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This version of this statute is extracted from the UK Statute Law Database (SLD). It is not necessarily in the form in which it was originally enacted but is a revised version, which means that any subsequent amendments to the text and other effects are incorporated with annotations.
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The Agricultural Wages Board and Agricultural Wages Committees
3. Power of Agricultural Wages Board to fix wages, holidays and other terms and conditions
8. Power of agricultural wages committee to award additional wages for piece work in certain cases
9. Provisions as to applications, &c., to agricultural wages committees
10. Criminal liability of agents and special defence open to employer
11. Avoidance of agreements in contravention of this Act and saving for other agreements, &c
Constitution and Proceedings of the Agricultural Wages Board
Combinations of Counties for which Agricultural Wages Committees are to be initially Established
Constitution and Proceedings of Agricultural Wages Committees
An Act to consolidate the Agricultural Wages (Regulation) Acts, 1924 to 1947, and so much of the Holidays with Pay Act, 1938, as enables a wage regulating authority to make provision for holidays and holiday remuneration for workers employed in agriculture in England and Wales.
[13th July 1948]
C1Power to amend Act conferred by Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968 (c. 34), s. 46(1)
C2Act amended by Employment Protection act 1975 (c. 71), Sch. 9 Pt.II para. 1
C3Certain functions of Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under ss. 2, 9, 12-14, 16, Schs. 1, 3 now exercisable (W.) by Secretary of State or Minister and Secretary of State jointly: S.I. 1978/272, arts. 2, 4, Schs. 1, 2
Act: Certain functions of a Minister of the Crown transferred to the National Assembly for Wales (W.) (1.7.1999 subject to entry in Sch. 1 of the amending Act) by S.I. 1999/672, art. 2, Sch. 1
C4Act excluded (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 39, s. 46(3)(4)(a) (with s. 36); S.I. 1999/685, art. 2, Sch. (with art. 3)
Power to amend Act conferred (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 39, s. 47(2)(a)(3) (with s. 36); S.I. 1999/685, art. 2, Sch. (with art. 3)
(1)There shall be a Board, to be called the Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales (in this Act referred to as “the Board”), which shall have, in relation to each of the counties and combinations of counties in England and Wales for which agricultural wages committees are established under the next following section, such functions with respect to the fixing of minimum rates of wages for workers employed in agriculture and of directing that such workers shall be entitled to be allowed holidays, and such other functions, as are conferred on the Board by the subsequent provisions of this Act.
(2)In the exercise, in relation to a county or combination of counties, of their functions under this Act with respect to fixing, cancelling and varying rates of wages, reckoning benefits and advantages as payment of wages and the payment of premiums in respect of apprentices or learners the Board shall, without prejudice to any other provision of this Act, have regard to representations made to them by the agricultural wages committee established under the next following section for the county or combination of counties.
(3)The provisions of the First Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to the constitution and proceedings of the Board.
(1)Subject to the provisions of this Act, there shall be established, by order of the Minister made by statutory instrument, an agricultural wages committee for each county in England and Wales:
Provided that—
(a)as respects each combination of counties specified in the Second Schedule to this Act, there shall, in the first instance, be established as aforesaid a committee for the combination instead of a committee for each county; and
(b)if, in the case of each of the respective committees for two or more counties, there is passed by the members of the committee representing employers and the members thereof representing workers in agriculture a resolution in favour of combining the counties for the purposes of this Act, there may, if the Minister thinks it expedient, be established as aforesaid a committee for the combination of counties instead of separate committees for the several counties [F1and
(c)there may, if the Minister thinks it expedient, be established as aforesaid a committee for the combination of all the counties in Wales instead of separate committees for counties or combinations of counties in Wales.]
(2)Where an agricultural wages committee has been established for a combination of counties, the Minister at any time thereafter may, and on the representation of the committee by resolution of the members thereof representing employers and the members thereof representing workers in agriculture shall, by statutory instrument dissolve the committee.
(3)A combination of counties for which an agricultural wages committee is established under this section shall, until the committee is dissolved, be deemed for the purposes of this section and the subsequent provisions of this Act to be one county.
(4)The functions of agricultural wages committees under this Act shall, subject to the provisions of this Act and any order made thereunder, be exercised in accordance with any directions in that behalf given by the Board.
(5)A resolution for the purposes of paragraph (b) of the proviso to subsection (1) of this section or of subsection (2) thereof, as the case may be, that is passed at a meeting of an agricultural wages committee unanimously by such of the members thereof representing employers and such of the members thereof representing workers in agriculture as are present and voting shall be deemed, for the purposes of the said paragraph (b) or the said subsection (2), as the case may be, to be a resolution of those members.
