Road Haulage Wages Act 1938
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1938 c. 44 |
| Year | 1938 |
Road Haulage Wages Act, 1938
(1 & 2 Geo. 6.) 44.
An Act to make provision with respect to the remuneration of persons employed in connection with the mechanical transport of goods by road, and with respect to the making of recommendations and reports, and the settlement of disputes, relating to matters affecting such transport.
[13th July 1938]
B E it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I.
Transport of Goods by Road.Carriers in Connection with the MechanicalEmployed by Public Carriers and LimitedRegulation of Remuneration of Workers
1 Constitution of Central Board and of area boards.
(1) For the purpose of regulating the remuneration of workers employed upon road haulage work to which this Part of this Act applies, there shall be established by the Minister of Labour (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Minister’) the following boards:—
(a ) a board (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Central Board’) for Great Britain to be called the Road Haulage Central Wages Board; and
(b ) boards (hereinafter referred to as ‘area boards’) of which there shall be one for Scotland to be called the Scottish Road Haulage Area Wages Board, and one for each of the areas in England hereinafter mentioned to be called, respectively, the Road Haulage Area Wages Board for the area for which the board is established,
and the provisions of the First Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to the constitution and proceedings of the Central Board and of the area boards.
(2) The work to which this Part of this Act applies is road haulage work in connection with any goods vehicle specified in an A licence or a B licence granted under the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933 :
Provided that this Part of this Act shall not apply to work for which a minimum rate of wages has been fixed by or under any other enactment, or to the work of persons in the employment of any railway company constituted under the Railways Act, 1921 , whose remuneration falls to be determined by machinery established by agreement between such companies and the Railway Trade Unions.
(3) The areas in England for each of which an area board is to be established shall be the areas specified in the First Schedule to the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933, as originally enacted:
Provided that the Minister may, after consultation with the Central Board and any area board appearing to him to be concerned, by order alter such areas in England, either by combining two or more areas or otherwise, and any such order may contain such consequential and other provisions as may be necessary for constituting, re-constituting, or dissolving, the area board for any area thereby affected.
2 Functions of Central Board and of area boards.
(1) Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the Central Board shall have power—
(a ) to submit to the Minister proposals for fixing the remuneration to be paid to any road haulage workers in respect of any road haulage work to which this Part of this Act applies;
(b ) to make such recommendations as the Board thinks fit to any government department with respect to safety on the roads, the health and comfort of workers employed on work to which this Part of this Act applies, and any other matter affecting the efficiency of, and conditions of work in connection with, the transport of goods in or on vehicles for which A licences or B licences are granted under the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933; and
(c ) to consider and report upon any question referred to the Board by the Minister with reference to any of the matters aforesaid:
Provided that, before exercising its powers under paragraph (a ) of this subsection, the Board shall transmit a draft of its proposals to the area board for every area thereby affected, and the procedure in relation thereto shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Second Schedule to this Act.
(2) The power of the Central Board under the said paragraph (a ) to submit proposals for fixing the remuneration to be paid to any workers shall include power to submit proposals for fixing holiday remuneration and for requiring such remuneration to be paid to them in addition to the remuneration payable for the road haulage work actually done by them.
(3) In making proposals for fixing remuneration under this Part of this Act, the Board shall have regard to the various conditions of service of workers employed on road haulage work and the varying conditions under which and circumstances in which such work is performed and may frame its proposals accordingly, and without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of the said paragraph (a ) empowering the Board so to do, the Board shall, in particular, have power to specify the time during which a worker must be employed on road haulage work to which this Part of this Act applies in any day or in any week respectively in order to render payable any daily or weekly rate proposed by the Board, to specify the number of hours of employment by his employer after which any overtime payment proposed is to be payable, and generally to make such provision as may be necessary for specifying the work in respect of which any remuneration proposed is to be payable and for enabling the remuneration payable to any worker to be ascertained.
(4) In framing proposals for fixing remuneration under this Part of this Act in respect of any work, the Board shall take into consideration any decision of a joint industrial council, conciliation board or other similar body relating to the remuneration of workers employed on road haulage work which may be brought to the notice of the Board.
(5) The Central Board shall have power to refer any matter which the Board thinks fit to an area board for the report of that board, and shall also have power to delegate to any committee of the Central Board or to an area board any of the functions of the Central Board under this Act except the power of submitting proposals for fixing remuneration.
(6) The Central Board and every area board shall have power to make or assist in making arrangements for the settlement of disputes or differences between road haulage workers employed on work to which this Part of this Act applies and their employers, and to promote the voluntary organisation of such employers and workers.
3 Submission of proposals and making of road haulage wages orders.
(1) When the provisions of the Second Schedule to this Act have been complied with with respect to any proposals of the Central Board, the Board may submit the proposals as settled by it to the Minister, and upon the receipt thereof the Minister shall, unless he considers it necessary to refer the proposals back to the Central Board, as soon as may be make an order (in this Act referred to as a ‘road haulage wages order’) giving effect to the proposals.
(2) If the Minister refers back to the Central Board any proposals submitted to him, the Board shall reconsider them having regard to any observations made by the Minister, and may amend the proposals and may re-submit them to the Minister.
(3) Upon any proposals being re-submitted to the Minister under the last foregoing subsection, he may, if in his opinion any amendments made by the Central Board do not effect important alterations in the character of the proposals originally submitted to him, take the road haulage wages order, but if in the Minister's opinion the amendments do effect such important alterations as aforesaid, the Minister shall remit the amended proposals to the Central Board with the direction that the like notice of the amended proposals is to be given as in the case of fresh proposals, and in that case the provisions of the Second Schedule to this Act as to notices and objections and the provisions of paragraph 5 of the said Schedule shall apply thereto accordingly.
(4) As soon as the Minister has made a road haulage wages order, he shall give notice of the making thereof to the Central Board, and that Board shall give such notice of the order and of the contents thereof as may be prescribed for the purpose of informing, so far as practicable, all persons who will be thereby affected, and the remuneration specified in the order (hereinafter referred to as ‘statutory remuneration’) shall on such date as may be provided by the order come into force as between all workers for whom such remuneration is thereby fixed and their employers.
(5) The Central Board may make proposals for the amendment or cancellation of any road haulage wages order in force under this Act, and the provisions of this Act shall apply in relation to any such proposals as they apply in relation to original proposals.
Part II.
of Goods by Road.in connection with the Mechanical Transportof Workers employed by Private CarriersProvisions with respect to the Remuneration
4 Power to refer questions as to unfair wages.
(1) If, in the case of any road haulage worker employed on work to which this Part of this Act applies, he, or a trade union of which he is a member, or a trade union which in the opinion of the Minister represents a substantial number of workers employed in road haulage work, considers that the remuneration paid to him in respect of that work is unfair, the...
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