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Temporary Agency Workers Directive

The Temporary Agency Workers Directive is an EU Directive agreed in November 2008 which seeks to guarantee people who get jobs through employment agencies receive equal pay and conditions to those in the business who do the same work.

The UK government agreed to a compromise deal on the agency workers directive in exchange for an agreement to retain its opt-out from the working time directive (although this has since fallen through as the European Parliament refused to support the continued opt-out).

The Agency Workers' regulations come into force in October 2011 and BIS have started on a brief outline of guidance of the regulations, which they have committed to publishing by July 2010.

Whilst FDF is heartened by the decision to delay the implementation until October 2011, which will give manufacturers more time to prepare for the impact it will have on their business, we remain uneasy about the interpretation of pay. FDF members are extremely concerned that the Regulations should not result in unnecessary complexity, either in the calculation of the pay arrangements of agency workers or by requiring end-users to provide agencies with detailed information on an ongoing and regular basis to enable them to be able to calculate bonus payments.

Our view is that the regulations must be implemented in a way that minimises the administrative burdens placed on employers and enable them to continue using agency workers as a way to adapt their workforce quickly and efficiently to meet changing customer requirements and economic circumstances.

FDF fears that the regulations will prove to be bad news for the UK economy by impeding job creation and harming flexibility. We feel that the Government has gone further than it needed to under EU rules by forcing employers to include temporary workers in performance appraisals designed to set pay for employees. Such additional bureaucracy will only discourage firms from taking on temporary workers when they are unable to create permanent jobs.

The regulations will fundamentally change the relationship between the three bodies concerned; the understanding has always been that the agency temp's employment relationship lies with the employment agency, not the agency's client, and we feel that the law should recognise this.

FDF has responded to both the consultation to the UK interpretation of the EU Directive and the UK implementation and is keeping members abreast of developments as well as opportunities to take part in briefings and sessions on the implementation.

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