(3) A fine can only be imposed under the contract in respect of some act or omission which causes or is likely to cause damage or loss to the employer, or interruption or hindrance to his business.

(4) The amount of the fine must be fair and reasonable, having regard to all the circumstances of the case.

(5) Particulars in writing showing the acts or omissions in respect of which the fine is imposed and its amount must be supplied to the workman on each occasion.

These rules as to disciplinary fines apply to shop-assistants. Section 2 deals with deductions for or in respect of bad or negligent work, or injury to the materials or other property of the employer. Conditions (1), (4), and (5), given above, must be satisfied, and in place of conditions (2) and (3) there is a special provision that the deduction must not exceed the actual or estimated damage or loss occasioned to the employer by the act or omission of the workman, or of some person over whom he has control or for whom he has by the contract agreed to be responsible. If the workman is engaged on an article, either of high intrinsic value or on which a large amount of work has already been done, the maximum deduction authorised by this provision may quite possibly exceed the whole of his remuneration not merely for the work spoilt but for the current week's work; but in this case doubtless a Court would consider the maximum deduction as not being fair and reasonable, having regard to all the circumstances of the case.

Section 3 deals with charges for or in respect of the use or supply of materials, tools, or machines, standing-room, light, heat, or any other thing to be done or provided by the employer in relation to the work or labour of the workman.

Conditions similar to conditions (1) and (5) given above must be observed; and the special provision for charges is that the charge under the contract does not exceed, in the case of materials or tools supplied to the workman, the actual or estimated cost thereof to the employer, or in the case of machinery, light, heat, or any other thing, a fair or reasonable rent or charge, having regard to all the circumstances of the case.

Under Section 4 it is a punishable offence for an employer to enter into a contract contrary to the Act, or to make any fine deduction or charge contrary to the Act.

The punishment of the guilty employer is not, however, any direct compensation to the workman who has been wrongly deprived of part of his wages. Section 5 gives a workman or shop-assistant the right to recover sums deducted by the employer contrary to the Act, provided that proceedings are commenced within six months from the date of the deduction. If the complainant has resisted the wrongful fine deduction or charge, then he can recover the whole of it. If, however, he consented to or acquiesced in the deduction, as many persons have to do if they dare not risk receiving immediate notice of dismissal, then he can only recover the excess of the fine, deduction, or charge over and above what the Court may find to have been fair and reasonable, having regard to all the circumstances of the case.

There are certain provisions in Section 6 for securing the administrative success of the Act. The inspectors of factories or of mines can make a written demand for the production of contracts purporting to operate under the Act, and an employer must comply with this demand and allow the inspector to make a copy of any contract so produced. A copy of any such contract or of the notice containing its terms must also be given to any workman or shop-assistant on his becoming a party to it. A workman or shop-assistant who is a party to any such contract is entitled, on request, to obtain from his employer, free of charge, a copy of the contract or of the notice containing its terms. The employer must keep a register of these fines, deductions, and charges, and in the case of a fine must specify in the register the amount and the nature of the act or omission in respect of which the fine was imposed. This register must at all times be open to inspection by the inspectors of factories or of mines.

The Secretary of State may by order exempt any trade or business from the operation of the Act if he is satisfied that the provisions of the Act are unnecessary for the pro

tection of the workmen employed therein. Cotton weavers and miners in iron-mines in certain areas have been included in exemption orders (Section 9).

Payment of Wages in Public - houses. A short Act of the year 1883 is usually and conveniently included with the Truck Acts, namely, the Payment of Wages in Publichouses (Prohibition) Act, 1883. The payment of miners' wages in public-houses had been prohibited as early as 1842, and this prohibition is continued in existing legislation as to Mines (see p. 239 and p. 243). The Act of 1883 extends the prohibition to any workman, as defined by a clause which follows substantially the wording of the definition in the Employers and Workmen Act, 1875.

The Act exposes to a penalty any person who contravenes or fails to comply with or permits any person to contravene or fail to comply with the Act. Apparently a publican who is aware of the contravention of the Act in his house is liable to a penalty.

