected relatively more than men. The
number of workers on shifts ending after 10 p. m. had increased slightly
during the year.
After the amendment of the night-work law, the employment of women
in these restaurants increased somewhat. Of the 100 restaurants re
visited in 1948, 69 were open for business for some period between 10 p. m.
and 6 a. m., and 31 closed before 10 p. m. Except for one additional
restaurant, the same firms were open after 10 p. m. in 1948 as in 1947.
At the time of the revisits, 37 or well over half of the 69 restaurants
open at night were employing women on shifts ending after 10 p. m.
In spite of the substantial decrease of women workers on the day shift
in restaurants open at night, the hiring of women for the night shift re
sulted in a 3-percent increase in the total employment of women in the
100 restaurants. The general decrease of men in both types of restaurants
and on both shifts reduced their employment in 1948, 12 percent below
the 1947 level, but the proportion working on the night shift remained
about the same for the 2 years, 48 and 46 percent.
In 1947, when women comprised 27 percent of all workers, only 2 per
cent were working at night (in own-family businesses), but by 1948,
when they formed 30 percent of all workers, 27 percent of all women
workers were on the night force. Women accounted for only 1 percent
of the total night force in 1947 as compared to 20 percent in 1948. All
but one of the women night workers were employed on shifts ending at
1 a. m.
■
.
Women workers evidently had replaced men to a considerable extent
on night shifts. In over half of the restaurants where women had been
added to the night shift, the number of men on this shift had decreased;
in a fourth of the firms, both men and women had been added to the
night shift; and in the remaining firms where women were employed at
night the number of men on this shift had not changed.
_
A large majority (two-thirds) of employers who stated, when inter
viewed in 1947, that they would employ -women after 10 p. m. if legally
permitted to do so, were employing women these hours in 1948. Also,
over one-third of employers who, in 1947, expressed no interest in em
ploying women on night jobs, nevertheless had women on their night
shifts in 1948.
_
Many of the employers who had added women to their night shifts
commented that women employees were “more dependable,” “more
• Leased hotel restaurants and restaurants located outside of hotels were covered by the law,
hotel lodging departments and restaurants operated by hotels were exempt.
10 One small restaurant was not revisited.

IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

reliable, more courteous,” “more efficient,” and generally more satis
factory than men. On the other hand, the reasons most commonly given
for not employing women at night were: “No additional help needed,
business poor,” “management policy not to hire women at night,” “un
suitable neighborhood for women night workers.” Only 7 of the 60 em
ployers interviewed on this subject preferred men on all-night jobs.
The night-work law as amended required the Commissioner of Labor
“to prescribe adequate transportation facilities in the employment of
females between the hours of 1 a. m. and 6 a. m.,” so information was
obtained on the transportation facilities available to the women night
workers. It was found that management provided transportation, the
restaurants were near adequate public transportation, the restaurant
workers lived near their place of work and walked home, or the worker
was called for and driven home by a member of the family.
THE ATTITUDES AND PROBLEMS OF NIGHT WORKERS
Introduction

Workers' attitudes toward employment at night were studied by inter
viewing a selected group of men and women night workers in their homes.
Questions were asked about living arrangements, financial responsibility,
length of experience on night work; whether night work created problems
not present in day work; whether night work was preferred to day work
and why; and preference on shift patterns.11
Attitudes expressed by workers toward night work should be given
serious consideration, since workers are in the best position to evaluate
preferences in terms of personal experience, and the effect of night work
on their lives. In terms of recommendations looking toward a public
policy, however, there needs to be a more thoroughgoing examination
of problems arising out of night work, and the consideration of evidence
based on a variety of data from many sources not available to workers,
or not within their individual perspective. For example, workers’ prefer
ences must be interpreted in terms of the extent to which alternative
forms of employment are open to them. The married woman with young
children, who must work to supplement her husband’s wage, or who must
take his place as the breadwinner if he is unemployed, may prefer night
work to what she considers the neglect of her home and children, which
a day job might involve. The older woman with limited skills, and who
is generally less employable, may prefer her night job because on the
whole it is more desirable than the kind of a job she could find by day.
The length of experience on night work may have a determining influence
upon workers’ attitudes.12
Workers may accept night work simply because they have become
accustomed to it and to the readjustments in their personal or family
living it entails. Recognizing that the workers’ expressed attitudes may
not be wholly reliable, they are nevertheless an important basis for
evaluating the problems accompanying night work. The reasons for pre
11 Since men were interviewed chiefly for comparative purposes, the following detailed discussion
relates chiefly to women, and a comparative statement appears at the conclusion of the chapter.
™ Report of Committee on Double-Day Shift Working. Presented by the Ministry of Labour and
National Service to Parliament by Command of His Majesty, June 1947. London, His Majesty’s
Stationery Office, 1947.

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

ferring a given shift may throw some light upon the more basic employ
ment needs of women.13
The problems for the individual worker must be distinguished from
the effects of night employment of women upon social welfare. Night
employment may have a disturbing influence upon family or personal
life; it may be inconvenient; it may be necessary if the alternative is
a less desirable job; but the long or short run social implications will
depend upon a number of factors not within the scope of the present
inquiry.
General Characteristics of Workers Interviewed

Altogether 270 persons who worked part or all of the period between
10 p. m. and 6 a. m. were interviewed. Of these, 148 were women and
122 were men. About three-fourths of the women and two-thirds of the
men were in the restaurant occupations and the rest were in hotel occu
pations in which either sex was customarily employed.
Nearly all women in hotel occupations, chiefly chambermaids, elevator
and telephone operators, and a few clerical workers were 35 years or older;
almost half were 45 or over. In the restaurant occupations, those inter
viewed were, as a group, younger. Less than half were over 35 and many
of these were waitresses. Only a fifth of the women were single, two-fifths
were married, the rest were widowed, separated, or divorced. Nearly
three-fourths of the women interviewed were living with a family group.
A substantial proportion of these night workers were contributing to or
were the sole support of the family. Of the remaining women who lived
outside a family group, a few were helping to support dependents who
lived elsewhere, but they were largely women who had only themselves to
support. For the most part, the women had had considerable experience
in the same industry in which they were working when interviewed, and
much of this experience was in night work. Only a fifth had worked for less
than a year. Of those working more than a year, half of them had worked
for 5 years or more and many for as long as 10 years. Most of the women
had only limited experience in other industries or occupations.
The men did not differ materially in age and in living arrangements.
For the most part they also were a somewhat older group. In the hotel
occupations, chiefly bellboys and desk clerks, considerably more than
half were 35 years or older, and those in the restaurant occupations
were somewhat younger, slightly more than half were less than 35 years
of age. On the other hand, the marital status of men varied somewhat
from that of women, in that a third were single, one-half were married,
and the others were widowed, separated, or divorced. Many of the men
had had more extensive work experience than the women both in the same
industry and on night work.
Why Women Worked at Night and Their Attitudes Toward Night Work

The women interviewed were asked why they took the jobs they were
on, whether they wanted to remain on the same shift or would prefer
a different one, and their reasons. The answers to these questions varied
13 Evidence presented on worker preferences should be considered indicative rather than conclusive.
The total from whom data were obtained was relatively small and excluded those who worked
regularly by day. Furthermore, the degree of the worker’s confidence in the interviewer is a factor
to be considered in evaluating workers’ statements.

IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

widely, and it is impossible to group them into very definite categories.
A preponderance of the women found night work acceptable, but there
seemed to be various reasons why women took the jobs they were on,
many of which fell neither in the category of positively liking or dis
liking night work. Others found themselves on night work because it
was the only job available, or because night work seemed to be a neces
sary part of the occupation in which they were qualified by experience.
Some, however, had made a deliberate choice of night work, either
because they “liked” a night shift, or because it was the most convenient
time, or the only time they could work. Since “liking” or “disliking”
are relative terms, an effort was made therefore to group the attitudes
of workers into a graduating scale: those who like night work in the
sense that given a free choice they would take a night shift; those who
needed to work at night because it was difficult or inconvenient to work
at some other time; those who accepted night work in the absence of
alternative jobs; and those who disliked night work and wanted to change.
Those Who Liked Night Work

Some women liked night work because they found it more suitable to
their personal needs and desires. These were workers who for the most
part had no domestic responsibilities or very limited ones. Some, usually
on evening shifts, preferred night work because they “could sleep late
in the morning.” Others in this group preferred night work because
for various reasons they were deprived of opportunities to participate in
social activities common to evening hours and therefore were substituting
activity which would satisfy in part a need for social life. Some preferred
having the day free for an assortment of daytime pursuits which
were more important to them than evening activities. The following
cases are illustrative:
Case 1.—A young married woman with no children worked 6 days
a week from 4 p. m. to midnight. She liked these hours because her
husband, traveled a great deal and she liked having something to occupy
her evenings which would otherwise be lonely.
Case 2.—A counter girl, 32 years old, married, with 2 daughters, 8 and
12 years of age, had been employed in a grill in Atlanta for over 3 years
on an evening shift from 3 p. m. to 11 p. m., 6 days a week. She liked
her shift because she enjoyed sleeping late in the morning. Her hus
band was employed on a day shift and could care for the children in
the evening.
Case S.—A 46-year-old hostess in a cocktail lounge of a hotel had been
employed for 1 year on a split shift ending at 1 a. m. and allowing
3 hours of free time in the afternoon. She was divorced and lived alone
in a small apartment and said she preferred the late evening shift because
her evening hours were lonely. She also liked a split shift because it
gave her time for shopping.
Case 4.—A cashier, 38 years old, in a hotel restaurant, who had worked
from midnight until 9 a. m. for the past 4 years, said she bad requested
this shift because she liked it. She slept better by day since she was
accustomed to it. The woman was divorced and had no dependents.

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

Those Who Needed to Work at Night

There were some who felt a need to work at night because they were
unable to work during the day, or because financial stringency made
them seek higher earnings accompanying jobs in which tips were better
at night. Most of these worked at night in the absence of acceptable
alternatives. They were women with heavy family or financial responsi
bilities: some had young children or other dependents and some were
the sole support of a family. A few waitresses, who said tips were much
higher on a late shift, felt that this outweighed other considerations.
Case 5.—A married woman with two young children (ages 5 and 2),
worked on a 5 p. m. to midnight shift 6 days a week because this shift
was “best suited to the care of the children.” This worker said she
and her husband would like to spend their evenings together but that
she had to work because her husband’s salary was not enough to meet
expenses, particularly since living costs had increased. Her husband
cared for the children while she worked, and she said she could not pos
sibly pay for regular day care for her children.
Case 6.—A 44-year-old hotel telephone operator in Atlanta, married,
with two grown children, had worked from 11 p. m. to 7 a. m., 6 nights
a week for more than 3 years. She said she worked these hours partly
because there were not enough beds for all the family to sleep at night,
and that on the whole such an arrangement worked out all right because
the family could have breakfast, dinner, and evening together.
Case 7.—A 35-year-old waitress in a Connecticut restaurant worked
from 3:30 p. m. until midnight. This woman was the sole support of
a family of four. Her husband had been ill for months and was un
employed. He was able, however, to care for the children in her absence,
and she said this was the shift she found most convenient under the
circumstances. When the worker first took the job several years earlier,
her husband worked days and she said she had to get evening work
so the children would be cared for when she was at work.
Case 8.—A 35-year-old waitress in a Connecticut restaurant who was
divorced and supported herself said that she preferred the 5 p. m. to
1 a. m. shift because higher tips increased her earnings. She had had
experience on other shifts, and was convinced the straight evening shift
was the most remunerative. This worker was doing waitress work be
cause she could make more money than on any other kind of available
work she was equipped to do.
Those Who Accepted Night Work

Some women accepted night work because there was no other job
available or because night work was common to the occupation. Tele
phone operators and other hotel employees mentioned this as an impor
tant factor. Others said it was the only job they could find at the time
they were looking for work and, having become accustomed to night
work, they found it not undesirable. A few women were willing to work
at night because the pace was less strenuous and the surroundings
generally more agreeable in contrast to day jobs in the same occupation.
Case 9.—An older woman, divorced and living alone, was working
6 nights a week from 11 p. m. to 7 a. m. as a baker in a small lunchroom.

IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

She had been with the same employer for 6 years and most of the time
on the night shift. She said she didn’t sleep too well during the day,
because of the noise, but she took great pride in her baking and knew she
had to take a night job to continue in this work. Her remark was “All
bakers work this shift.” She felt that if she didn’t do this kind of work
she would be forced to accept unskilled work.
Case 10.—A 56-year-old hotel cashier had worked for 20 years for her
present employer, and for the past 10 years had been on a shift rotating
within the week, three late-evening and three daytime shifts. This
woman liked her work and accepted the shift arrangement as a neces
sary part of the job. She had always had some difficulty adjusting to
the sleeping schedule, but had worked out her social life very satisfac
torily.
There were cases of women with limited employment opportunities
who by virtue of age and lack of skills accepted night work because it
was easier than the work they might have to do by day.
Case 11 .—A chambermaid in an Indiana hotel, who was 70 years old,
worked from 11 p. m. to 7 a. m. She had been working in this occupation
for 11 years, 7 of these on a night shift. She said the work was much
less strenuous at night, and since she was an old woman she would be
afraid to change to a day shift. She was widowed and lived with a mar
ried daughter to whom she paid board and room. Her only other work
experience was in private domestic service in which she had worked for
30 years prior to taking a job as a chambermaid.
Case 12.—A dishwasher in a lunchroom in Indiana worked 7 nights a
week from 11 p. m. until 7 a. m. She was divorced and lived alone.
After a number of years of experience in domestic service, which she
found too strenuous, she had taken this job 4 years ago. She liked the
quiet and easy pace of the work during these hours and had no special
complaints.
Those Who Disliked Night Work

About a fourth of the women workers employed sometime between
10 p. m. and 6 a. m. indicated a definite preference for day work, but
most of them were women who could find no other job; some had been
assigned to an evening or night shift by the manager and they had no
choice but to accept or lose the job. Others were earning more from tips
on a late shift and couldn’t afford to change; a few liked the job, but
would very much prefer doing it by day.14
Case 13. A woman-29 years of age, whose only previous experience
was a 4-month job in a laundry, had taken her present job of dishwasher
in an Indianapolis restaurant because she needed to work and it was the
only job she could find. She had five children, and although her husband
was employed, his earnings were not enough to provide necessities. The
problem of her children’s care was complicated, since her husband was
likewise employed in the evening. Her brother provided child care while
she and her husband were working. Since taking this job 2 months earlier,
she had had difficulty getting enough sleep because she had to get up
“ These women were on night work for reasons similar to those given by women who accept night
work but their response to night work is different.
b

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

early to got the children to school. Once she was molested while returning
from work, and since then she had been afraid to be on the streets after
dark

Case 14-—A widow, 50 years old, with years of experience as a tele
phone operator, working on a split shift, with part of the work ending at
11 p. m., said she disliked any evening work, but could find no other
work in this occupation. She not only supported herself, but was con
tributing to the support of her grandchildren.
Case 15 —A 53-year-old chambermaid in a Connecticut hotel worked
6 days a week on a 4 p. m. to 11 p. m. shift. She supported herself and
contributed to the support of two children. She had worked on the same
shift and for her present employer more than 4 years, and had been
unable to find day work. This worker’s only other experience in recent
years had been in domestic service, which she did not like. She disliked
her present job because she had no time to spend with her teen-age chil
dren. She found it tiring because of the late hours.
Problems of Night Work Revealed by Women Workers

