Agency Workers Directive
CIPD calls for more clarity around 'equal treatment' in the Agency Workers Directive and argues for the need
for clear and simple administrative processes to keep implementation costs down
July 30 2009 - In response to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills consultation paper on the implementation of the Agency Workers Directive (AWD), the CIPD warns that clarity about the definition of equal treatment will be essential in order to reduce the burden of compliance on employers. The stipulation, outlined in the directive that after 12 weeks agency workers will be entitled to 'equal treatment' in relation to working and employment conditions, fails to define 'equal treatment'.
CIPD Adviser Mike Emmott says:
"The Directive is unclear about what the benchmark for comparison should be. The CIPD believes that pay comparisons for agency temps should be based on internal pay scales applying to a comparable worker within the organisation doing broadly similar work. This would remove the need to look for evidence of market rates, and simplify consideration of what a hypothetical permanent worker would have been paid - which could otherwise be a recipe for confusion and uncertainty. It will also reduce the burden on tribunals in terms of both the number and duration of hearings."
He continues: "The Government must ensure that agencies, employers and workers know exactly where they stand. This will be the single most critical issue for employers in determining their response to the regulations, and their impact on the UK's flexible labour market. Implementing the directive presents the Department for Business Industry and Skills with an excellent opportunity to rebut the charge of 'gold-plating'."
A CIPD survey carried out this month shows that employers are concerned about the costs of implementing the directive but these concerns focus more on uncertainties about process than on the costs of equal treatment.
Mike Emmott says "When it comes to implementation the processes to adopt should be as clear and simple as possible. While our research shows that employers base decisions about using agency temps on a range of factors, the regulations should avoid undermining this core component of the flexible labour market. Businesses struggling to cope in a recession have many other issues to contend with and the date for implementing the directive should be set as late as possible."
The same survey found that nearly half of employers (45.3%) give agency temps the same basic pay as their permanent employees and about a quarter (26.5%) pay agency temps better than permanent staff. Most employers (70%) also say they offer generally the same employment conditions to agency temps as to permanent staff.
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