REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
| Published date | 01 March 1962 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1962.tb02203.x |
| Date | 01 March 1962 |
REPORTS
OF
COMMITTEES
REPORT
OF
THE
COMMITFEE
ON
TBE
Tnucx
ACTS
l
IT
is
not difficult to criticise the Truck Acts,2 nor is
it
diflticult to
reach the conclusion that they ought to be repealed and the whole
policy relating to the regulation of wage payments reconsidered.
It
is
the formulation of
a
new wage payment policy that poses
problems.
The Committee
on
the Truck Acts finds that the Acts
"
.
.
.
are complex and eomewhat difficult
to
interpret, and that their
effect in relation to particular
ca~ee
is often uncertain. Further-
more circumstances in industry have
so
changed
since
the Acts
were passed that many of their provisions have become irrele-
vant.
.
.
."
*
Designed
to
ensure that the workman received
his
full wages
in
cash without any conditions
as
to the manner
in
which they were to be spent, the Acts are now largely used to
prevent any deductions from wages, whether or not these
deductions are beneficial to the workman:
The restoration of complete freedom
of
contract between
employer and employee is rightly rejected by the committee,
despite evidence relating to the paucity
of
infringements of the
Truck Acts,O evidence from the employers that the Acts have
ceased
to
perform
a
useful function," the increased strength of
Trade
Unions
who can adequately protect their members from
inequitable practices,
and
the large number of employees outside
the Acts who do not appear to suffer although there is
no
protec-
tive legisletion for them.
It
is instead recommended that the
Truck Acts should be repealed
in
their entirety and replaced by
more modem legislation.
One of the main defects
of
the Truck Acts is that
it
is virtually
impossible to distinguish those who were
"
workmen
''
and
within the protection
of
the statutes from those who were outside
their scope. The committee suggest that the new legislation should
apply to all employees. This is excellent. A statute covering the
rules for payment
of
wages
to
all employees would be invaluable.
The first problems dealt with by the committee related to the
1
Minirtry of Labour.
1981.
2
The
Truck
Act,
1831,
the
Truck
Amendment
Act,
1887,
the
Truck Act,
1898
and
the Truck
Act,
1W.
g2kcnuon
v.
Darwin
Cotton
Manufacturing
Co.
[lQSSl
2
X.B.
199.
--
5
Para. 8,p
54.
a
In
fwt trey said they prevented certain benefits being given to
those
em&mer
covered
by
the
Actr.
Evidence
from employees' associations recom-
--
me&d
the
retention
and
extenmion
of
the
Act".
?
m.
10,
Employem
and Workmen
Act,
1875.
215
To continue reading
Request your trial