An MP has criticised the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board (SAWB) for setting pay too high, which she says is causing young farmers to miss out on work experience.
Kirstene Hair, Conservative MP for Angus, has written to Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing after farmers in her constituency declared doubt that the minimum wage the SAWB has set – higher than the average for other sectors – is hampering young people from building up experience in the agricultural industry.
NFU Scotland has previously called for the abolition of the SAWB and for agricultural worker’s pay and conditions to be determined under general employment law.
Gemma Thomson, NFU Scotland’s Legal and Technical Policy Manager commented: “There were other wages boards but all have been abolished other than the SAWB. The need for it has gone and it should be abolished.
“The existence of SAWB places Scotland at a serious competitive disadvantage following the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board in England. This is particularly keenly felt in the field vegetable and soft fruit industries, which employ substantial numbers of seasonal agricultural workers and which compete directly with farm businesses in England. They sell to retailers who make no allowance for the extra costs imposed on Scottish businesses.
“The decisions of the SAWB have had perverse impacts for workers too. Removal of age bands which exist in the NMW act as a disincentive to employing young workers. Young workers bring less experience, must be supervised more closely and in many cases cannot perform tasks that older workers can – yet the Wages Order requires that they should be paid the same.
'Missing out'
Ms Hair also noted that there is no need for a separate minimum wage for farmers.
“This is an important issue for my constituency," explained Ms Hair. "I have been approached by farmers who feel that, due to the higher wages required by the AWB, they feel it is a better use of their limited resources to employ more experienced workers.
“That is understandable, but it means that younger farmers who are still learning are missing out. That could then mean that some are missing out on an opportunity to get into farming at a time when we need to do all we can to encourage new entrants.
“We now have a situation where the wage level imposed by the AWB is higher than that required by any other business paying the national minimum wage," she said. "That cannot be right, and it needs to be addressed urgently. I hope that the Cabinet Secretary will take this seriously and respond positively in due course.”