A master cannot shelter himself behind his subordinates, as the Act provides that in the event of any wages being paid by any person in contravention of its provisions for or on behalf of any employer, such employer shall himself be guilty of an offence against the Act, unless he proves that he had taken all reasonable means in his power for enforcing its provisions and to prevent such contravention.

The Shop Club Act, 1902. - Somewhat analogous to the legislation against truck is the Shop Club Act, 1902. The importance of this Act has been much diminished by the passing of the National Insurance Act, 1911, which had the practical effect of making most shop clubs choose between becoming Approved Societies or becoming extinct.

Under Section I it is an offence under the Act if an employer makes it a condition of employment (a) that any workman shall discontinue his membership of any friendly society, or (b) that any workman shall not become a member of any friendly society other than the shop club or thrift fund.

Under Section 2 it is an offence under the Act if an employer makes it a condition of employment that any

workman shall join a shop club or thrift fund unless such club or fund is registered under the Friendly Societies Act, 1896, and certified by the Registrar of Friendly Societies.

Certification is not to be granted unless the Registrar is satisfied: (a) That such club or fund is one that affords to the workman benefits of a substantial kind, in the form of contributions or benefits at the cost of the employer in addition to those provided by the contributions of the workman; (b) that the club or fund is of a permanent character, and is not a society that annually or periodically divides its funds; and that no member of such club or fund shall, except in accordance with Section 6 of the Act, be required to cease his membership in such club or fund upon leaving the firm with which such club or fund is connected.

The Registrar must also take steps to ascertain the views of the workmen, and must be satisfied that at least 75 per cent of the workmen desire the establishment of the club or fund, and must consider any objections they may make to the certification.

Under Section 3 certain regulations contained in the Schedule to the Act are applied to any certified shop club or thrift fund. They are ordinary rules for management, accounts, and dissolution, and the only special point that need be noted is the provision for a valuation once at least in every five years of the assets and liabilities of the society, including the estimated risks and contributions.

Under Section 5 nothing in the Act is to prohibit compulsory membership of any superannuation fund, insurance, or other society already existing for the benefit of the persons employed by any railway company, to the funds of which such company contributes.

Under Section 6, where a workman, by the conditions of his employment, is a member of a shop club, he has, upon his dismissal from, or upon leaving his employment, unless contrary to the rules of the club, the option of remaining a member or of having returned to him the amount of his share of the funds of the club to be ascertained by actuarial calculation; but every such member who exercises the option to remain a member of the club is not, so long as he remains

out of such employment, to be entitled to take any part in the management of the club, or to vote in respect thereof.

The expression shop club or thrift fund means every club and society for providing benefits to workmen in connexion with a workshop, factory, dock, shop, or warehouse.

The Truck Acts and other Legislation. - Legislation connected with wages must necessarily pay regard to the provisions of the Truck Acts, and must make it clear whether the Truck Acts are to operate or not. Thus under the Trade Boards Act, 1909, the minimum wage must be paid clear of all deductions, so that fines and deductions which may be lawfully made under the Truck Acts can only be deducted from the amount by which the worker's wages are in excess of the minimum wage, and in the case of a worker earning the minimum wage and no more, no deductions can be made.

Other legislation expressly provides for the exclusion of the Truck Acts. Thus in the sections of the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1887, which relate to checkweighing, it is provided that if the majority of the workmen who are liable to contribute to the wages of the checkweigher so agree, the owner or manager may retain the agreed contribution of all the workmen, notwithstanding the Acts relating to truck. Again, Section 77 of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, which under certain circumstances compels a mine-owner to give accommodation and facilities for taking baths and drying clothes, and divides the cost between the employer and the workmen, provides that the owner is to be entitled to recover contributions from the workmen liable to contribute by deduction from their wages, notwithstanding the provisions of any Acts relating to truck.

Contributions in respect of the National Insurance Act, Part I., paid by an employer on behalf of a workman, are within the exceptions of the Truck Act, 1831, but to make doubly sure, Section 4 of that Act makes them recoverable by means of deductions from wages, notwithstanding the provisions of any Act to the contrary.

An employer's contributions on behalf of his workmen under Part II. of the same Act may similarly, under Section