EU Agency Workers Directive

The next major step in this protracted process has now been reached. Here is what the REC has to say about it:

An agreement on the EU Agency Workers Directive was reached late last night by EU Employment Ministers in Luxembourg. This decision means that the Directive, which gives temps the right to the same pay as an equivalent permanent worker, could come into force in the UK by April 2010.

Commenting on the agreement, REC Chief Executive Kevin Green says: “Whilst yesterday’s agreement is significant, there is still a substantial amount of detail which needs to be decided upon. Although new regulations are unlikely to come into force until 2010, the next few months will be crucial in influencing the detail of what equal treatment provisions in the UK will look like.”

The text agreed yesterday in Luxembourg confirmed that there will be some level of flexibility in terms of how the new EU regulations will apply in the UK. This has been a key element of the REC’s campaign and, for example, means that equal treatment will only apply after 12 weeks of an assignment rather than from day one. As discussed at last week’s REC Agency Summit, one of the key issues is to ensure that the scope of equal treatment provisions is tightly defined and does not cover a full range of employee benefits and occupational pensions. The initial feedback from yesterday’s meeting in Luxembourg indicates that we could have a positive outcome on this issue, as well as on the definition of who constitutes a ‘comparable permanent employee’. One of the other positives is the focus on finding alternative dispute resolutions to limit the number of employment tribunals that could result.

There is still plenty of scope for disaster here: the devil as always will be in the detail. REC's press release actually has more teeth than their statement above, sent out to member, and deals with the subject pretty well.