(6)The provisions of the Third Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to the constitution and proceedings of agricultural wages committees.
F1S. 2(1)(c) and the word preceding it inserted (1.12.1998) by 1998 c. 38, s. 149 (with ss. 139(2), 143(2)); S.I. 1998/2789, art. 2.
(1)Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this section, the Board shall have power, for each county for which an agricultural wages committee is established under this Act, to make an order in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 4 to this Act—
(a)fixing minimum rates of wages;
(b)directing holidays to be allowed;
(c)fixing any other terms and conditions of employment;
for workers employed in agriculture.
(2)The power of the Board to make an order under subsection (1)(a) of this section fixing minimum rates of wages is a power to make an order—
(a)fixing minimum rates for time work;
(b)fixing minimum rates for piece work;
(c)fixing minimum rates for time work, to apply in the case of workers employed on piece work, for the purpose of securing to such workers a minimum rate of remuneration on a time work basis; or
(d)fixing separate minimum rates by way of pay in respect of holidays:
Provided that the minimum time rate for piece work shall not in any case be higher than the minimum rate which, if the work were time work, would be applicable thereto by virtue of paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(2A)It shall be the duty of the Board to make an order under this section fixing such minimum rates of wages for time work as are referred to in paragraph (a) of the last preceding subsection.
[ F2(2B)No minimum rate fixed under this section which is an hourly rate shall be less than the national minimum wage.
(2C)No minimum rate fixed under this section which is a rate other than an hourly rate shall be such as to yield a less amount of wages for each hour worked than the hourly amount of the national minimum wage.]
(3)An order under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section directing that a worker shall be allowed a holiday—
(a)shall not be made unless both minimum rates of wages in respect of the period of the holiday and minimum rates of wages otherwise than in respect of the holiday have been or are being fixed under this section for that worker;
(b)shall provide for the duration of the holiday’s being related to the duration of the period for which the worker has been employed or engaged to be employed by the employer who is to allow the holiday; and
(c)subject as aforesaid, may make provision as to the times at which or the periods within which, and the circumstances in which, the holiday shall be allowed.
(3A)An order under this section fixing separate minimum rates of wages in respect of holidays may make provision—
(a)with respect to the times at which, and the conditions subject to which, those wages shall accrue and shall become payable, and
(b)for securing that any such wages which have accrued to a worker during his employment by any employer shall, in the event of his ceasing to be employed by that employer before he becomes entitled to be allowed a holiday by him, nevertheless become payable by the employer to the worker.
(4)Any such minimum rates of wages as are mentioned in subsection (2) of this section may be fixed so as to vary according as the employment is for a day, week, month or other period, or according to the number of working hours, or the conditions of the employment, or so as to provide for a differential rate in the case of employment defined by the Board as being overtime employment, whether that employment is remunerated on a time work or a piece work basis.
In the exercise of their powers under this subsection, the Board shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, secure a weekly half-holiday for workers.
(5)An order under this section shall have effect as regards any terms as to renumeration from a date specified in the order, which may be a date earlier than the date of the order but not earlier than the date on which the Board agreed on those terms prior to publishing (in accordance with Schedule 4 to this Act) the original proposals to which effect is given, with or without modifications, by the order.
(6)Any increase of wages payable by virtue of an order under this section in respect of any time before the date of the order (hereafter in this Act referred to as arrears of wages) shall be paid by the employer within a period specified in the order being—
(a)in the case of a worker who is in the employment of the employer on that date, a period beginning with that date;
(b)in the case of a worker who is no longer in the employment of the employer on that date a period beginning with that date or the date on which the employer receives from the worker or a person acting on his behalf a request in writing for those wages, whichever is the later.
(7)Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the Board fixing a minimum rate of wages so as to secure that workers employed in agriculture receive remuneration calculated by reference to periods during the currency of their employment.
[ F3(8)If the Board make, or purport to make, an order fixing a minimum rate under this section—
(a)which is an hourly rate but which is lower than the national minimum wage in force when that minimum rate comes into effect, or
(b)which is a rate other than an hourly rate but which is such as to yield a less amount of wages for each hour worked than the hourly amount of the national minimum wage in force when that minimum rate comes into effect,
they shall be taken to have made an order fixing in place of that minimum rate a minimum rate equal to the national minimum wage or, as the case may be, a minimum rate such as to yield an amount of wages for each hour worked equal to the hourly amount of the national minimum wage.
