The Truck Acts regulate the nature of the con sideration for services in certain cases, and also require agree ments for certain purposes to be in writing. These Acts were adopted owing to the abuses which arose, in the first place, from the so-called truck-shops, owned by employers, out of which wages were paid in the form of goods or where the workers were con strained to spend their nominally cash wages; and, in the second place, from the habit of making oppressive and arbitrary deduc tions from wages. The Truck Acts (1831, 1887 and 1896) apply to all workmen as defined in the Employers and Workmen Act 1875, s. 10 of which is as follows: "The expression 'workman' does not include any domestic or menial servant, but save as af ore said, means any person who, being a labourer, servant in hus bandry, journeyman, artificer, handicraftsman, miner, or other wise engaged in manual labour . . . has entered into or works under a contract with an employer, whether the contract . . . be express or implied, oral or in writing, and be a contract of serv ice or a contract personally to execute any work or labour." There have been many decisions as to the meaning of "manual labour" in this section. By one of these, a shop assistant who serves in the shop and ties up parcels was held not to be engaged in manual labour (Bound v. Lawrence [1892], I Q.B. 226). Con sequently the Act of 1896, which deals with disciplinary fines and deductions from wages for damaged goods or materials, was so drafted as to apply expressly to shop assistants as well as to the "workmen" coming under the earlier Acts. The Act of 1887 also expressly extended the benefit of the Acts to homeworkers in certain trades, working alone or with other members of the family (s. 1o). In the first place, the Truck Acts make all payment of wages otherwise than in current coin of the realm illegal, null and void. If any wages are paid in a manner contravening this rule, the transaction is entirely void and the workmen can sue for the money value of the wages due without the employer being able to recover any goods supplied instead of wages.
In the second place, the Truck Acts render illegal any con tract requiring the workman, directly or indirectly, to spend any part of his wages in any particular manner or at any particular shop. A workman may not be dismissed for spending or failing to spend his wages at any particular place. The value of goods supplied to a workman by the employer or under his orders can not be set off against the workman's wages or sued for independ ently of any claim for wages (1831, s. 6; 1887, ss. 5, 6). Thus the Acts do not actually prevent a workman from buying goods at a store kept by, or by arrangement with, the employer, but their effect is that such purchases must be freely made on a cash basis. Certain exceptions are allowed, some absolute and others on con dition there is a written contract. For instance, the Act of 1887 (s. 4) expressly states that it shall be legal to provide a servant in husbandry with food, non-intoxicating drink, a cottage and other allowances in addition to money wages. Moreover it is permissible for an employer to contract with any workman to sup ply him with certain commodities specified in s. 23 of the Act of 1831, provided that the contract is in writing and signed by the workman.
In the third place, the Truck Act of 1896 regulates deductions from wages. It requires the terms of any contract authorizing the employer to impose disciplinary fines and deduct the amount from wages to be posted up where they can be easily seen and copied by the workers affected, or else to be contained in a written con tract signed by the workman. Particulars of the acts or omis sions for which a fine may be imposed and the amount of the fines must be stated in the contract ; and the offence for which the fine is to be imposed must be likely to cause damage or loss to the employer or interruption to his business. A contract to make deductions for bad or negligent work must likewise be posted up or in writing and signed, and the deduction must not exceed the actual or estimated loss occasioned to the employer. The amount deducted, whether as a disciplinary fine or in respect of bad work must, moreover, be "fair and reasonable, having re gard to all the circumstances of the case." Particulars of deduc tions or payments for materials, tools, machinery, etc., used by the workman must also be posted up or contained in a written and signed contract. They may not exceed the cost to the em ployer or what is a fair and reasonable rent or charge. On each occasion whenever a disciplinary fine is to be imposed or a deduc tion made for bad work or for the use of materials, etc., the workman must be given written particulars of the reason for the deduction and its amount. The enforcement of the Truck Acts is not left to the unaided efforts of the workers affected. They may sue for wages paid in an illegal manner or for the recovery of amounts illegally deducted from wages. But, in addition to this,
employers who fail to observe the Acts are liable to prosecution and fine. Besides the Acts already mentioned, there is a special Act prohibiting entirely deductions from wages in the manufac ture of hosiery, except deductions for bad workmanship (Hosiery Manufacture [Wages] Act 1874). It is necessary to note in addi tion, that the cotton-weaving industry in the north of England, preferring to regulate deductions from wages in its own way, was granted exemption from the Act of 1896 by an order issued in 1897, under powers given by s. 9 of that Act. Akin to the Truck Acts, as measures to protect the workers from being under any pressure to spend their wages to their disadvantage, are the Pay ment of Wages in Public Houses Prohibition Act 1883 and certain provisions to the same end contained in the Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act 1872 (s. 9), and the Coal Mines Act 1911 (s. 96).
The Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 and 1906, contain a number of sections regulating seamen's contracts and the payment of their wages. The master of any ship (except one of less than 8o tons registered tonnage exclu sively employed in trading between different ports on the coast of the United Kingdom) is liable to a penalty if he puts to sea without having entered into an agreement with the crew made in the prescribed manner (s. 113). The form of the agreement must be one approved by the Board of Trade, and the master must sign it before the seamen do so. In all cases an agreement with the crew must deal with certain matters specified in s. 114. An agree ment with the crew of a foreign-going ship must be signed by each seaman in the presence of the superintendent of the mercantile marine office of the port. This official must see that the agreement is read over and explained to each seaman or otherwise ascertain that he understands it before he signs it (s. '15). For the crew of a home-trade ship, the agreement need not be signed before a superintendent ; but, if it is not, the master must cause it to be read and explained to the seaman (s. 116). The Act of 1894 also requires all seamen serving in British foreign-going ships to be formally discharged before a superintendent at the termination of the engagement (s. 127), and to be given a certificate of dis charge (s. 128), and in some cases also a report as to conduct, character and qualifications (s. 129). Where a seaman is dis charged before a superintendent, his wages must be paid in the presence of that officer (s. 131), and before a seaman is paid off the master must have given either to him or to the superintendent, at least 24 hours before, an account of the wages due and of all deductions therefrom (s. 132). A book must be kept recording any deductions as the occasions for them arise during the voyage (s. 133). When the seaman leaves a foreign-going ship at the end of his engagement, he must at once be paid one-fourth of any wages due to him (or £2, whichever is the least) and the remainder must be paid within two days, or the final settlement may, with the seaman's consent, be referred to the superin tendent. If the wages are not thus paid or settled, the seaman's wages continue to run and continue due until he is paid (s.
In the case of home-trade ships, the wages must be paid within two days, otherwise the seaman will become entitled to two days' pay for each day's delay, up to a maximum of ten days' double pay (s. 135). Dispute over a seaman's wages may in some cases be settled by the superintendent (s. 137). A seaman's contract may not contain any term forfeiting any remedy he would other wise have for the recovery of wages or his right to wages in case of the loss of the ship, or any right he may have in the nature of salvage (s. 156). The Merchant Shipping (International Conven tions) Act gives a seaman the right to wages for not more than two months if he is unemployed before the termination of his engagement owing to his ship being wrecked. A seaman is not entitled to wages for any time during which he unlawfully refuses or neglects to work, or while he is lawfully imprisoned for an offence (s. 159). He does not, however, forfeit his right to wages during incapacity by illness, unless the illness is proved to have been caused by his own wilful act or default (s. 16o). If a sea man is discharged contrary to his agreement and without fault on his part justifying discharge, either before the commencement of the voyage or before he has earned a month's wages, he may claim compensation not exceeding one month's wages (s. 162). The Act of 1906 provides that where a seaman has been fined for misconduct, the fine can only be deducted from his wages on his discharge after being proved to the satisfaction of the superin tendent, to whom the amount so deducted must be paid (s. 44).