Seats for Shop Assistants Act 1899 receives royal assent (1899)

The Seats for Shop Assistants Act 1899 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that mandated seating for female retail employees. It required at least one seat for every three female workers to combat long standing hours. The Act received royal assent, the final step for a bill to become law, following its passage through both Houses of Parliament.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. The Act aimed to combat the practice of retail employers expecting female employees to stand for long periods, which could exceed twelve hours. It mandated at least one seat for every three female employees. The legislation originated as a private member's bill drafted by the Glasgow Council for Women's Trades and introduced by MP John McAusland Denny.

Parliamentary Process. The bill was first read in the House of Commons on 21 February 1899 and debated at its second reading on 12 April. Royal assent is the final step required for a parliamentary bill to become law. In the United Kingdom, a bill is presented for royal assent after it has passed all required stages in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Royal Assent. Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature. In the United Kingdom, the Sovereign may appear personally in the House of Lords or appoint Lords Commissioners to announce that assent has been granted. This process is considered a formality under a modern constitutional monarchy.

People involved

Sources

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.