The Government could still move to amend the implementation of the Agency Workers Directive 2008/104/EC, according to reports published this month. The Agency Workers Regulations SI 2010/93 are due to come into force on 1 October 2011, meaning that agency workers will have the same rights to pay, benefits, rest periods and holidays as someone recruited directly by the hirer after they have been there for 12 weeks.
However, the Government has sought expert legal advice on the legislation and has been told that some elements in the Regulations may be able to be stripped away as they have been unnecessarily included. A Downing Street spokesman said, "We are now looking at every part of employment law as part of the Red Tape Challenge. We want to do everything we can to help employers and drive growth."
Alexander Ehmann, Head of Regulatory Affairs at the Institute of Directors (IOD) commented, "We applaud the Government's decision to rethink the implementation of the Agency Workers Directive. We have long argued that vital improvements can be made by stripping away the unnecessary gold-plating in these provisions. We urge the Government to look again at the advice we received from the European Commission in 2009, which stated that the rules only need apply to businesses with binding pay scales and collective agreements. The desire to preserve a 12-week qualifying period agreed between the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) should not be allowed to derail a significant easing of the regulatory burden on British Businesses."
In contrast, Nicola Tager, an employment solicitor for Harbottle & Lewis, cast doubt on whether the Agency Workers Regulations could be changed at this late stage. "Has Downing Street sought this legal advice too late? The Regulations are currently drafted and are due to come into effect in less than one month, yet the Government has had since January 2010 when draft Regulations were laid before Parliament to make changes. Meanwhile, they now only have until 5 December 2011 to implement the Agency Workers Directive or it will face hefty EU fines."
