Agricultural wages: guide for workers and employers - twenty eighth edition

6. Benefits (Part 6)

What benefits can be counted towards payment of wages? (Article 21)

The only benefit provided by an employer to a worker which can be counted as part payment of the minimum wage is the provision of a house without charge. The value of this benefit will be £1 per week and this amount may be deducted from the worker’s pay even if this would reduce the gross pay to below the statutory minimum. (This deduction cannot be made if the accommodation has been declared as unfit for human habitation by the local authority.)

Any deduction an employer makes from a worker’s wage in respect of accommodation other than a house shall not exceed £9.99 for each day in the week for which living accommodation is provided.

Other deductions for meals, petrol, Council Tax, etc., may be deducted from pay by written agreement between employer and worker, but such deductions must not reduce the worker’s gross pay below the minimum level to which they are entitled according to the Wages Order.