HC Deb 05 March 1906 vol 153 cc79-80
MR. STUART WORTLEY (Sheffield, Hallam)

To ask the Secretary of S ate for War whether, in a Government store in Pimlico, fines are or recently were imposed and deducted from wages; and, if so, whether it is intended to make in this case, and in any other cases where a like practice may prevail in establishment controlled by the War Office, the same reform as is contemplated in the case of deductions from wages of Chinese labourers in Transvaal mines.

(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) The right hon. and learned Member is presumably referring to the Army Clothing Department at Pimlico, and to the system of forfeiture of pay for irregularity in attendance. If an employee can prove to the satisfaction of an officer that his lateness was due to some unavoidable cause no deduction is made from his pay. It is not proposed to make any alteration in this system.