TEMPORARY AGENCY WORKERS DIRECTIVE
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The final version of this directive is now in force and EU member states have until December 2011 to implement it. The UK government is consulting or what it is required to do.
The key features of the directive are that the basic terms and conditions of assigned temporary workers, including remuneration, holiday, hours, maternity and anti-discrimination provisions, should not be less favourable than if the worker had been recruited by the operator direct. This equal treatment is to start after 12 weeks of employment with the operator. Temporary workers are also required to have equal access to collective facilities, such as the staff canteen, and also access to information about permanent employment and training.
There Is much dispute about the ambit of the directive, and the government has been accused of proposing to apply it much more widely than the EU intended. In particular, it is arguable that the directive should only apply where there are formalised pay scales, such as in the public sector, and it is not intended by the EU to apply to small private sector businesses No doubt we will see more on this in the future.