The Master and Servants Act was the culmination of a series of laws designed to regulate relations between employers and employees during the 18th and 19th centuries, although heavily biased on the employers' terms. It was instituted in 1823 in Great Britain and described its purpose as "for the better regulations of servants, labourers and work people". This law greatly influenced labor relations and Employment law in the USA, Canada (1847), Australia (1845), New Zealand (1856) and South Africa (1856). In reality the law was designed to discipline employees and repress the 'combination' of workers in labour unions.

The law required the obedience and loyalty from servants to their contracted employer, with infringements of the contract punishable before a court of law, often with a jail sentence of hard labour. It was used against workers organising for better conditions from its inception until well after the first Trade Union Act was implemented in Great Britain in 1871, which secured the legal status of trade unions. Up till then a trade union could be regarded as criminal because of being "in restraint of trade".

Use in Britain

During the 1860s, punitive provisions were extended by judicial interpretation by imprisoning union officials who led strikes or issued verbal calls challenging an employer’s hiring practices or use of non-union labor. A revised Master and Servant Act was passed in 1867, which supposedly limited imprisonment to “aggravated” breaches of contract (where injury to persons or property was likely to result), but it was clear that only workers were subject to its provisions. Imprisonment even for non-aggravated breaches of contract continued, when working people failed to comply with court orders for specific performance or for non-payment of monetary damages and fines.^*

Between 1858 and 1875 on average 10,000 prosecutions a year took place under the Act in Britain. Ernest Jones, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, estimated "In one year alone, 1864, the last return given, under the Master and Servants Act, 10,246 working men were imprisoned at the suit of their masters — not one master at the suit of the men!"^*

Use in Australia

As little as one hour’s absence by a free servant without permission could precipitate a punishment of prison or the treadmill. Employees in Australia in 1840 who left their employment without permission were subject to being hunted down under the Bushrangers Act. In the Melbourne jurisdiction, in the years 1835 to 1845, when labour shortages were acute, over 20% of prison inmates had been convicted under the New South Wales Act for offences including leaving place of work without permission and being found in hotels.Newcastle Miners and The Master and Servant Act, 1830-1862 by J.W. Turner in Labour History number 16, May 1969.

By 1902 the Act had been partially modified to include forfeit of wages if the written or unwritten contract for work was unfulfilled. Absence from place of work was punishable by imprisonment of up to three months with or without hard labour. There were also penalties of up to 10 pounds for anyone who harbours, conceals or re-employs a 'servant' (ie. worker) who has deserted or absconded or absented himself from his duty implied in the 'contract'. Masters and Servants Act (1902) N.S.W.

The changes to the WorkChoices industrial relations legislation in Australia in 2005 by the Howard Government are a return to the Master and Servant relationship and an attempt to introduce US style minimum wage conditions creating a new working-poor class who have no rights nor representation. These restrictions are embodied in the various Colonial Master and Servant Acts, which derived from the British Act.Comparisons between WorkChoices and the Master and Servant Act include from Social Commentator Kenneth Davidson in The Age, Ian West in the NSW Legislative Council, and a May 2005 speech PDF by Doug Cameron, National Secretary of the AMWU The changes have drawn strong union opposition with a national day of protest on 15 November 2005, with further protests occurring in 2006..

As little as one hour’s absence by a free servant without permission could precipitate a punishment of prison or the treadmill. Employees in Australia in 1840 who left their employment without permission were subject to being hunted down under the Bushrangers Act. In the Melbourne jurisdiction, in the years 1835 to 1845, when labour shortages were acute, over 20% of prison inmates had been convicted under the New South Wales Act for offences including leaving place of work without permission and being found in hotels.^*

By 1902 the Act had been partially modified to include forfeit of wages if the written or unwritten contract for work was unfulfilled. Absence from place of work was punishable by imprisonment of up to three months with or without hard labour. There were also penalties of up to 10 pounds for anyone who harbours, conceals or re-employs a 'servant' (ie. worker) who has deserted or absconded or absented himself from his duty implied in the 'contract'. ^*

The changes to the WorkChoices industrial relations legislation in Australia (which came into effect in March 2006) by the Howard Government are labelled as an attempt to return to the Master and Servant relationship. The changes have drawn strong union opposition together with a national day of protest on 15 November 2005, with further protests occurring in 2006. Despite union protests and worker outcry, the Workplace Relations Act remains as amended by the Workchoices Bill and continues in force as legislated. A high court challenge was initiated by the various state governments in May 2006, which judgment been reserved to a later date.

References

External links

• The Legal Concept of Employment: Marginalizing Workers - Law Commission of Canada
• Ernest Jones: 'Democracy Vindicated'
• Governments, Labour, and the Law in Mid-Victorian Britain: The Trade Union Legislation of the 1870s by Mark Curthoys, ISBN 0199268894, Oxford University Press. Reviewed by Philip Benesch.

Employment law