Temporary delay for Directive?

At the recent TUC conference in Liverpool, the Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised that laws to give temporary agency workers the same rights as full-time employees will be brought into effect within a matter of months. However the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has announced that the implementation of Directive 2008/104/EC, on temporary agency work will now be delayed.

Member States are required to implement the Directive by 5 December 2011, and the proposed reforms include:

• equal access to facilities such as canteens, child care and transport services;
• a right to be informed of vacant posts;
• increased access to job training;
• equal treatment with regard to basic employment conditions, such as holidays, working time, rest periods and maternity leave.

Sick pay and pensions are not however included in the reforms.

The announcement has been met with concern by employers and organisations alike. In particular, the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC) has expressed some reservations as to the "ethics" of giving agency workers equivalent rights. Adrian Marlowe, ARC chairman commented, "What is ethical about adding many thousands of agency workers to the dole queue in the middle of a recession?"