Farmers and agricultural workers have a hard job to do. Come rain or shine there are tasks and jobs on a farm which need to be tackled day and day out. This month the Farming Life magazine has reported on a review of current terms and conditions for agricultural workers.
The Farming Life report:
The Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) for Northern Ireland has announced proposed changes to pay for agricultural workers.
Following a meeting on 9 January 2015, the AWB proposes to increase existing minimum rates for agricultural workers across all grades by 2% from 6 April 2015 as follows:
Minimum rate, applicable for the first 40 weeks cumulative employment – £6.63 per hour.
Grade 2 – Standard worker – £6.91 per hour.
Grade 3 – Lead worker – £7.59 per hour.
Grade 4 – Craft Grade – £8.15 per hour.
Grade 5 – Supervisory Grade – £8.63 per hour.
Grade 6 – Farm Management Grade – £9.34 per hour.
The Board will meet again on 6 March 2015 to make an Order to introduce the new rates, which would come into operation on 6 April 2015.
More information can be found at the Department of Agriculture and Rural development website. Click here to find out more about Current Terms and Conditions of Employments, Wages and pay increase for agricultural workers.