Fairness for Agency Workers, Flexibility for Employers
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Issued 21 January 2010
Legislation to give Britain’s 1.3 million agency workers important new rights
was laid before Parliament today.
As agreed in 2008 by the TUC and CBI, the changes will give agency workers
the right to the same pay, holidays and other basic working conditions as
directly recruited staff after 12 weeks in a given job.
Commenting on the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, which implement an EU
directive, Business Minister Pat McFadden said:
“This change in the law is aimed at ensuring fairness for agency workers in
relation to the permanent employees they work alongside. They are being
implemented in line with the TUC / CBI agreement which sought to ensure fairness
while maintaining flexibility for the UK labour market – a very important factor
in our ability to create jobs.
“It is only by engaging in the mainstream of Europe, actively influencing
proposals and securing hard won agreements that we have been able to deliver a
sensible and balanced package.”
Laying the Regulations today delivers on the Government’s commitment to get
them on the Statute Book before the end of this Parliament. It will also give
agencies, hirers and agency workers time to prepare and plan before the law
comes into force next year.
In 2008 the Government secured a deal in Europe on the Agency Workers
Directive that allowed Britain's rules to be based on an agreement reached in
the UK between the CBI and TUC.
Since then the Government has consulted extensively with stakeholders,
launching policy consultations in May and November last year. Over 300
organisations took part, representing all interests – trade unions, employment
agencies, business groups and employers of all sizes from both the private and
public sectors. Consultation events were also held across the country, enabling
the Government to hear first-hand about the issues at stake.
For the first time agency workers will be entitled to equal treatment on
basic working and employment conditions, including pay and holidays, as if they
had been recruited directly by the hirer after 12 weeks in a given job. The
rights on pay will apply not just to the basic hourly rate, but to all pay for
work done, including bonuses that are directly related to the performance of the
agency worker personally. But, as set out in the Directive, they will not extend
to some of the wider benefits that permanent staff can enjoy in the context of
their longer-term relationship with their employer, such as occupational
pensions and sick pay.
To ensure that workers are not deprived of their rights by those who would
seek to avoid equal treatment the Regulations include provisions that will deal
with repeat assignments designed to prevent workers acquiring equal treatment
rights. Agencies and hirers will face the prospect of having to pay out up to
£5,000 to the worker if an Employment Tribunal finds that these specific
anti-avoidance rules have been breached. And to provide a greater deterrent in
low-value cases there will be a general minimum award of two weeks’ pay, subject
only to Tribunal discretion if that level of award does not seem reasonable.
Other benefits that agency workers will gain from the first day of their
assignment include:
· information about internal vacancies to give them the same opportunity as
other workers to find permanent employment; and
· equal access to on-site facilities such as child care and transport
services.
Notes
Department for Business, Innovation & Skills The Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills (BIS) is building a dynamic and competitive UK economy by:
creating the conditions for business success; promoting innovation, enterprise
and science; and giving everyone the skills and opportunities to succeed. To
achieve this it will foster world-class universities and promote an open global
economy. BIS - Investing in our future.
About the Author
© Crown Copyright. Material taken from the Department for
Business, Innovation & Skills. Reproduced under the terms and conditions of the
Click-Use Licence.
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2010-01-22 18:05:18 in Employee Articles
