New legislation would make life better for temp workers

By Alison Sweeney

If you are a temporary worker I’ve got good news for you. A controversial bill that is soon to be introduced to our work force for temporary and agency workers will provide protection to all temps as it aims to provide equality in the workplace for all staff.
But, if you are an IT or engineering worker it is likely that you will be excluded from this protection. It has been made clear at these early stages that IT and similar workers earn more than contracted employees due to the nature of their work and prefer to remain temporary employees because of this and therefore should be excluded from this protection for temps bill.
In February this bill passed the second reading in parliament and seems to be well on its way to helping temps attain the same rights as their permanent colleagues. This will cover areas such as equal pay, pensions and training entitlements. The bill will now move to the committee stage and will put pressure on the government to introduce new legislation.
Some are opposed to this new bill such as business groups in a range of sectors, but the Unions have generally welcomed the news as it will protect vulnerable workers and help eliminate discrimination against temporary employees. Communication Workers Union general secretary Billy Hayes said: “This is a real 'minimum wage' moment. The working lives and welfare of 1.4 million agency workers and their families are one step closer to the fair and equal treatment they deserve and need.
“When we get this bill through, we won't find any MPs who’ll admit to having been opposed to it. It is a quintessential piece of Labour legislation which we look forward to implementing and enforcing for the good health of British employment.”
So who is at risk at the moment without the policy?
For the employer it is now recommended that the company leaves recruitment of temps to the temping business. This is not only for advertising the job, but also interview and selection. Their only contract with the temping business and avoid anything that could be construed as a contract with the temp.
This in turn will help avoid any cases being taken against the company. Holidays, sickness absence, disciplinary action and claims for family-related leave should be managed by the temping business. Other advice is when negotiating a temporary contract with an employment business; seek indemnities covering claims based on employee status. This will focus minds from the beginning of the employment.
For the temp, many cases have been taken where a temporary employee has attempted to take the company for which they are temping through an employment tribunal. In 2004, a temp took a period of sickness absence and while he was off the agency provided the company another worker. When the employee returned to work it was ascertained that he was no longer needed by the employer. The employee took the case to the employment tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) found that the temp was not the company’s employee and did not, therefore, have statutory protection from unfair dismissal. The EAT set out some useful guidance to assist tribunals with determining when a contract of employment should be implied between an agency worker and the end user: so the temp as we sit today is not technically the company’s employee. But that is not to say that they should not be treated fairly and to the same degree and standards as their full-time counterparts.