CWU welcomes TUC defence of agency rights

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The Communication Workers Union today (Monday) welcomes the TUC's complaint to the European Commission over legal loopholes which allow UK companies to get out of laws meant to ensure equal pay for agency workers.

CWU has provided evidence to assist the TUC's formal complaint to the European Commission against the UK government for failing to implement the Temporary Agency Workers Directive properly. The complaint argues that the failure to properly implement the Directive has lead to tens of thousands of agency workers being paid less than permanent staff despite doing the same job.

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Billy Hayes, CWU general secretary, said: "Some of the lowest paid workers in the UK are being cheated out of their rights to equal pay by cynical employers intent on keeping their wages low. Companies are using a loophole in the law to get out of their obligations on equal pay which is hitting some of the country's most vulnerable workers.

"The whole point of the 2011 agency regulations was to bring the principle of equal treatment - including equal pay - into UK law. Workers sitting next to each other, doing exactly the same work, are being paid vastly different rates but they should be made equal after 12 weeks in a job.

"But the introduction of new contracts means that many agency workers are signing away their rights to equal pay - which for most people is the most important element of the regulations. The irony here is that if you're on a zero hours contract you're actually better off because you qualify for equal pay after 12 weeks.

"This loophole must be closed to prevent thousands of agency workers - already on precarious terms - from being exploited. We're fully behind the TUC in this complaint to the European Commission and hope that swift action can be taken to close this loophole which flies in the face of the spirit of the original Directive."

The TUC complaint says that the UK government's flawed implementation of the EU Directive has allowed the abuse of the so-called 'Swedish derogation' - where employment agencies routinely pay agency workers far less than permanent staff doing the same job.

The TUC has gathered evidence from workplaces where agency staff are paid up to £135 a week less than permanent staff, despite working in the same place and doing the same job.

Under the UK's regulations, agency workers are entitled to the same pay and conditions as permanent staff doing the same job after 12 weeks. However, a Swedish derogation contract exempts the agency from having to pay the worker the same rate of pay, as long as the agency directly employs individuals and guarantees to pay them for at least four weeks during the times they can't find them work.

For more information on the CWU's campaign visit Closing the Loopholes. http://www.cwu.org/agency-loopholes.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;