Swedish derogation and agency workers

Retail giant Tesco has joined Marks and Spencer and Jaguar Land Rover in using the so-called Swedish derogation to try to avoid the effects of the Agency Workers Regulations which came into force on 1 October 2011.

The Swedish derogation is also called “pay between assignments” and requires a recruitment agency to turn their temps into permanent employees with the promise of getting paid between jobs. The TUC had warned about the danger of this happening in an emergency motion at its September Congress. The regulations should mean that after 12 weeks employment agency workers would receive the same pay and conditions as permanent staff. But the effect of the Swedish derogation is that if the agency deems itself to be the employer the staff will not acquire many of those rights. The agency will be required to pay staff who are between assignments but at only 50% of their pay. Also the agency may seek to re-assign staff to different contracts with the result that they leave without any recompense.

Unite national officer Jennie Formby, said: “What was supposed to give security and equality has, inmany cases, put people in a worse position."