The TUC, a trade union umbrella body, said today that the UK is failing to implement European rules designed to give equal pay to agency workers. We answer five questions on the trade body’s claim.
Why does the TUC think agency staff are being treated unfairly?
The trade body is complaining to the European Commission that agency staff are still being underpaid despite the government’s implementation of the Temporary Agency Workers Directive, which came into effect two years ago. It called the implementation of this directive “flawed”.
What else did the TUC say?
It argued that agency staff working at a company for 12 weeks or more are entitled to be paid the same as permanent staff.
It said an exemption meant that if a worker was directly employed by an agency the company did not have to pay that worker the same rate of pay as a staffer – although they do get paid for at least four weeks between assignments.
It added that there has been a big rise in these types of contracts, with more than one in six agency workers now on them.
What does the TUC want exactly?
The TUC says it wants the government to ban these contracts and has asked the European Commission to investigate the problem.
General secretary Frances O’Grady speaking to the BBC said: “The recent agency worker regulations have improved working conditions for many agency workers without causing job losses.
“However, the regulations are being undermined by a growing number of employers who are putting staff on contracts that deny them equal pay.
“Most people would be appalled if the person working next to them was paid more for doing the same job, and yet agency workers on these contracts can still be treated unfairly,” he added.
What has the government said?
“We worked closely with both employers and employee organisations to successfully implement the Agency Workers Regulations,” the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills told the BBC.
“We will of course consider carefully any information the TUC presents to the European Commission.”
What do recruitment experts think about the matter?
Kevin Green, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, told the BBC the issue was not a loophole but a “legitimate part of the legislation”.
“Agency workers have benefited since these rules came in,” he said. “There are lots of things our members were unhappy with in these regulations, there was clearly a compromise made.
“The key thing is to get people into work, to make sure you’re creating jobs, if you start unpicking regulations because you decide you don’t like them, then you risk creating uncertainty, undermining employers confidence and end up with fewer people in work.”
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