Agency workers' rights

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ePolitix.com Stakeholders comment on the news that the government has announced plans to increase employment rights for agency staff.

Workers will receive the same treatment as permanent staff after 12 weeks.

Party response: Liberal Democrat

Lorely Burt, small business spokesperson, said: "This new agreement is a welcome step forward, as temporary and agency staff are some of the most vulnerable employees.

"The Liberal Democrats have long called for a clampdown on companies who abuse workers by taking on the same agency staff for short-term contracts, year after year."

"However, many people choose agency work because they value the flexibility and increased employment opportunities it brings. Companies need temporary workers to cover staff absence and recruitment gaps.

"The government must reassure these workers and businesses that clamping down on unscrupulous companies will not be at the expense of a flexible labour market."


Stakeholder response: Unite

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Tony Woodley, joint general secretary, said: "This is a landmark deal for 1.4 million agency workers currently working in the UK.

"The government has listened, acted and paved the way to equal treatment in the workplace. It is now much harder for employers to treat agency workers as dispensable labour, hired and fired at will.

"Unite will now be concentrating its efforts on organising agency workers across the country to ensure that exploitation is stamped out."

Stakeholder response:Federation of Small Businesses



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Tina Sommer, EU and international affairs chairman, said: "This is a disastrous deal for small businesses, which rely on the flexibility provided by agency workers.

"Agency fees and high hourly rates mean temporary workers, far from being seen as cheap labour, are already a costly but useful way of responding to fluctuations in demand. If that flexibility is lost, many small businesses will stop using temporary employees.

"Part of the reason for the UK's relative economic success in the past decade has been the flexibility of its workforce. This deal could put all that at risk at the worst possible time.

"After month-on-month increases in unemployment and with economic growth at its lowest point since the last recession, this is the last thing small businesses need."

Stakeholder response:British Retail Consortium

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Stephen Robertson, BRC director general, said: "This announcement seems like a cosy stitch up between government and unions. But the unions are wrong to regard this as a victory for workers.

"They will see flexible working opportunities disappear yet not be replaced by permanent jobs, while businesses will struggle to respond to peaks and troughs in demand and to cover for absent permanent staff.

"Retailers support protecting workers' rights but temporary staff are already covered by all key employment rights and protected by health and safety and discrimination legislation.

"The UK currently has an excellent reputation for its flexible labour market, making it an attractive place for companies to invest and create jobs. These proposals will damage this status.

"Government and unions should be concentrating on those workers who have been in temporary positions for a long time. Adding prohibitive costs will deter companies from using agency workers and 12-week contracts will become the norm – this is not in the interests of employers or workers."


Stakeholder response: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development



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Mike Emmott, employee relations adviser, said: "It is a shame that the government has ditched the sensible proposal to set up an independent commission to examine plans to extend agency worker rights. Our research shows significant employer resistance to a qualifying period of less than six months, so the government’s intention to push for 12 weeks seems bound to cause a great detail of unhappiness amongst employers.

"Agency workers play a valuable role in the UK’s flexible labour market. Undermining this flexibility poses a serious risk to UK jobs, and risks blocking an important pathway into work for many jobless people. At a time of economic uncertainty, and with the government committed to ambitious targets for getting more people back into work, the timing could hardly have been worse."