Reaction to EC proposals for agency workers

The first reaction to yesterday's approval of the Temporary Workers Directive by the European Commission came from the CBI, which attacked the Directive, describing it as "unworkable for companies and for workers". The TUC has published its own response, with a predictably opposite reaction.

CBI

John Cridland, Deputy Director-General, said: "This proposal claims to be about employment protection for agency staff. But in reality it will undermine opportunities for people who want to do temporary work. We fully support the principle of equal treatment but European law must not damage our labour market. Requiring firms to match the terms and conditions of temps with permanent staff would actually reduce temping opportunities.

"At the moment when firms take on agency temps they do not get involved in the details of a temp's contract. But under these proposal that would not be possible, making it harder to take people on. No one - least of all agency temps - gains from this."

CIPD

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has joined the CBI in criticising the draft EU directive on agency workers as unnecessary and impractical. Diane Sinclair, CIPD Employee Relations Adviser, said: "The draft directive will limit opportunities for temping in the UK. If organisations are forced to go through the bureaucratic process of comparing terms and conditions of temps with permanent staff, they are much less likely to use agency staff."

TUC

TUC General Secretary John Monks said: "This is an overdue step after the employers at European level had blocked an agreement. There are still concerns that the proposals leave worrying loopholes. British business needs agency workers to provide short-term cover and some British workers need agencies to find them short-term work. Too many businesses are using the lack of protection for agency workers to keep permanent parts of their business going with agency workers on worse terms and conditions.

"Employers will whinge about 'red-tape' from Brussels but short-term savings don't always make long-term business sense."

The Workplacelaw Network will keep you up-to-date with the implementation of the Directive once more details are available.
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