Equal Treatment of Agency Workers Agreed
4th June 2008
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) has announced that an agreement has been reached between the government, the CBI and the TUC that will enable agency workers in the UK to receive “equal treatment” with permanent employees after 12 weeks’ employment.
“Equal treatment” is defined as meaning at least the basic working and employment conditions that would apply to the agency workers concerned if they had been recruited directly as permanent staff to do the same job. It will not cover occupational social security schemes eg pension and sickness benefit schemes.
The final formulation of the agreement will be dependent on the progress of the European directive on working conditions for temporary workers that will enable this to be brought into legal effect within the UK. The government will now input into that process and it is envisaged that implementing legislation will be introduced in the next parliamentary session.
Employers groups, led by the CBI, had lobbied for a period in excess of six months before equal treatment applied to agency workers. They argued that any lesser period could lead to employers taking on fewer agency workers and thereby reduce the flexibility that they offer in the labour market. In contrast, the Unions have campaigned for increased rights for agency workers for years and this agreement paves the way for stronger legal protections in this area.
For more information, please contact:
Glasgow: Paul Brown or Michael McLaughlin - tel: 0141 228 8000
Edinburgh: Alan Strain - tel: 0131 226 5541
The information contained in this article is given for general information only and does not constitute legal advice on any specific matter.