Government consults on agency workers' law

The government has published a consultation document seeking views on how a proposed new European Union (EU) directive on agency workers should be enforced in the UK.

Current UK law offers minimal rights to agency workers and does not protect against less favourable treatment (see "Employers exploit agency boom" pages 14-16).

The government argues that the new law could "cause a decrease in the demand for agency workers". It also believes that agency work can provide "a useful way into the labour market" although the consultation document itself provides no evidence for this. In fact employers who offer permanent work to agency staff at present face large penalty payments to agencies. This acts as a disincentive to offering permanent work.

The CBI employers' organisation argues that the new law will mean fewer jobs for agency workers. It wants them to be able to compare their pay only with that of other workers employed within the agency.

The government argues that the directive excludes pay. However, this interpretation appears to directly contradict the directive, which specifically identifies "pay" as a working condition covered by its provisions. But clearly without a right to be paid the rate for the job it is difficult to see how the law could enforce a principle of no less favourable treatment, which the directive is aimed at achieving.

The consultation paper is at www.dti.gov.uk/er/agency/directive - the deadline for responses to reach the DTI is 18 October 2002.