C2 Temporary agency workers
Composite of motion 2 and amendments
Congress welcomes adoption of the EU Temporary Agency Workers’ Directive giving long overdue rights and protections to a growing number of vulnerable workers, and will work with the Government to ensure robust and effective implementation and early enactment of these rights in the UK.
Congress expects the Government to guarantee full equal treatment rights, benefits and protections afforded by this legislation, and to introduce effective and strongly dissuasive measures to prevent avoidance and abuse of the Regulations. Anti-avoidance measures must provide for any dismissal, action or detriment to avoid the effect of the Regulations to be unlawful and that any dismissal arising from avoidance of the regulations to be automatically unfair. Congress opposes the use of any derogation for agency workers who have permanent contracts and who are paid between assignments, as this could exclude thousands of agency workers who would significantly lose out on pay and defeat the whole objective of the Directive of equal treatment. The rights and protection of agency workers must take priority over the claimed costs and burdens to business.
Congress calls on the Government to:
i) emphasise in the Regulations, as in the Directive, that employment contracts of an indefinite duration are the general form of employment relationship
ii) ensure wide and inclusive definitions of agency and agency worker to prevent bogus self-employment
iii) guarantee, in line with all other equal treatment legislation, a broad definition of equal treatment on holidays, hours and pay to include all forms of financial remuneration including basic pay, holiday, overtime, redundancy, maternity pay, performance-related pay, shift allowances, unsocial hours payments, commission, bonuses, parental and paternity entitlements, and paid training
iv) extend the full protections of the Pregnant Workers Directive to agency workers in the Regulations
v) ensure that agency workers have the right to actually take leave as well as holiday pay
vi) ensure that the agency advertises prominently any vacancies for direct employment with hirers and does not seek prohibitive fees from hirers or agency workers themselves if the hirer wants to directly employ those workers
vii) ensure speedy and effective enforcement through employment tribunals with hirers and agencies joined in the proceedings
viii) implement and enforce the rights by Spring 2010.
Mover: GMB
Seconder: Unite
Supporters: Communication Workers’ Union, Association of Teachers and Lecturers
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Vital legislation in UK needed now, or in next legislative session at least.
Maybe it should have also mentioned the financial case against agency working. There use to be VAT exemption which meant that firms only paid VAT on the agency fee. Now the full cost of wages as well is liable to VAT. So employ someone “in-house” and save on agency fees and VAT.
Time to reconsider in-house DLO’s?
There is and should be no excuse for treating agency workers like second class workers I agree totally with the other comment we need strong robust legislation now to protect these workers and in addition the right to organise these workers. In terms of legislation this should be welcomed but it need to be policed others employers will play lip service to it the best people to do that is the trade union movement.