(9)If, at any time after a minimum rate which is an hourly rate comes into effect under this section, the national minimum wage becomes higher than that minimum rate, then, as respects any period beginning at or after that time, the Board shall be taken to have made an order fixing in place of that minimum rate a minimum rate equal to the national minimum wage.
(10)If, at any time after a minimum rate other than an hourly rate comes into effect under this section, the national minimum wage is increased to such a level that that minimum rate yields a less amount of wages for each hour worked than the hourly amount of the national minimum wage, then, as respects any period beginning at or after that time, the Board shall be taken to have made an order fixing in place of that minimum rate a minimum rate such as to yield an amount of wages for each hour worked equal to the hourly amount of the national minimum wage.
(11)Subsections (8) to (10) of this section are without prejudice to the power of the Board to make further orders under this section fixing any minimum rates.
(12)Where an order under this section fixes any particular minimum rate of wages by reference to two or more component rates, of which—
(a)one is the principal component, and
(b)the other or others are supplemental or additional components,
(as in a case where the minimum rate for night work is fixed as the sum of the minimum rate payable in respect of work other than night work and a supplemental or additional minimum rate in respect of working at night) the national minimum wage provisions of this section apply in relation to the principal component rate and not the supplemental or additional component rates.
(13)The national minimum wage provisions of this section do not apply in relation to any minimum rate which is in the nature of an allowance payable in respect of some particular responsibility or circumstance (as in a case where a minimum rate is fixed in respect of being required to keep a dog).
(14)The national minimum wage provisions of this section do not apply in relation to any minimum rate fixed under this section—
(a)by virtue of subsection (2)(d) of this section, or
(b)by virtue of section 67 of the M1Agriculture Act 1967 (sick pay),
unless and to the extent that regulations under section 2 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 make provision which has the effect that circumstances or periods in respect of which the minimum rate in question is required to be paid to a worker are treated as circumstances in which, or times at which, a person is to be regarded as working.
(15)In this section “the national minimum wage provisions of this section” means subsections (2B), (2C) and (8) to (10) of this section.]]
F1S. 3 substituted by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71), Sch. 9 Pt. I
F2S. 3(2B)(2C) inserted (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 39, s. 47, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 2(2) (with s. 36); S.I. 1999/685, art. 2, Sch. 1 (with art. 3)
F3S. 3(8)-(15) added (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 39, ss. 47, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 2(3) (with s. 36); S.I. 1999/685, art. 2, Sch.
C1S. 3(1)(a) amended by Agriculture Act 1967 (c. 22), s. 67(1)(3)
C2S. 3(7) amended ibid., s. 67(2)
M11967 c. 22.
(1)The enforcement provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 shall have effect for the purposes of this Act as they have effect for the purposes of that Act, but with the modifications specified in subsections (3) and (4) of this section.
(2)In subsection (1) of this section “the enforcement provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998” means the following provisions of that Act—
(a)sections 9 to 11 (records);
(b)section 14 (powers of officers);
(c)sections 17 and 19 to 22 (enforcement of right to national minimum wage);
(d)sections 23 and 24 (right not to suffer detriment);
(e)section 28 (evidence: reversal of burden of proof in civil proceedings);
(f)sections 31 to 33 (offences);
(g)section 48 (superior employers); and
(h)section 49 (restriction on contracting out).
(3)In the application of any provision of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 by subsection (1) of this section—
(a)any reference to that Act, other than a reference to a specific provision of it, includes a reference to this Act;
(b)any reference to a worker (within the meaning of that Act) shall be taken as a reference to a worker employed in agriculture (within the meaning of this Act);
(c)any reference to a person (however described) who qualifies for the national minimum wage shall be taken as a reference to a worker employed in agriculture;
(d)subject to paragraph (c) of this subsection, any reference to the national minimum wage, other than a reference to the hourly amount of the national minimum wage, shall be taken as a reference to the minimum rate applicable under this Act;
(e)subject to paragraph (c) of this subsection, any reference to qualifying for the national minimum wage shall be taken as a reference to being entitled to the minimum rate applicable under this Act;
F2(f). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[F3(3A)In the application of section 17 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 by subsection (1) of this section–
(a)for subsection (2) there shall be substituted the following subsection–
“(2)That amount is the difference between–
(a)the remuneration received by the worker as a worker employed in agriculture for the pay reference period from his employer; and
(b)the amount which he would have received as a worker employed in agriculture for that period had he been remunerated by the employer at the minimum rate applicable under this Act.”
