§ Mr. Hal Millerasked the Secretary of State for Employment, what hours constitute night working for the purposes of any restrictions on night work for women in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. John GrantI will reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Hal Millerasked the Secretary of State for Employment what additional rates of pay are available to women working overtime in the United Kingdom and working at night.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerGenerally, rates of pay are a matter for negotiation between employers and employees or their representatives, subject at the present time to the limits of pay policy. However, if a woman works overtime or at night, she is entitled under the Equal Pay Act to equal treatment with a man in the same employment in respect of the terms of her contract of employment—including overtime rates and shift premia—where the man is employed on like work or work rated as equivalent under a job evaluation, unless her employer can show that any variation between the women's contract and the man's contract is genuinely due to a material difference— other than the difference of sex—between her case and his. The Equal Pay Act also provides for discrimination between men and women to be removed from collective agreements, employers' pay structures and statutory wages orders.
§ Mr. Hal Millerasked the Secretary of State for Employment to what extent women have now been given an equal opportunity as regards hours of work with men following the passage of the Equal Opportunities Act, with particular reference to overtime and nightwork.
§ Mr. John GrantAs the Sex Discrimination Act makes an exception for activities necessary to comply with a statute passed before that Act, there has ben no change in policy and practice about the hours of work of women in industrial employment. This legislation is under review by the Equal Opportunities Commission, in consultation with the Health and Safety Commission.
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§ Mr. Hal Millerasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the maximum amount of overtime that women can work in the united Kingdom in any one year, and if there are subsidiary restrictions on the hours of day or night at which such overtime can be worked.
§ Mr. John GrantThe Factories Act 1961 controls the amount of overtime women may work in industrial undertakings by limiting the times during which they may work as being not before 7 a.m. on weekdays or after 9 p.m. on weekdays, other than Saturday, or after 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Additional limitations might derive because the same legislation controls the total amount of overtime in any one factory in any calendar year.
§ Mr. Hal Millerasked the Secretary of State for Employment under what conditions women may work at night in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. John GrantThe main statutory restriction on women working at night is in the Hours of Employment (Conventions) Act 1936 which forbids their employment in any industrial undertaking at night. However, the Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission informs me that applications for special exemption orders to permit women to work at night in industrial employment are granted if they fulfil the statutory requirement of being in the public interest for the purpose of maintaining or improving the efficiency of industry or transport; and provided that safety, health and welfare conditions are satisfactory and that the women concerned are willing to work.