Society welcomes retention of farmworkers' wages board

A Scottish Government announcement that the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board is to be retained has been welcomed by the Law Society of Scotland.

Last summer ministers held a consultation on the future of the board, which consideres the pay and conditions of workers in the agricultural sector. The Society’s Equalities Law Committee argued tha the board should continue in its role, and Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead has now confirmed that the board is to be retained.

Rory McPherson, convener of the Equalities Law Committee, commented: “More workers in agriculture are paid at or near the minimum wage in comparison with other sectors and the UK national minimum wage provides only residual protection for low paid workers. The Scottish Agricultural Wages Board plays an important role in protecting the pay and conditions of agricultural workers and there is no evidence to suggest that abolishing or restricting the remit of the board would result in any benefit or enhanced employment conditions for those workers.”