Four out of ten employers would not hire temporary workers at all if a
proposed EU directive giving agency staff the right to the same pay and
conditions as permanent staff is brought in.
This is the headline finding from a new survey by the Recruitment and
Employment Confederation, which believes the directive would create a red tape
nightmare for employers and raise business costs significantly.
"The survey proves that, as currently drafted, the directive will have
a huge impact on the use and cost of temporary workers across Europe.
"One of the fundamental aims of the EU commission and parliament is to
increase job opportunities. This directive would have the opposite
effect," said Marcia Roberts, the REC’s director of external relations.
Roberts said it could result in firms having to bump up the pay of permanent
staff to match that of higher-paid temps. More than half of the 190 recruitment
agencies that responded to the survey predicted that companies would not use
temporary workers if it meant they had to up the pay of permanent staff as a
result.
Impact of the directive
– Temporary staff will be entitled to
the same pay and conditions as comparable permanent employees
– Employers will have to draw up individual contracts or pay
scales for every temporary staffer working for more than six weeks and pass
these on to the agency
– The directive could cause confidentiality and breach of
contract problems with employers having to inform third parties about employee
salaries
– The directive does not clarify whether the six-week
qualification period has to be served continuously or can be accumulated
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