HL Deb 17 May 1960 vol 223 cc879-80

4.1 p.m.

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(The Earl of Dundee.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

House in Committee accordingly.

[The LORD MERTHYR in the Chair.]

Clauses 1 to 6 agreed to.

Clause 7 [Interpretation]:

THE EARL OF DUNDEE moved, after subsection (2) to insert: () Any reference in this Act to the particulars required by subsection (5) of section two thereof shall be construed as including a reference to the particulars required by that subsection as modified by the provisions of the Schedule to this Act, or by those provisions together with any provisions of an order made under that section which are applicable to the payment in question.

The noble Earl said: The six Amendments standing in my name are all complementary and their combined effect is to carry out an undertaking given on the Report stage in another place by Amy right honourable friend the Minister of Labour. Your Lordships will remember that the Schedule to this Bill requires that, at the time payment of wages is made, the employer shall furnish to the employed person a written statement showing his gross wages and the amount of any deductions and the net amount payable. As I explained to your Lordships on Second Reading, the Schedule is intended to cover a great many different methods of paying wages, and of making such statements, which are customary in different trades.

Your Lordships will also remember that in Clause 4 provision is made for payment of wages to people who are absent for one reason or another. The purpose of this Amendment is to apply the provisions of the Schedule to cases of absentee wage recipients under Clause 4 of the Bill without being too rigid. This avoids the need to fill in any unalterable kind of form. Perhaps I could best explain the point by quoting what my right honourable friend said on Report in another place. He said [OFFICIAL REPORT, Commons, Vol. 620 col. 1385]: It would be reasonable that where an employer is using a system which fits in with the Schedule—in other words, meets the requirements under the Schedule—it should be in order for him when making a payment under Clause 4 to make the normal pay statement which would be made for the week—that is the logical way of dealing with it—and he should not interrupt the rhythm of the process to produce anything more. On the other hand, if the employer is not using a system which is acceptable under the Schedule, he should provide a full statement if he is taking advantage of the provisions of Clause 4. If my honourable friend is willing to accept my assurance, we will endeavour to find a form of words—I think we have one—which we could put down in another place, so that when Clause 4 is used that would be the position. That form of words is introduced by these six Amendments. The substantive one is Amendment No. 2, which removes the limitation of the Schedule to Clause 1. The other Amendments are all drafting or consequential. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 9, line 10, at end insert the said subsection.—(The Earl of Dundee.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 7, as amended, agreed to.

Remaining clauses agreed to.

Schedule [Fixed deductions from wages]:

THE EARL OF DUNDEE

I beg to move the remaining Amendments.

Amendments moved—

Page 11, line 5, leave out from "Where") to ("a") in line 6.

Page 11, line 6, after ("wages") insert ("or a part of wages")

Page 11, line 9, leave out ("in connection with that payment") and insert ("at or before the time when that payment is made")

Page 11, line 11, leave out from ("person") to ("and") in line 12.

Page 12, line 40, leave out from ("in") to second ("as") in line 46 and insert ("Part I of this Schedule to the requirements of paragraph (c) or paragraph (d) of subsection (5) of section two of this Act shall be construed as including a reference to the requirements of that paragraph as modified by Part II of this Schedule or by the last preceding paragraph")—(The Earl of Dundee.)

On Question, Amendments agreed to.

Schedule, as amended, agreed to.

House resumed.