An appraisal of the problems which workers believed arose out of a
night job is at least as complicated as that of evaluating their attitudes.
If it has been difficult for those studying the effects of night work to
segregate problems which are due to night work itself from more general
problems of employment, it is perhaps more so for the worker himself.
Nor can it be assumed that no problems exist, even though workers may
fail to report them. Workers may be hesitant about discussing them and
many would find it difficult to identify and evaluate the problem where
there is one. With these limitations in mind, it is significant that about
half of the women reported problems, and some reported more than one.
Women mentioned most frequently the difficulty of getting enough
sleep irregularity of meals, the fear or inconvenience of late return to
their’homes, and the interference with social activities. The problems
relating to eating and sleeping appeared to be important not only lor
those on a “graveyard” shift, but were often mentioned by those on an
evening shift. Many women with domestic responsibilities had to arise
early to take on household duties, and while they had a part of the night
in which to sleep, it was shortened on the one end by the job and on the
other by family chores. In Indianapolis and Atlanta some women found
it difficult to get home if the job ended around midnight, because public
transportation facilities were inadequate, but more frequently they ex
pressed fear of being alone on the streets at night. A number of them
said they ran home after they left the street car. Many had made special
arrangements to get home in order to avoid these problems. My husband
calls for me,” the “boss takes me home,” “I take a taxi,” were some of the
special arrangements.
. , ,
Interference with social activities was mentioned almost entirely by
those on evening shifts. They found it difficult to do the things, they
liked to do with other people, either with their families or their mends.
Such difficulties were most commonly mentioned by younger, unattached
Difficulties created in family living were mentioned frequently by mar
ried women who found it difficult to work by night, but this problem did

IN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

not appear as. an important issue with most married women, perhaps
reflecting the likelihood that the advantage of night work over day work
outweighed other considerations.
Attitudes and Problems of Men Interviewed

In rather sharp contrast to the women interviewed, the findings showed
that over two-fifths of the men would rather have had day work and were
on the night shift chiefly because they could find no other work. They
didn’t like the personal disorganization and inconvenience which was
attached to the night job, and they complained of loss of sleep, failure
to have time for recreation and social life.
Most of the married men who disliked night work placed emphasis
upon the interference with normal family life. This is an interesting con
trast to the married women, most of whom stressed only their need to
work at night in order to assure care of their homes and children during
the day.
Of those who preferred night work, nearly all liked it for strictly per
sonal reasons or convenience. Since the problem of “dual responsibility”
was not an ingredient in men’s attitudes toward night work, their atti
tudes for the most were therefore governed by their personal needs and
desires. The limitations placed upon their choice of a day job versus
a night job appeared to arise out of their specific employment qualifica
tions or personal preferences rather than their family responsibilities.
Attitudes About Shift Patterns

Since much of the recent interest in night work has been directed toward
a study of the particular shift patterns most acceptable to the worker,
and that least likely to disorganize his physical and social life, an effort
was made to discover prevailing attitudes among the workers. Although
rotating and split shifts have been reported as common in the past in
hotels and restaurants, the present study indicated that the fixed and con
tinuous shifts were more common, particularly in restaurants. Among
the workers interviewed, only a fourth had had any experience on rotating
or split shifts, and even fewer were on such shifts when interviewed.
Those few who had had experience or were working on rotating or split
shifts reported that in their opinion the disadvantages of such shifts far
outweighed the advantages.
The main disadvantage to rotating shifts was the fact that workers
had to keep readjusting to different eating and sleeping schedules and
some found this difficult. Others had trouble planning their personal
lives when they worked on alternating shifts. However, some workers
liked the rotating, shift because it gave them an opportunity to engage
in both day and night activities, and a few said a rotating shift enabled
all workers to get a share of the higher tips on a particular shift.
Workers agreed that the greatest disadvantage to the split shift was
that it took up the best part of both day and night and that time between
shifts could not be used to advantage. Others said too much time was
wasted, in transportation to and from work. Among the few who thought
the split shift had some advantages, the chief reason was that the time
between shifts afforded opportunity for daytime activities.

PART III

CONCLUSION
Basic-to a consideration of appropriate public policy with respect to
night work is the need for a definition which encompasses employment
on a second or late evening shift, as well as employment on a night or'
“graveyard shift.” Historically, night work has been variously defined
and the definitions have reflected the economic and social environment
in which night work occurred.
With the growing practice of the shorter workday and the possibility
therefore of three shifts, the second, or late evening shift, has become a
matter for specific consideration. Economic factors, and perhaps chang
ing social views about night activities, have lent encouragement to con
sideration of the second shift as another day shift. But from the stand
point of workers’ interests and general welfare, a more critical appraisal
of the evening shift is desirable. The interviews with workers in hotels
and restaurants, most of whom were on evening shifts, support other
evidence that to the extent to which there are difficulties in social and
personal adjustments for workers, those arising out of the second shift
do not differ materially from those arising from work on the third shift.
The consideration of a possible need for night-work legislation covering
restaurants in particular must include a serious consideration of the
period in which most of the employment after the normal workday
occurs, and decisions have to be made regarding the period which may
need control as well as the kind of control which should be exerted.
That night work created problems for some workers in the present
study was indicated by the workers who were interviewed. The problems
they reported were, in their general character, similar to those which
have been a matter of concern in connection with night work since the
practice of night work first began. The difficulties in getting sleep, the
restriction of opportunities to enjoy social activities, the disorganizing
effects upon domestic routines and upon family living, and the fear of
returning home late at night were all described, although there is no
evidence from which one can conclude that workers generally were so
affected. Indeed, some workers indicated some satisfaction with night
employment, and appropriate decisions about the need for control must
take into account the fact that for many persons social problems may be
less crucial than in earlier days. The worker on a graveyard shift must
sleep by day, but there may be time for other activities before return to
work. The extent to which night work is a disorganizing influence is a
matter of a multitude of factors, involving personal and family adjust
ments and preferences. The attitudes of workers are now being given
more careful study and may, if properly weighed, provide some basis for
determining the extent to which workers can and do make an adjustment
to night work with its attendant problems.
The characteristics of workers employed at night in hotels and restau
rants indicate that, in many ways, such workers have long been the object
of concern among those interested in improving working conditions.
Both men and women displayed some of the characteristics of workers
often found in the less skilled occupations of the service industries, in
34

CONCLUSION

which age, the inability to keep pace with machine production, or specific
work experience do not always constitute obstacles to employment. The
presence in night jobs of married women with domestic responsibilities
involving the care of children, who are working at night because they
cannot satisfy their needs for income by daytime employment, is a re
curring and familiar aspect of night work. The evidence of substandard
conditions involving a workweek longer than the week common in many
industries reminds one that there are still groups of workers who may
need the benefits of legislative or other controls. One is also reminded
that the problems of employment of women at night are difficult to dif
ferentiate from their general problems of employment—particularly those
arising from their dual role as wage earner and homemaker. The solution
of their problems may lie less in the control of night work and more in
the direction of a general improvement of working conditions, and in the
development of various services in the community which would give
women greater freedom to choose the time at which they work.
The factors which already play an important role, either in prescribing
definite limits to the employment of women at night, or in accounting for
possible extension of such employment, need consideration in determining
the desirability of establishing public control. The extent to which women
are employed in hotels and in restaurants after 10 p. m. is influenced by
very different factors. The employment of women in hotels after 10 p. m.
is very limited in relation to their total employment in the industry.
This is explained by the fact that night operation of hotels is not de
pendent upon the duties which women perform. That there will be im
portant shifts in the proportions of men and women in these occupations
is doubtful since women have, by long tradition, tended to preempt the
characteristic housekeeping occupations, and men, by virtue of equally
well-established tradition, will continue to occupy others. Thus night
employment of women is very much limited by factors not likely to
change.
In restaurants, the preponderance of work done after 10 p. m. is very
much more directly related to factors of demand, and hence less pre
dictable. The restaurant industry is thus illustrative of a type of industry
about which there has often been concern in connection with night work,
since there is always a possible extension of night work if profits warrant
night operation. The problem of its necessity has to be measured in
terms of the interests of business, the needs or desires of those who pro
vide the demand for night service, and the welfare of the workers involved.
A study such as this one, which was limited in coverage and which did
not attempt to encompass all of the important considerations implied
in a comprehensive study of night work, cannot provide definite answers
to the many questions requiring answers before a sound public policy can
be established regarding the need for night-work legislation applicable
to women. The social as well as economic implications involve a series
of intangibles which do not lend themselves readily to statistical analysis.
However, when reviewed in the background of the long history of con
cern about night work, this study of hotels and restaurants indicates
that some of the bases of that concern are still present. It also suggests
the kind of approach needed before adequate standards for determining
the need for legislation can be established.

