Earlier this month, I used this column to accuse Gordon Brown of dithering over what to do about the rights of agency workers.
Well, I send my apologies to the embattled prime minister, despite a rogue Bill making its merry way through Parliament which threatened to throw a huge spanner in the works, plans were obviously being drawn up in smoke-filled rooms to reach a compromise. The government has now struck a deal with the CBI and TUC to give agency workers equal treatment after just 12 weeks in a job.
Brown is in need of some kind words after the drubbing Labour suffered at last week's by-election in Crewe and Nantwich. But it is unlikely he will get any from the HR community.
Research has shown that employers would be unhappy with a qualifying period of less than six months - well, that has now been halved. Almost three-quarters of respondents to Personnel Today's online news barometer back in February said agency workers should not receive the same rights as permanent employees at all.
The proposed deal is unhelpful and unwelcome; it will undermine the flexibility of the UK labour market and risk jobs, and could prove damaging for many people who use agency work as a pathway into a permanent position.
Add to this the cost implications and extra red tape and it's hard to see where HR wins from this.
Business groups have universally lined up to criticise the agreement. Even the CBI, which agreed the wording of the deal and was the major business player, said it was "the least worst outcome possible".
Hardly a resounding vote of approval for something it had just put its name to.
The threat remains that any deal could yet be toughened up in Europe, further reducing the qualifying period or extending the workplace rights covered. Suddenly, Brown's dithering doesn't look so bad.
Comments (1)
“This is a disastrous deal for small businesses, which rely on the flexibility provided by agency workers.
“Agency fees and high hourly rates mean temporary workers, far from being seen as cheap labour, are already a costly but useful way of responding to fluctuations in demand. If that flexibility is lost, many small businesses will stop using temporary employees.
“Part of the reason for the UK’s relative economic success in the past decade has been the flexibility of its workforce. This deal could put all that at risk at the worst possible time.
“After month-on-month increases in unemployment and with economic growth at its lowest point since the last recession, this is the last thing small businesses need.”
Posted by Tina Sommer | May 27, 2008 9:20 AM
Posted on May 27, 2008 09:20