AS many agricultural and horticultural employers will already be aware, the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) is about to be abolished.

The AWB is an independent body with a statutory obligation to set minimum wages for workers employed in agriculture and horticulture in England and Wales.

Every year the Agricultural Wages Order set by the AWB is updated to set minimum wage scales for various classes of skilled agricultural and horticultural workers.

It also prescribes on such matters as holiday and sick pay rights which greatly exceed the rights of any other employee within the UK.

For example, an agricultural employee working five days a week is entitled to a minimum of 35 days holiday rather than the standard 28 days for all other workers.

As from June 25, the AWB will be abolished but this will not come into effect until October 1.

The significance of this is immense for all employers in this industry.

From October 1 enhanced rates of pay, holiday, sickness and accommodation rights that agricultural and horticultural workers have enjoyed for decades will disappear.

But what does this mean and how can employers benefit from the changes on a practical level?

Our advice is beware, because if you seek to reduce remuneration and benefits to your workers unilaterally, whatever the law states, those workers could have strong grounds for a constructive unfair dismissal claim in the Employment Tribunal. This could prove to be time consuming and extremely costly.

In addition, if you provide tied accommodation to your farm or grower workers, their security of tenure rights are not denigrated or affected by the demise of the AWB.

They will still be entitled to remain in those properties unless you have a properly set up Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement in place which allows you to remove them on notice.

Service Agreements that say their right to stay in the property ends when their employment ends are also very unlikely to stand up to any challenge by an agricultural worker.

As from October the national minimum wage regulations will be the only governing legislation in relation to minimum rates of pay for agricultural workers.

This means that new employees engaged after October 1 do not need to be offered terms and conditions in line with the Agricultural Workers Order.

This of course will have a significant effect generally. The abolition of the AWB can only be good news for employers in this sector.

There is no doubt that the Agricultural Wages Order creates many restrictions and complexities which are holding back UK agricultural businesses.

It is clearly no longer appropriate to have such restrictions in place and its removal should lead to more competitive rates and packages to attract skilled workers and enable UK farmers and agricultural businesses to budget and manage their incomes more effectively and so to promote and grow their businesses.

For further practical guidance and advice please contact Kate Gardner, Clarke Willmott LLP, Blackbrook Gate, Blackbrook Park Avenue, Taunton TA1 2PG.