Agricultural Wages Act 1948

The Agricultural Wages Board and Agricultural Wages Committees

1 The Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales

(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.

2 Agricultural wages committees for counties and combinations of counties

(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.

(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.