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Preservation of existing rates of wages.
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51.—(1) Where, in order to comply with this Act, the hours of work prevailing immediately before the commencement of this Act in regard to all persons or any particular persons or person employed in any particular form of industrial work are reduced or otherwise altered, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—
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(a) the rate of salary, wages, or other reward payable to any such person immediately before the commencement of this Act shall not be reduced or be otherwise altered to the detriment of such person merely because of the said reduction or alteration in the hours of work of such person;
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(b) the said reduction or alteration of hours of work shall not terminate nor prejudicially affect the contract of service under which any such person is so employed immediately before the commencement of this Act, and every such contract shall continue in force after such commencement with such modifications only as may be necessary in order to comply with this Act and in particular the modification that notwithstanding the said reduction or alteration of hours of work the average weekly earnings payable in a normal full working week to such person under such contract shall not be reduced;
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(c) every agreement between employers or a body representative of employers on the one hand and workers or a body representative of workers on the other hand which is in force immediately before the commencement of this Act and regulates or restricts the rate of salary, wages, or other reward payable to any such person shall continue in force after the commencement of this Act notwithstanding the said reduction or alteration of hours of work but with the modification that every rate of salary, wages, or other reward which is fixed or the method of calculating which is fixed by such agreement and every restriction on any rate of salary, wages, or other reward contained in such agreement shall remain unchanged in amount;
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(d) every minimum rate of salary, wage, or other reward fixed by statute or under statutory authority which is in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall, if and so far as it is applicable to any such person, continue after such commencement in force and unchanged in amount notwithstanding the said reduction or alteration of hours of work.
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(2) The foregoing sub-section of this section shall apply and have effect in relation to every regulation made under this Act by the Minister fixing hours of work in respect of any form of industrial work (whether for all or for any particular classes or class of workers engaged therein) with and subject to the modifications that every reference in the said sub-section to the commencement of this Act shall be construed and have effect as a reference to the coming into operation of such regulation and every reference in the said sub-section to compliance with this Act shall be construed and have effect as a reference to compliance with such regulations.
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(3) This section shall apply to piece work wages and to wages calculated by direct reference to the number of hours worked, but with the modification that for the purposes of such application every provision in this section to the effect that a rate of wages or a minimum rate of wages or a restriction on a rate of wages is to remain unchanged shall be construed and have effect as a provision that the rate of piece work wages or of wages by the hour (as the case may be) shall be so adjusted or varied that the average weekly earnings shall remain unchanged.
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