42. Mr. Glenvil Hallasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that some London secretarial agencies supplying clerical staff on a hiring basis deduct 4s. in every £ each week on the salary earned by such employees however long the employment may last; and whether he will consider legislation to put a stop to this practice.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeI understand that the hon. Member is referring to agencies who themselves employ staff and hire them out by the hour or day for secretarial work. On the information available to me, I do not consider that the terms of such employment is a matter which is appropriate for Government legislation.
Mr. Glenvil HallSurely the right hon. and gallant Gentleman realises that this practice bears very hardly indeed on many a woman or girl who has only this income to live on and that to take 4s. in the £ week by week is a shocking scandal? Surely the Government should take notice of it?
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeI think it would be a new departure if the Government were to legislate to control wages between private people and their staffs.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeThey are their staffs. [HON. MEMBERS: "NO."] The right hon. Member says so in his Question. They supply staff on a hire basis. The Question refers to:
London secretarial agencies supplying clerical staff on a hiring basis.Therefore, according to the Question they hire out these people. In any case, I would suggest that those who take on this employment must know what the terms are before they take it.
Mr. Glenvil HallIs not the Home Secretary aware that the agencies do not employ them in the ordinary sense of the term? They advertise for them but never employ them themselves. They pass them on to employers. The employee has to go back week by week to the agency for the money and then the deduction is made.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeI am not sure whether we are on the same point. I assume that the girls employed must be employed by the agency. [HON. MEMBERS: "No."] Someone must go to the agency to ask for a girl to work as a typist. Whether she goes there or not, I assume she must know what the terms are. I should have thought that, with a great shortage of this type of staff at the moment, it would be possible to make a perfectly reasonable agreement. In any case, it would be quite a new departure for the Government to introduce legislation to control wages between private employers and their staffs.
§ Mr. J. GriffithsWould it not be advisable to ensure that all these agencies are registered and that the terms on which they work should be subject to Government control? [HON. MEMBERS: "NO."] Is not that the way to meet the problem?
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeThat is another matter. We are talking about what are the terms. It is up to the people who go to the agency to refuse or to accept the terms.