Appendix A
METHODS OF THE STUDY
Areas

Data for the study were gathered between April 1947 and February
1948. A city in Georgia was selected because Georgia had no night-work
law or other protective laws relating to women’s employment; in In
diana, because it had had some experience with night-work legislation,
though not applicable to hotels or restaurants; and in Connecticut be
cause it had at the time a law prohibiting the employment of women in
restaurants between 10 p. m. and 6 a. m. In selecting these areas, an
effort was also made to recognize possible regional differences and varia
tions in social customs which might have a bearing upon night work. In
each State one large city and selected smaller communities were surveyed.
Method of Collecting Data

The data were collected by field representatives of the Women’s
Bureau directly from establishment records, by interviews with officials
of the establishments and with workers in the hotels and restaurants
included in the study.
Samples of establishments were drawn from listings of hotels and res
taurants obtained from public and private sources, and selected in such
a way as to give proportionate representation to factors of size and type.
The hotel sample was drawn from all commercial hotels in the areas
selected, and from residential hotels providing hotel service to more
than half their units.
The night workers personally interviewed were chosen from those
occupations in hotels and restaurants in which men and women were
customarily employed, and were drawn chiefly from those working in the
establishments located in the large cities. All the "workers interviewed
were employed for part or all of the 10 p. m. to 6 a. m. period. In Indian
apolis and Atlanta, a representative sample of approximately one-fifth
of all such “night workers” was interviewed, and in Hartford about
one-fourth of the men and women employed at night in hotels were inter
viewed. Restaurant workers in Connecticut were not interviewed because
employment of women was prohibited in such establishments between
10 p. m. and 6 a. m.
Definitions

Hotels.—The Census definition of hotels was generally followed: Es
tablishments designating themselves as hotels and providing hotel accom
modations as their major business activity. Boarding houses, tourist
houses or camps, YWCA’s, YMCA’s, club dormitories and similar types of
operation were excluded as well as establishments operated exclusively by
family members, or by a staff of less than four persons, except in the
small towns of Connecticut where this limitation was not followed.
Restaurants.—The Census definition of eating places was used: Estab
lishments in which the principal business is the preparation and sale of
food for consumption on the premises. The term “eating place covers
restaurants and lunchrooms, lunch counters and refreshment stands, and
36

APPENDIX A

cafeterias. Eating places located in industrial plants, stores, private
clubs, and other similar establishments; taverns and other places selling
liquor only; and businesses operated entirely by family members were
all excluded. With these exclusions, the term “restaurants” as used in
this study refers to eating places of all kinds.
Night work as used in this study is work which occurred any time in
the period after 10 p. m. and before 6 a. m. While this is a somewhat
arbitrary definition, it was believed necessary, for purposes of analysis,
to specify some period of time during which work should be considered
“night work.” The fact that these were the hours during which women
were prohibited from employment in restaurants in Connecticut made it
a reasonable delimitation.

00
oo
Number of hotels and eating places covered and their employment and number of workers interviewed, by area
Ho1 els
All establishments

Employnlent in—

Employment
Number
of
Women
estab
lish
Total
Percent
ments
of
Number
total

All areas
Connecticut
Hartford
Other Connecticut
Indiana
Indianapolis
Georgia
Atlanta
Other Georgia--------------

455

7,298

3,446

172

2,360

119
53

1,848
512

170

2,608

146
24

2,388
220

843

620
223

34
44

1,385
1,246
139

Eating places
Employment

Women

Number
of
Women
Total
Total
estab
Total
Percent
Percent lish
Percent
ments
of
of
of
Number
Number
Number
total
total
total
1,842

946

1,174

526

20
9

472
54

262

233
29

49
54

52
63

22
2

655

338

640
15

333
5

Men

Women

457

381

4,282

2,043

122

148

509

175

143

1,325

406

391
118

109
66

28
56

99
44

985
340

278
128

28
38

21
6

25
6

383

185

146

1,570

862

52
(i)

383

185

124
22

1,365
20.=i

728

113

2,330

1,218

661

346

282

1,387

775

98
15

2,251
79

1,169
49

52
62

661

346

282

77
15

1,308
79

726
49

56
62

48
3

49
9

1 Base too small to justify computation.

of
estab
lish
ments

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

Lodging department
Area

Workers
interviewed

Eating places outside
of hotels

Appendix B
SUMMARIES OF INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS CONCERNING
THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN DURING THE NIGHT
Berne Convention respecting the Prohibition of Night Work for Women in
Industrial Employment, 1906.

Scope: W employed in industrial undertakings employing more than
10 workers. (Explicitly excluded: W working in industrial undertakings
in which only members of the same family are employed.)
Interval of prohibited employment: 10 p. m. to 5 a. m.
Uninterrupted rest period: 11 h.
International Labour Convention (No. 4), Night Work (Women), 1919.

Scope: W employed in industrial undertakings and their dependencies,
public and private:
(a) Mines, quarries, and other works for the extraction of minerals
from the earth;
(t>) Industries in which articles are manufactured, altered, cleaned,
repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished,
or in which materials are transformed; including shipbuilding, and the
generation, transformation, and transmission of electricity or motive
power of any kind;
.
(c) Construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration, or
demolition of any building, railway, tramway, harbour, dock, pier, canal,
inland waterway, road, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, sewer, drain, well, tele
graphic or telephonic installation, electrical undertaking, gas work, water
work, or other work of construction, as well as the preparation for or
laying the foundations of any such work or structure.
(Each country to define its own line separating industry from com
merce and agriculture.)
(Categories explicitly excluded: As in Berne Convention, see above.)
Interval of prohibited employment: 10 p. m. to 5 a. m.
Uninterrupted rest period: 11 h.
International Labour Convention (No. 41), Night Work (Women) (Re
vised), 1934.

Scope: as in Convention No. 4, see above. (W holding responsible
positions of management who are not ordinarily engaged in manual work
are also excluded.)
Interval of prohibited employment: 10 p. m. to 5 a. m.
Uninterrupted rest period: 11 h.

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

Convention (No. 89) Concerning Night Work of Women Employed in In
dustry (revised 1948).

Part I.—General Provisions

Article 1
1. For the purpose of this Convention, the term “industrial under
taking” includes particularly—
(a) mines, quarries, and other works for the extraction of min
erals from the earth;
(b) undertakings in which articles are manufactured, altered,
cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up
or demolished, or in which materials are transformed, including
undertakings engaged in shipbuilding or in the generation, trans
formation or transmission of electricity or motive power of any kind;
(c) undertakings engaged in building and civil engineering work,
including constructional, repair, maintenance, alteration and demo
lition work.
2. The competent authority shall define the line of division which
separates industry from agriculture, commerce and other non-industrial
occupations.
Article 2
For the purpose of this Convention the term “night” signifies a period
of at least eleven consecutive hours, including an interval prescribed by
the competent authority of at least seven consecutive hours falling be
tween ten o’clock in the evening and seven o’clock in the morning; the
competent authority may prescribe different intervals for different areas,
industries, undertakings or branches of industries or undertakings, but
shall consult the employers’ and workers’ organisations concerned before
prescribing an interval beginning after eleven o’clock in the evening.
Article S
Women without distinction of age shall not be employed during the
night in any public or private industrial undertaking, or in any branch
thereof, other than an undertaking in which only members of the same
family are employed.
Article 4
Article 3 shall not apply—
(a) in cases of force majeure, when in any undertaking there
occurs an interruption of work which it was impossible to foresee,
and which is not of a recurring character;
(b) in cases where the work has to do with raw materials or mate
rials in course of treatment which are subject to rapid deterioration
when such night wrork is necessary to preserve the said materials
from certain loss.
Article 5
1. The prohibition of night work for women may be suspended by the
Government, after consultation with the employers’ and workers’ organi

APPENDIX B

sations concerned, when in case of serious emergency the national interest
demands it.
2. Such suspension shall be notified by the Government concerned to
the Director-General of the International Labour Office in its annual
report on the application of the Convention.
Article 6
In industrial undertakings which are influenced by the seasons and in
all cases where exceptional circumstances demand it, the night period may
be reduced to ten hours on sixty days of the year.
Article 7
In countries where the climate renders work by day particularly trying,
the night period may be shorter than that prescribed in the above articles
if compensatory rest is accorded during the day.
Article 8
This Convention does not apply to—■
(a) women holding responsible positions of a managerial or tech
nical character; and
(b) women employed in health and welfare services who are not
ordinarily engaged in manual work.
Part II.—Special Provisions

for

Certain Countries

Article 9
In those countries where no Government regulation as yet applies to
the employment of women in industrial undertakings during the night,
the term “night” may provisionally, and for a maximum period of three
years, be declared by the Government to signify a period of only ten
hours, including an interval prescribed by the competent authority of at
least seven consecutive hours falling between ten o’clock in the evening
and seven o’clock in the morning.

