The Act of 1691
The Poor Law Act of 1691 gave further criteria for determining the place of settlement. To qualify for a new place of settlement, a person could be considered if they had worked continuously for a year in the new parish. To avoid the granting of new places of settlement, employers only hired their employees for 364 days, one day short of a full year, or they would include holiday time and so break the continuous period of employment. Likewise, if employees did not like their new parish, they would resign their positions before the year was complete to avoid being trapped there.