HC Deb 27 November 1970 vol 807 cc231-3W
Mr. Golding

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what are the standard week earnings of workers engaged in the production of tyres;

(2) what the standard week earnings of workers employed in passenger road transport;

(3) what are the standard week earnings of workers engaged in road transport;

(4) what was the average number of hours overtime worked in each industry, respectively, at the last possible date;

(5) what the average wage for a standard week for men and women, respectively, in retail distribution at the last possible date in Great Britain and North Staffordshire respectively;

(6) what are the standard week earnings of those engaged in the catering industry in Great Britain and North Staffordshire, respectively.

Mr. Dudley Smith

The results of the New Earnings Survey 1970, published today in theEmployment and Productivity Gazette, include the following estimates of average earnings and hours in April, 1970 of full-time manual men aged 21 and over employed in the industries shown (Minimum List Headings of the Standard Industrial Classification 1968). They are subject to sampling errors.

Gross weekly earnings include overtime pay, shift and other premium payments, payment-by-result scheme payments, pay under guaranteed week schemes and other additions to basic pay, including the average weekly value of annual and other periodical bonus payments. They relate to workers whose pay in the survey pay-period was not affected by absence and so were paid for not less than, but possibly more than, their normal basic or standard hours in the survey period. The figures take no account of benefits and income in kind provided by the employer, such as accommodation and meals, nor of tips and gratuities. Estimates are not available for tyre manufacture, which is only a part of Minimum List Heading 491. For retail distribution, since shop assistants are classified as non-manual, figures are also given for non-manual workers. For catering and retail distribution, separate figures are given for full-time women workers aged 18 and over. The survey sample was too small to provide corresponding estimates for North Staffordshire.

The normal basic week is 40 hours in road passenger transport, road haulage and rubber manufacture, but varies from 40 to 43 hours in retail distribution and from 40 to 44 hours in catering: there are different arrangements in most industries for shift and some other workers. Estimates are not available of weekly earnings for basic hours only or of overtime hours worked, but the information given on average hours and hourly earnings may assist the hon. Member.

The average weekly hours include any hours paid for under guaranteed week schemes.

The average hourly earnings exclude the effect of overtime, shift and other premium payments but include all other additions to basic pay. In calculating

Industry MLH Average gross weekly earnings Average weekly hours Average gross hourly earnings excluding premium payments
£ s. s. d.
Road passenger transport manual men 702 26 8 48.8 9 6
Road haulage contracting manual men 703 28 8 53.2 9 6
Rubber manufacture (including tyres) manual men 491 29 16 44.9 11 4
Retail Distribution 820 and 821
Non-manual men 27 8 41.5 13 0
Manual men 22 0 45.3 9 4
Non-manual women 12 12 39.3 6 5
Manual women 11 14 38.8 5 11
Catering 884 to 888
Manual men 18 12 45.8 7 11
Manual women 10 14 40.7 5 1
Weekly earnings are given to the nearest even number of shillings and hourly earnings to the nearest penny; there are two chances in three that the margin of error due to sampling does not exceed about 4s. for weekly earnings and 1d. for hourly earnings.