Appendix C
STATE LAWS RELATING TO NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN1
(April I, 1949)
At the present time, 18 States limit the employment of adult women at night in
one or more industries, either by prohibiting all such employment within a specified
period of hours or by establishing special regulations governing the working condi
tions of women employed at night. Some of the provisions shown below are in
State statutes, others appear in current minimum-wage orders of the States. The
18 States having one or more such limitations are:
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Indiana
Kansas
Maryland

Massachusetts
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York

North Dakota
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Utah
Washington
Wisconsin

I. PROHIBITION OF NIGHT WORK

Thirteen of the above States prohibit the employment of women at night in
one or more industries. In 8 of these States the law applies to manufacturing and
in 12 of them to one or more nonmanufacturing industries. All but one of the States
in the manufacturing group—Indiana—also prohibit night work for some nonmanu
facturing industry.
Manufacturing (8 States)
Delaware
Indiana

11 p. m. — 6 a. m.
10 p. m.-6 a. m.

(12 to &, if 2 shifts and employment
does not exceed 8 hours a day, 5 days

a week.) (Law’s provisions sus
pended until Mar. 15, 1951.)
Kansas
Massachusetts 2
Nebraska
New Jersey
N ew Y ork
Wisconsin
California

9 p. m. -6 a. m.
11 p. m. - 6 a. m.
1 a. m. - 6 a. m.

(Except on permit.)
12 midnight-7 a.m.
(12 to 6, if multiple shifts.)
10 p.m.-6 a.m.
6 p. m. - 6 a. m.
Nonmanujacturing (12 States*)
8 p.m.-6 a. m.

Connecticut

After 10 p.m.

♦Delaware

11 p. m. - 6 a. m.

♦Kansas

9 p. m. - 6 a. m.

♦Massachusetts 2
♦Nebraska

After 9 p.m.8
11 p. m.-6 a. m.
1 a. m. -6 a. m.
1 a. m. -6 a. m.

♦New Jersey
♦New York

12 midnight-7 a.m.
10 p. m. - 7 a. m.
12 midnight-6 a.m.
10 p.m.-6 a.m.

Driving taxicabs or automobiles for
hire.
Bowling alley, shoe-shining establish
ment, or poolroom.
Mechanical establishment (includes
beauty shop), laundry, baking, or
printing establishment, office, or
dressmaking establishment.
Laundry, dyeing, dry cleaning, or
pressing establishment.
Mercantile establishment.
Mechanical establishment.
Office in first-class cities.
Mechanical or mercantile establish
ment, laundry, hotel, or restaurant,
in first-class cities.
Bakery or laundry.
Mercantile establishment, beauty par
lor ; messengers or telegraph messen
gers; elevator operators.
Restaurant.
Street-car conductors or guards.

APPENDIX C
North Dakota
South Carolina
Washington
* Wisconsin

11 p.m.-7 a.m.
After 10 p.m.
After 12 midnight
6 p.m.-6 a.m.
5 p. m.-8 a.m.
(first-class cities)
5 p. m.-6 a. m.
(elsewhere)
6 p.m.-6 a.m.

Elevator operators.
Mercantile establishment.
Elevator operators.
Laundry.
Street-car conductors, motormen, or
flagmen.
Canning factory, before and after sea
son of actual canning of product.

"States preceded by asterisk appear also in list applying to Manufacturing.
* Does not include laws whose application is limited to persons under 21 years of age.
2 Commissioner of labor and industries is authorised to suspend until July 1, 1949, the application
or operation of this prohibition.
3 Between June 1 and Sept. 15, mercantile establishments in agricultural communities may remain
open until 10 p. m. on 1 day in week if permit is obtained from State labor department.

II.

REGULATION OF NIGHT WORK

The following 11 States regulate in some manner the employment of women at night:
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, and Wisconsin. Included in the list are six
States which also prohibit night work in one or more industries and which appear
in Part I of this summary.
State

Regulation

Industry covered

California

Unless suitable transportation is available,
women may not be required to report
for work or be dismissed from work be
tween 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. If a meal
period occurs during these hours, facili
ties must be available for securing hot
food or drink, or for heating food and
drink, and a suitable, sheltered place
must be provided in which to consume
such food and drink.

Manufacturing; personal service; can
ning and preserving; professional,
technical, clerical, and similar occu
pations; public housekeeping; laun
dry, dry cleaning, and dyeing;
mercantile; transportation; indus
tries handling farm products after
harvest; amusement and recrea
tion.

Connecticut

Labor commissioner is authorized: (1) To
make regulations to protect the health
and welfare of females, and (2) to pre
scribe adequate transportation facilities
for women employed between 1 a.m.
and 6 a.m.
Unless employer complies with such regu
lations, and adequate transportation is
available for the workers, commissioner
may prohibit employment of females in
the establishment during such hours.

Manufacturing, mechanical or mer
cantile establishment; restaurant,
cafe, dining room, barber shop,
hairdressing or manicuring estab
lishment , photograph gallery. Pro
fessional employees in such estab
lishments exempted.

Delaware

If any part of work is performed between
11 p.m. and 7 a.m., hours of employ
ment may not exceed 8 a night.
(Maximum for day work, 10 hours.)

Mercantile establishment, telephone
and telegraph office or exchange,
restaurant, hotel, place of amuse
ment.

Kansas

If operator is regularly employed after 11
p.m., work time plus rest and sleep
time may not exceed 12 hours in 24.

Telephone operators.

Maryland

If any part of work is performed between
10 p.m. and 6 a.m., hours of employ
ment may not exceed 8 a night. (Maxi
mum for day work, 10 hours.)

Manufacturing, mechanical, mercan
tile, printing, baking, or launder
ing establishment. Office work
in such establishments and can
ning perishable fruits and vege
tables exempted.

New Hampshire

Work between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. on more
than 2 nights a week is considered night
work and such work may not exceed 8
hours in any 24 nor 48 hours in any
week.

Manual or mechanical labor in any
employment. Exempts household,
boardinghouse, and farm labor;
domestic, hotel, and cabin labor,
including dining and restaurant
service operated in connection
therewith and incidental thereto;
nursing; operators in telegraph and
telephone offices; canning of per
ishable fruits and vegetables.

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN
State

Regulation

Industry covered

New Mexico

Employment between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
may not exceed 54 hours a week, 8 hours
a night on 7 days of week. (Weekly
maximum for day work, 48 hours a
week.)

Telephone or telegraph office.

Pennsylvania

Night work permitted in establishment if
provisions of State hours law and reg
ulations of the industrial board are com
plied with. Applications for employment
on a 2- or 3-snift basis must be made to
the State labor department.
Employer is required to supply trans
portation for women and minors going
off duty between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.,
unless there is available and conven
iently located public transportation.

Manufacturing establishment.

Restaurant.

South Carolina

Employment at night may not exceed the
weekly maximum set for day work—55
hours.

