§ Mr. ROWNTREEasked the Minister of Labour whether Clause 5, Sub-section (4), of the Trade Boards Bill will have the effect of prohibiting an employer from deducting from an employé's wages the amount of the employé's pension fund contribution and the employé's works friendly society contribution, even though such funds exist entirely for the employé's benefit and the deductions are made at his request and can be terminated by him at any time; and whether it is intended that such deductions shall be computed as an integral part of the wage for the purposes of minimum wage legislation?
§ Mr. G. ROBERTSThe joint effect of Clause 5, Sub-section (4), of the Trade Boards Bill, and of Sub-section (1) of Section 6 of the principal Act, is to render it illegal for an employer to make any deduction from an employé's wages of the kind referred to in the first part of my hon. Friend's question, if the deduction would cause the actual sum paid to the worker as wages to be less than that to which he is entitled at the minimum rate 1893W fixed by the Trade Board. It would, however, be open to a worker to pay any contribution he desired to a pension fund or a work's friendly society.