(b)subsection (3) shall be disregarded.]
(4)In the application of section 33 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (proceedings for offences) by subsection (1) of this section, any reference to the Secretary of State shall be taken to include a reference to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
(5)In section 104A of the M1Employment Rights Act 1996 (unfair dismissal: national minimum wage) in subsection (1)(c)—
(a)any reference to a person qualifying for the national minimum wage includes a reference to a person being or becoming entitled to a minimum rate applicable under this Act; and
(b)any reference to a person qualifying for a particular rate of national minimum wage includes a reference to a person being or becoming entitled to a particular minimum rate applicable under this Act.]
F1S. 3A inserted (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 39, s. 47, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 3 (with s. 36); S.I. 1999/685, art. 2, Sch.
F2S. 3A(3)(f) omitted (1.4.1999) by virtue of S.I. 1999/712, art. 2(2)
F3S. 3A(3A) inserted (1.4.1999) by S.I. 1999/712, art. 2(3)
C1S. 3A(4) modified (1.7.1999) by S.I. 1999/672, art. 2, Sch.
M11996 c. 18.
(1)Subject to the provisions of this Act, if an employer fails—
F2(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F2(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(c)to allow to any such worker the holidays fixed by the order; [F3or
F2(d). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]
he shall be liable on summary conviction in respect of each offence to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds F4. . .
F5(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3)In any proceedings against a person under this section it shall lie with him to prove that he F6. . . has allowed the holidays fixed by the order, F6. . ..
F7(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F1Sidenote to s. 4 becomes “Enforcement of holidays orders” (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 39, s. 47, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 4(2) (with s. 36); S.I. 1999/685, art. 2, Sch. (with art. 3)
F2S. 4(1)(a)(b)(d) repealed (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 39, ss. 47, 53, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 4(1)(a)(i), Sch. 3 (with s. 36); S.I. 1999/685, art. 2, Sch. (with art. 3)
F3Word and s. 4(1)(d) inserted by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71), Sch. 9 Pt. II para. 1
F4Words in s. 4(1) repealed (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 39, ss. 47, 53, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 4(1)(a)(ii), Sch. 3 (with s. 36); S.I. 1999/685, art. 2, Sch. (with art. 3)
F5S. 4(2) repealed (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 39, ss. 47, 53, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 4(1)(b), Sch. 3 (with s. 36); S.I. 1999/685, art. 2, Sch. (with art. 3)
F6Words in s. 4(3) repealed (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 39, ss. 47, 53, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 4(1)(c), Sch. 3 (with s. 36); S.I. 1999/685, art. 2, Sch. (with art. 3)
F7S. 4(4) repealed (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 39, ss. 47, 53, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 4(1)(d), Sch. 3 (with s. 36).; S.I. 1999/685, art. 2, Sch. (with art. 3)
C1S. 4(1) amended by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71, SIF 43:1), s. 97, Sch. 9 Pt. II para. 5 and Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48, SIF 39:1), ss. 38 (increase of fines) and 46 (substitution of references to levels on the standard scale)
(1)If, on an application in that behalf, an agricultural wages committee are satisfied that a worker employed or desiring to be employed in their county on time work to which a minimum rate fixed under this Act is applicable, or on piece work to which a minimum time rate so fixed is applicable, is so affected by any physical injury or mental deficiency, or any infirmity due to age or to any other cause, that he is incapable of earning that minimum rate, the committee shall grant to him a permit exempting, as from the date of the application or from a later date specified in the permit, his employment from the provisions of [F1subsection (1) of section 31 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 as it applies for the purposes of this Act (offence of refusing or wilfully neglecting to pay worker at applicable rate)], subject to such conditions as may be specified in the permit, including, if the committee think fit, a condition as to the wages to be paid to the worker, and, while the permit has effect, an employer shall not be liable to [F2any legal proceedings under that subsection, as it so applies, for refusing or wilfully neglecting] to pay to the worker wages at a rate not less than the minimum rate if those conditions are complied with.
[ F3(1A)Every permit under subsection (1) of this section (whenever granted) shall be deemed to contain a condition that the worker to whom it is granted must at any time be paid at a rate which—
(a)in the case of an hourly rate, is not less than the national minimum wage in force at that time; or
(b)in the case of a rate other than an hourly rate, is such as to yield an amount of wages for each hour worked which is not less than the hourly amount of the national minimum wage in force at that time.
Agricultural Wages Act 1948