Cotton and woolen mill manu
facturing yarns, cloth, hosiery,
and other products of merchan
dise.1

Utah

Women employed between 10 p.m. and
6 a.m. may not be required to report for
work or be dismissed from work during
these hours, unless suitable transporta
tion is available at no extra cost to
worker.

Retail trade.

Wisconsin

Employment between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
may not exceed 9 hours a night, 54 hours
a week. (Maximum for day work, 10 a
day, 55 a week.)
Employment between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
on more than one night a week may not
exceed 8 hours a night, 48 hours a week.
(Maximum for day work, 9 a day, 50 a
week.)

Hotel.

Restaurant.

]Law applies to both male and female employees, 16 years of age and over.

Appendix D
SUMMARY OF LIQUOR LAWS APPLICABLE TO HARTFORD,
INDIANAPOLIS, AND ATLANTA

Throughout Connecticut the hours during which alcoholic beverages
may be sold are limited by the Connecticut State Liquor Control Com
mission to between 9 a. m. and 1 a. m. on week days and between 12 noon
and 9 p. m. on Sundays.
In Indiana the sale of alcoholic beverages is forbidden by the Indiana
Alcoholic Beverage Commission between 12 p. m. and 7 a. m. No such
beverages may be sold on Sundays.
In Atlanta a municipal ordinance forbids the consumption of “spiritous
intoxicating liquors, mixed or plain, in or on any public place,” such as
a dining room, lobby, or other public place of a hotel and any similar
place. Another city ordinance prohibits the sale of “any beer and wine”
between 12 midnight and 6 a. m. of the following day, and from 12 mid
night on Saturday until 6 a. m. of the following Monday.

Appendix E
DISTRIBUTION OF FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES IN DEPARTMENTS OF HOTELS
IN EACH AREA, BY ENDING HOUR OF SHIFT AND BY SEX

Ending hour of
shift and sex

Total
Front
office

Number of employees —

1,670

247

House House Mis
serv keep cella
ice
ing
neous

Total

731

453

443

Department

249

Front
office
73

House House Mis
serv keep cella
ice
ing
neous

Total

595

206

Atlanta

Indiana areas

Connecticut areas

All areas 1

Department

Mis
Front House House
keep cella
office serv
ice
ing
neous

Total

Mis
Front House House
cella
office serv keep
ing
ice
neous

161

246

622

195

279

Percent distribution
100

100

70
30

46
54

47
53

91
9

76
24

74
26

42
58

51
49

96
4

75
25

69
31

51
49

47
53

85
15

82
18

68
32

43
57

45
55

91
9

70
30

100

26
21

19
46

30
38

12
2

62
23

26
21

15
54

34
40

13
2

55
23

27
20

17
40

33
36

12
3

62
19

25
21

25
46

27
38

12
1

70
30

Women. --------------------

27
8

16
16

78
8

14
1

49
4

27
4

16
10

83
2

20
2

42
11

34
9

14
17

73
12

After 10 p.m----------

44
9

44
10

18
11

18
17

80
7

Men and women______ _
After 10 p.m______
Men
After 10 p.m----------

Unweighted figures.

Appendix F
SCHEDULE FORMS

Budget Bureau No. 44-4708
Approval Expires 2-1-48
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Women’s Bureau
Washington
NIGHT WORK STUDY—HOTEL SCHEDULE

1. Name of HotelAddress
2. Person InterviewedPosition
3. Type: Chain __--------------- Independent
Name of Chain--------------------------------Address Main Office-.
4. Characteristics:
A. Commercial-----------------Residential or Apartment
B. Number of Guest Rooms, Suites or Apartments: Total Units
One-Room---------------- Multip] e-Room_______
C. Number of eating and/or drinking places_______________
5. Employment:
A. Total Employment (from Occupation List)
Total

Male

Female

Front Office
House Service
Housekeeping
Auxiliary Departments
Entertainment
Building Maintenance
Administrative only
Administrative and
Other Duties
Miscellaneous
Total
B. Are there significant variations from the present size of the staff
at any periods of the year? NoYesPeriods
amount of variation and reasons:_________
C. Is extra (noneating or drinking place) staff hired for special oc
casions involving work after 10 p.m. (conventions, meetings, ban
quets, dances, etc.) Yes______
No
If so:
Number

Dates or frequency of occasions

High ___________
_______________
Low
___________
_________
Usual ___________
____
D. Auxiliary services operating between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. (enter
tainment except in eating and drinking places; cigar and news
stand; laundry; garage, etc.). List services_____________

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

6. Occupations and hours of work, last normal week (record on occupa
tion list and time sheet). Number of time sheets attached to this
schedule
7. A. Is there a bonus for work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.? No-------YesIf yes, give details (by occupation if necessary)----B. Comments on other factors affecting earnings of day, evening
and night workers (including amounts collected in tips, overtime
pay, etc.)---------------------------------------------------------------------C. Comments on differences in working conditions, day, evening and
night8. Basis for assignments to work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. (age, sex,
seniority, new workers, etc. Indicate whether resulting from man
agement policy, collective bargaining, laws, etc.)------------------------

9. A. Are women employed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.?
YesNo----------------B. If women are not employed, or hours are limited, give reasons
and comments:
C. Is this employment schedule for women satisfactory from employ
er’s viewpoint?
YesNoIf not, give reasons:----------------10. Has hotel any union contracts (excluding eating and drinking
places)? Yes--------------No-------------Name

Affiliation

Occupational groups covered

11. Transportation—Are arrangements or provisions made for trans
portation home for workers on shifts ending after 10 p.m.? If so,
describe

Interviewer
Date

APPENDIX F

EMPLOYMENT AND HOURS OF WORK —HOTELS

Name of establishment__________________________________
Week ending______________________________________
Total workers
Occupation

Work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Male

Male

Female

End 10-2 OD 2-6 End 10-2 OD 2-6

Operation—Front Office:
Front Clerk, __ _ __
Cashier__
Other (specify)__
.
—

House Service:
House Detective ___
Bellboy _ _
Elevator Starter __ __
Elevator Operator
Porter- __
Telephone Operator
Doorman___
Valet
Checkroom Attendant-Restroom Attendant
Other (specify)__

Housekeeping:
Housekeeper__
Inspectress___
Linen-Room Girl
Houseman __
Seamstress .
ChambermaidOther (specify)- .. ..

“
;’'
_
_
““

—
—

Auxiliary Departments:
Cigar and Newsstand Clerk
Laundry. _
Garage and Parking Lot
Attendants- .
Barber Shop
.. _
Beauty Parlor
Other (specify)
......... —

Entertainment:
Musicians
___
Other Entertainers
Building Maintenance
Administrative___
Miscellaneous (specify)j.
lotal this sheet

----------------------------- ------ -----------

----

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

Budget Bureau No. 44-4708
Approval Expires 2-1-48
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Women’s Bureau
Washington
NIGHT-WORK STUDY—EATING AND DRINKING PLACE SCHEDULE

1. Name of EstablishmentAddress-----------------(Include name of hotel or store if so located)
2. Person Interviewed_________ _________ Position---------3. Type: Chain_____
Independent--------Name of ChainAddress Main Office
4. Characteristics:
A. Located in: Independent Unit-----Hotel----- Store (Type).
Other (specify)__________________________
B. Seating Capacity__________________________________
C. Service: Table Counter Self Room—Bar—Curb_
D. Type: Restaurant and Lunch Room_____ Cafeteria------Lunch counter and refreshment stand----------------Drinking place
E. Serve: Light wines, beer, aleOther liquors—None
F. Hours Open to Public:
Open

Open

Hours Peak Load

Sun.
Mon. ____ ____
Tue.
Wed. ___________________________________ ____________
Thur. _________________________ ______________________
Fri.
_____________________________ __________________
Sat.
G. Reasons for these Hours: (Location and consumer demand: work
ers, travelers, recreation, residential, etc.; cost factors: etc.)___

