legislation update

eu agency workers directive (awd) – a brief synopsis:

The aim of the European Agency Workers Directive is to create parity between the working conditions and benefits of temporary workers and permanently employed ones. It is a continuation of the policy of creating parity for all "atypical" workers (as has been implemented for part-time workers).
The AWD has still being reviewed under a consultation period but listed below is some background information explaining what the main requirements of the proposed Directive are:

• An agency worker assigned to work under the control of a client company should not be given less favourable basic employment conditions than a similar permanent worker in that client company, unless this is objectively justified.
• The significant employment conditions set out in the directive are: pay, working time, rest periods, holidays and holiday pay, work done by pregnant women and nursing mothers, children and young people, and action taken to combat discrimination.
• Member states can chose not to apply this equal treatment requirement where temporary agency workers meet one of four conditions:

1. the temp is paid between assignments (not usually the case in the UK)
2. the temp is covered by collective agreements (rare in the UK)
3. the assignment is for less than 6 weeks (key area currently being debated by the UK Government for either a 12 month period or to be removed altogether)
4. there is no comparable worker

• Client companies should give agency workers access to ‘social services’ provided to permanent workers.
• Agency workers should be informed of permanent vacancies in the client company.
• Clauses banning temp-to-perm fees will be null and void

It is clear that the impact of the proposed AWD in the UK will be significant if it is adopted by the EU, particularly in its current form as it will require temps to be given the same pay and benefits as comparable workers on the Client site.

The result could be a reduction in temp work in the UK. It should be noted that the UK government does not think that pay could be included in the proposed directive due to the fact that the directive is legally based on Article 137 of the EC Treaty, which provides that, “the provisions of this article shall not apply to pay”.

Nevertheless, if pay is to be included this will mean that the payroll company or the recruitment company will have to obtain detailed information from the client relating to the pay and benefits of the clients permanent workers to ensure that temps are not paid less than a comparable employee of the client.

This could lead to increased administration costs regarding temp workers pay disputes.