The Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Order (No. 73) 2026

Part 1 - General Provisions

Citation and commencement

1. This Order may be cited as the Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Order (No. 73) 2026 and shall come into force on 1st April 2026.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires– “agricultural apprentice” means an agricultural worker who has entered into a contract of apprenticeship with an employer and in terms of that contract has undertaken to study a SCQF Level 5 Modern Apprenticeship in Agriculture; and/or an SCQF Level 4 or equivalent qualification; “day” means a period of 24 hours commencing at 00:01 hours; “holiday year” means a period of 12 months commencing on 1st January and ending on 31st December (both dates inclusive); “the 1996 Act” means the Employment Rights Act 1996(c) as amended; “stable income arrangement” means an arrangement between a worker and an employer to which Part 8 of the Order applies; “week” means a period of 7 consecutive days commencing at 00:01 hours on Monday; and “worker” means any worker other than any person of “school age” within the meaning of sections 31 and 33 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980(d).

(2) When specified in any formula set out in the Order– the letter “M” shall represent the minimum hourly rate payable to the worker in accordance with articles 5 or 6 (minimum hourly rates), and the letter “P” shall represent the sum (if any) payable to the worker in accordance with article 7 (additional sum).

(3) A reference, in this Order, to continuous employment for a specified period shall be construed in accordance with Chapter I of Part XIV of the 1996 Act provided that in its application to this Order–

(a) the reference in section 210(4) of the 1996 Act, to “a week which does not count”, shall be substituted by a reference to “a period of 6 consecutive weeks which does not count”, and

(b) the definition of “week” in section 235(1) of the 1996 Act shall not apply;

and employment prior to the coming into force of the Order will count for the purpose of calculating a period of continuous employment.

(4) Where reference is made in this Order to a payment in respect of an hour, that reference shall include payment in respect of a part of an hour and the payment to be made in respect of that part of an hour shall be that proportion of the appropriate hourly rate as is represented by the proportion of that part of an hour to a whole hour.

(5) For the purposes of this Order a worker shall be entitled to be remunerated as appropriate in accordance with articles 5 to 7 for any hour–

(a) which they are contractually obliged to work and during which the employer has, for any reason, prevented the worker, who was available for work, from working,

(b) spent travelling to and from a place of work, other than a place where the worker would ordinarily be expected to work, and

(c) spent travelling to or from, and attending, any course of work-related training for which the employer’s approval has been obtained,

but shall not be entitled to be remunerated for any authorised tea or meal breaks.

(6) Any reference in this Order to a numbered article, paragraph or Part shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to the article, paragraph or Part bearing that number in this Order.

Extent

3.—(1) Parts 1 to 8 of this Order shall apply to every worker employed in agriculture in Scotland.

(2) Minimum rates of pay fixed by this Order by reference to time work shall apply to workers employed on piece work.

Revocation

4. The Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Order (No. 7) 2025 (a) is revoked.