The Agricultural Wages Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 47) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated enactments related to agricultural wages in England and Wales. The Agricultural Wages Board regulated the amount that farm workers were paid under the act, in order to guarantee a fair minimum wage scale, depending, for example, on type of work, or years of experience. After the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 was introduced, agricultural wages tended to be slightly higher than those at the minimum. However, the Conservative-Liberal-Democrat coalition government decided to allow farm worker wages to be reduced by repealing most of the act in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013.
Provisions
Repealed enactments Section 20 of the act repealed 3 enactments, listed in the fifth schedule to the act. Citation Short title Extent of repeal 14 & 15 Geo. 5. c. 37 Agricultural Wages (Regulation) Act 1924 The whole act. 1 & 2 Geo. 6. c. 70 Holidays with Pay Act 1938 Sections one, two, three and five so far as they relate to workers employed in agriculture. 10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 15 Agricultural Wages (Regulation) Act 1947 The whole act.
Subsequent developments The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 repealed a number of the act's provisions with effect from 25 June 2013, including section 1 (which had established the Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales) and sections 3 and 4 (which had conferred power on the Board to fix rates of wages and to enforce holiday provisions). Several other provisions remain in force, including section 5 (permits to incapacitated persons), section 11 (avoidance of agreements in contravention of the act) and section 12 (officers).
See also Agriculture Act 1920 Agricultural Wages (Regulation) Act 1924 Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Act 1949 Minister of Food (United Kingdom) Scottish Agricultural Wages Board
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