H. Food Served: Continuously_____ Breakfast-------- Lunch---------Dinner_____ Other (specify)
5. Employment:
A. Are there any workers (other than building maintenance and
administrative) employed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.? No----Yes___
B. If working hours in 5A are limited, are there any reasons for the
limitations besides those given in 4G (e.g., limited by employer
agreements, collective bargaining, ordinances, laws, etc.) No----Yes___ Reasons

APPENDIX F

C. Total Employment
Total

Male

Female

Kitchen
___________________________
Dining Room
Administrative
_____________________________
Miscellaneous
_________________________
Total
______________________________________
D. Are there significant variations from the present size of the staff
at any periods of the year? No____ Yes____ Periods, amount
of variation and reasons:____________
E. Is extra staff (food preparation and serving) hired for special
occasions involving work after 10 p.in. (dinner meetings, ban
quets, etc.)? Yes____ No
Number

mgh--------------

Dates or frequency of occasions

------- ;

Low _____________
_____________
Usual_____________
______________
6. Occupations and hours of work, last normal week (record on oc
cupation list and time sheet). Number of time sheets attached
to this schedule___________________________
7. A. Is there a bonus for work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.? No___
Yes------ If yes, give details (by occupation if necessary)
B. Comments on other factors affecting earnings of day, evening
and night workers (including amounts collected in tips, overtime
pay, etc.)_________________________________________
C. Comments on differences in working conditions, day, evening
and night__________________________
8. Basis for assignments to work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. (age,
sex, seniority, new workers, etc. Indicate whether resulting
from management policy, collective bargaining, laws, etc.)

9. A. Are women employed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.?
YesNo
B. If women are not employed, or hours are limited, give reasons
and comments:__________
C. Is this employment schedule for women satisfactory from
employer’s viewpoint? Yes_____ NoIf not, give reasons:

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

10. Has establishment any union contracts?
Name

Affiliation

Yes------- No----Occupational groups covered

11. Transportation—Are arrangements or provisions made for trans
portation home for workers on shifts ending after 10 p.m.? If so,
describe

Interviewer.
Date

APPENDIX F
EMPLOYMENT AND HOURS OF WORK —EATING AND DRINKING PLACES

Name of establishment____________ _____ ___________ ____ ____________
Week ending
Total workers

Work between 10 p.m. and 6 a m.

Occupation

Male
Male

Female

Female
End 10-2 OD 2-6 End 10-2 OD 2-6

Kitchen:
Baker________
_
Chef____________________
Steward_____
__
Cook______
.
Short Order Cook _ ._ __
Dishwasher, __
___
Food Checker
Kitchen Helper _
Pantry Man, .
_ _____
Sandwich Man, _________
Steam Table Attendant
_
Other (specify) __
__

Dining Room:
Bartender, ___
_____
Busboy_____
__
___
Car Hop
__ .
______
Counterman
Head Waiter.
___ _____
Hostess__ ______
Waiter__________ ____
Room Service Waiter,
_,
Other (specify) ____

Miscellaneous:
Cashier
______
Checkroom Attendant _
_
Rest Room Attendant
Musicians________ _ ____
Other Entertainers.
_ _ _
Cigarette Girl.____
___
Charwoman _
._
Other (specify)____ _______
Administrative___________
._
Total this sheet

Ol
TIME SHEET

Beginning

Tuesday

Saturday

AM-PM
AM-PM to
. ___ AM-PM
___ ____ AM-PM to.. .. ____AM-PM
AM-PM
AM-PM
AM-PM
AM-PM to
_______ AM-PM to________AM-PM

and

Ending Hours

............ AM-PM to____ ____AM-PM
.. ______ AM-PM to........ ........AM-PM
.. ............AM-PM to____ ........AM-PM
______ AM-PM to________AM-PM
............ AM-PM to____ ____AM-PM
............ AM-PM to____ ........AM-PM
.. .......... AM-PM to_________AM-PM

.. ______AM-PM to____ ____AM-PM
.. ............AM-PM to____ ____AM-PM
.. ___ ..AM-PM to_____ ____AM-PM
.. ______AM-PM to.. .. ____AM-PM
.. ______AM-PM to____ ____AM-PM
.. ______AM-PM to____ ........AM-PM
.. ______ AM-PM to________AM-PM

Is there variation in weekly schedule:
Shift rotation (specify)
Split time (specify)...------- ---------------------------------------------Other variations (specify)
List names, addresses, telephone numbers, and social security numbers of all persons covered by this sheet'on the reverse side.

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

Hotel or Eating and Drinking Place (Name)------------ -----------------------------Worker (“Group” or Name)--------------------- ----------------------------------------Number Reported: TotalMaleFemale__
Occupation
Week Ending

APPENDIX F

Budget Bureau No. 44-4708
Approval Expires 2-1-48
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Women’s Bubeau
Washington
NIGHT-WORK STUDY—EMPLOYEE SCHEDULE

1. Name_____________
Address
Social Security Number
Where Employed_____ --------------Occupation_____________
Race: White
Marital Status: Single___
Negro________
Married. _
Other
Separated
Widowed.
Divorced2. Living Arrangements:
With Family____ Apart From Family
3. Family Household:
A.
Relationship
to Worker

Sex

Age: Worker and
under 21 Yrs.

Empl.
Status

Days Worked
Per Week

Begin

Hours
End

Worker

B. Worker’s Financial Responsibilities ("enter proper code number)--'II
C. 1. Who Cares For and/or Supervises: worker at Home Worker Not at Home
a. Children under 6____________________
b. Children 6 through 12________________ __
c. Others (specify)____________________
2. Who Performs Household DutiesII-__I_IIIIII~~"
3. If Worker Were on Day Shift, Would More or Less" Help Be
Required for Above Duties?________________
4. Employment of Worker:
A. Time Worked Since January 1, 1937
rnHiwtrv
Industry

rp.
Total Time

„ Time Fixed Shifts
Day
Evening
Night

Present____________________
Other (specify)_____________________

Time Rotating Shifts
2—Shift
3—Shift

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

B. Was any of Above Employment on Split Shifts?
YesSpecify

C. Time Worked for Present Employer-----------------------------------D. Record on Time Sheet the Hours of Work, for the Week Endings _
Same as Employer Record
Time Sheet Attached
E. 1. Does Worker Receive Bonus for Work on Present Shift?
No_____ Yes_____ Rate
2. Does Worker Ever Work Overtime on Present Job? No
Yes__r__
If Yes:
a. How Extensive is Such Overtime?
b. Is Worker Paid an Overtime Rate? No_____ Yes
Rate
3. a. Is the Amount Collected, in Tips Higher: Evening
Night_____ Day-------b. Comments on Tips
5. Night Work:
A. Why is Worker on Present Shift?--------------------------------------B. Does Work on Shifts Operating Between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Create Problems for the Worker Which do not Exist with Day
time Employment?__ _
C. Suggestions for Lessening or Solving These Problems
D. 1. What Hours are Best Suited to Worker’s Family Responsibili
ties?
Reasons:
2. Excluding Family Responsibilities, What Hours Would
Worker Prefer?
Reasons:
E. Do the Hours Worked by Other Members of the Family House
hold Aid or Complicate Family Life? Explain:---------------------F. Advantages and Disadvantages of Rotating Shifts:
G. Advantages and Disadvantages of Split'Shifts:

Interviewer.
Date

CURRENT PUBLICATIONS OF THE
WOMEN'S BUREAU
FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS—issued monthly. 4 pages. (Latest statis
tics on employment of women; earnings; labor laws affecting women; news items
of interest to women workers; women in the international scene.)
HANDBOOK OF FACTS ON WOMEN WORKERS. Bull. 225. 79 pp. 1948. 25c.
THE AMERICAN WOMAN—Her Changing Role as Worker, Homemaker, Citizen.
(Women’s Bureau Conference, 1948.) Bull. 224. 210 pp. 1948.
EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK AND TRAINING FOR WOMEN
The Outlook for Women in Occupations in the Medical and Other Health Services,
Bull. 203:
1. Physical Therapists. 14 pp. 1945. 10c.
2. Occupational Therapists. 15 pp. 1945. 10c.
3. Professional Nurses. 66 pp. 1946. 15c.

