Admin sector news

Business groups lobby against temp rights

4/8/2009
Five leading business groups – the CBI, British Chambers of Commerce, Institute of Directors, EEF and the Federation of Small Businesses – have written to 'The Financial Times' to say that the Government should not give temporary workers instant rights to the same bonuses as full-time staff.

The Agency Workers Directive is due for implementation within the next two years. Unions and business groups are lobbying fiercely over how it should be applied.

Under the directive, temps will have the right to full employment terms (including equal pay) after 12 weeks in a workplace. There is widespread disagreement about how companies without exact pay grades can compare salaries of temporary and permanent staff and what other perks should be included.

The government has said that basic pay alone will not meet the principle of equal treatment that is embraced by the directive. Instead, it says that overtime, shift allowances, holiday pay and bonuses should all be considered.

The TUC recently published a survey of agency workers which found strong demand for better working conditions and equality of treatment with permanent staff. Temps said they were worried about getting lower redundancy payments than permanent staff. They are also typically the first to lose their jobs during redundancy rounds.