26/05/2008
Temporary and agency workers will receive the same rights as permanent staff under an agreement concluded on 20 May 2008 between the government, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC). Agency workers will be given equal pay and holiday entitlements after 12 weeks in a job. This reflects a compromise between the unions, who wanted full rights after day one, and the CBI, who wanted equal treatment delayed for six months or a year.

The agreement will not cover sick pay or pension while temporary staff will have to work the same length of time as full-time workers to enjoy paid maternity leave.

The business secretary, John Hutton, said the deal, which is the culmination of a lengthy dispute between employers and unions, would achieve the government's twin objectives of "flexibility for British employers and fairness for workers."

The TUC said the deal represented a breakthrough after six years of deadlock and paves the way for a European Directive to deliver equal treatment rights for agency workers after the qualifying period. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the agreement "is a victory for union campaigning. The issue of agency workers has been crying out for attention for far too long. Too many agency workers in the UK face unfair treatment and injustice. The agreement now opens the door to the much stronger legal protection that agency workers deserve, as our Commission on Vulnerable Employment so graphically highlighted."

The proposals hinge on an Europe-wide agreement on agency workers’ rights. EU members are currently debating legislation on the issue and a number of key issues remain undecided. Only when Brussels passes a directive will the UK government be able to put forward "implementing" legislation of its own.

Commenting on the agreement, John Monks, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), said:
“This is good news for millions of ‘temps’ in Europe, not just in the UK. It clears the way for a new EU Directive, based on the principle of equal treatment from day one, with possibilities to derogate only by collective agreement or by agreement between the social partners at national level. I hope that the Directive will now be agreed quickly. We continue to press our opposition to the UK’s continuing determination to retain its opt-out from the Working Time Directive and to express our concerns on other aspects of the proposed revision of this Directive”.

Sources: BBC, The Guardian, TUC and ETUC press releases.