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Medical Laboratory Technicians. 10 pp. 1945. 10c.
Practical Nurses and Hospital Attendants. 20 pp. 1945. 10c.
Medical Record Librarians. 9 pp. 1945. 10c.
Women Physicians. 28 pp. 1945. 10c.
X-Ray Technicians. 14 pp. 1945. 10c.
Women Dentists. 21 pp. 1945. 10c.
Dental Hygienists. 17 pp. 1945. 10c.
Physicians’ and Dentists’ Assistants. 15 pp. 1945. 10c.
Trends and Their Effect Upon the Demand for Women Workers. 55 pp.
1946. 15c.

The Outlook for Women in Science, Bull. 223:
1. Science. [General introduction to the series.] 81 pp. 1949. 20c.
2. Chemistry. 65 pp. 1948. 20c.
3. Biological Sciences. 87 pp. 1948. 25c.
4. Mathematics and Statistics. 21 pp. 1948. 10c.
5. Architecture and Engineering. 88 pp. 1948. 25c.
6. Physics and Astronomy. 32 pp. 1SM8. 15c.
7. Geology, Geography, and Meteorology. 52 pp. 1948. 15c.
8. Occupations Related to Science. 33 pp. 1948. 15c.
The Outlook for Women in Police Work. Bull. 231. 31 pp. 1949. 15c.
Your Jeb Future After College. Leaflet. 1947. (Rev. 1948.)
Your Job Future After High School. Leaflet. 1949.
Occupations for Girls and Women—Selected References. Bull. 229. (In press.)
Training for Jobs—for Women and Girls. [Under public funds available for voca
tional training purposes.] Leaflet 1. 1947.
EARNINGS
Earnings of Women in Selected Manufacturing Industries. 1946. Bull. 219. 14 pp.
1948. 10c.

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

LABOR LAWS
Summary of State Labor Laws for Women. 8 pp. 1949. Multilith.
Minimum Wage
State Minimum-Wage Laws and Orders, 1942: An Analysis. Bull. 191. 52 pp.
1942. 20c. Supplement, July 1, 1942—January 1, 1949. Bull. 227. (In press.)
State Minimum-Wage Laws. Leaflet 1. 1948.
Model Bill for State minimum-wage law for women. Mimeo.
Map showing States having minimum-wage laws. (Desk size; wall size.)
Equal Pay
Equal Pay for Women. Leaflet 2. 1947. (Rev. 1948.)
Chart analyzing State equal-pay laws and Model Bill. Mimeo.
Text of State laws (separates). Mimeo.
Model Bill for State equal-pay law. Mimeo.
Selected References on Equal Pay for Women. 10 pp. 1949. Mimeo.
Movement for Equal-Pay Legislation in the United States. 5 pp. 1949.
Multilith.
Hours of Work and Other Labor Laws
State Labor Laws for Women, with Wartime Modifications, Dec. 15, 1944. Bull.
202.

I. Analysis of Hour Laws. 110 pp. 1945. 15c.
II. Analysis of Plant Facilities Laws. 43 pp. 1945. 10c.
III. Analysis of Regulatory Laws, Prohibitory Laws, Maternity Laws. 12 pp.
1945. 5c.
IV. Analysis of Industrial Home-Work Laws. 26 pp. 1945. 10c.
V. Explanation and Appraisal. 66 pp. 1946. 15c.
Supplements through 1948. Mimeo.
Working Women and Unemployment Insurance. Leaflet. (In press.)
Maps of United States showing State hour laws, daily and weekly. (Desk size;
wall size.)
LEGAL STATUS OF WOMEN
International Documents on the Status of Women. Bull. 217. 116 pp. 1947. 25c.
Legal Status of Women in the United States of America, January 1, 1948.
United States Summary. Bull. 157. (In preparation.)
Reports for States, territories and possessions (separates). Bulls. 157-1 through
157-54. 5c and 10c each.
The Political and Civil Status of Women in the United States of America.
Summary, including Principal Sex Distinctions as of January 1, 1948. Leaflet.
1948.
Women’s Eligibility for Jury Duty. Leaflet. July 1, 1949.
Reply of United States Government to Questionnaire of United Nations Economic
and Social Council on the Legal Status and Treatment of Women. "Part I.
Public Law. In 6 sections: A and B, Franchise and Public Office; C, Public
Services and Functions; D, Educational and Professional Opportunities; E,
Fiscal Laws; F, Civil Liberties; and G, Nationality. Mimeo.
HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYMENT
Old-Age Insurance for Household Workers. Bull. 220. 20 pp. 1947. 10c.
Community Household Employment Programs. Bull. 221. 70 pp. 1948. 20c.

NIGHT WORK FOR WOMEN

RECOMMENDED STANDARDS for women’s working conditions, safety, and
health:
Standards of Employment for Women. Leaflet 1. 1946. 5c each. (Rev. 1948.)
When You Hire Women. Sp. Bull. 14. 16 pp. 1944. 10c.
The Industrial Nurse and the Woman Worker. Bull. 228. (Partial revision of
Sp. Bull. 19. 1944.) 48 pp. 1949. 15c.
Women’s Effective War Work Requires Good Posture. Sp. Bull. 10. 6 pp. 1943.
5c.
Washing and Toilet Facilities for Women in Industry. Sp. Bull. 4. 11 pp. 1942.
5c.
Lifting and Carrying Weights by Women in Industry. Sp. Bull. 2. (Rev. 1946.)
12 pp. 5c.
Safety Clothing for Women in Industry. Sp. Bull. 3. 11 pp. 1941. 10c.
Supplements: Safety Caps; Safety Shoes. 4 pp. ea. 1944. 5c ea.
Poster—Work Clothes for Safety and Efficiency.
WOMEN UNDER UNION CONTRACTS
Maternity-Benefits Under Union-Contract Health Insurance Plans
19 pp. 1947. 10c.
COST OF LIVING BUDGETS
Working Women’s Budgets in Twelve States. Bull. 226. 36 pp.

Bull

214

1948. 15c.

EMPLOYMENT
Employment of Women in the Early Postwar Period, with Background of Pre
war and War Data. Bull. 211. 14 pp. 1946. 10c.
Women’s Occupations Through Seven Decades. Bull. 218. 260 pp. 1947 45c
(Popular version, Bull. 232, Women’s Jobs: Advance and Growth, in press.)
Women Workers After VJ-Day in One Community—Bridgeport Conn Bull 21 fi
37 pp. 1947. 15c. '
Baltimore Women War Workers in the Postwar Period. 61 pp. 1948. Mimeo.
INDUSTRY
Women Workers in Power Laundries. Bull. 215. 71 pp. 1947. 20c.
The Woman Telephone Worker [1944], Bull. 207. 28 pp. 1946. 10c.
Typical Women’s Jobs in the Telephone Industry [1944] Bull 207-A 52 ™
1947. 15c.
'
'
Women in the Federal Service, 1923-1947. Part I. Trends in Employment. Bull.
230-1. (In press.) Part II. Occupational Information. Bull. 230-11. (In
preparation.)
Night Work for Women in Hotels and Restaurants. Bull. 233. (Instant publi
cation.)
WOMEN IN LATIN AMERICA
Women Workers in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Bull. 195. 15 pp. 1942. 5C
Women Workers in Brazil. Bull. 206. 42 pp. 1946. 10c.
Women Workers in Paraguay. Bull. 210. 16 pp. 1946. 10c.
Women Workers in Peru. Bull. 213. 41 pp. 1947. 10c.
Social and Labor Problems of Peru and Uruguay. 1944. Mimeo.
Women in Latin America: Legal Rights and Restrictions. (Address before the
National Association of Women Lawyers.)
THE WOMEN’S BUREAU—Its Purpose and Functions. Leaflet. 1949.
Write the Women’s Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, Washington 25, D. C.,
for complete list of publications available for distribution.

* U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1949—840887

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1949
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office
Washington 25, D. C. - Price 20 cents

Full text of Night Work for Women in Hotels and Restaurants : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 233

FRASER