18 Sept 2009 - Gordon Brown at TUC Conference will fast-track agency workers’ rights – the assumption is therefore that he will not delay implementation of EC Agency  Workers’ Directive 2008/104/EC

 Gordon Brown has been buttering up the Unions at the annual TUC annual conference by pledging that new laws to give temporary agency workers the same rights as full-time employees will take effect in the UK within the next few months. 

 This news will, undoubtedly, dash the hopes of business leaders who have being pressing for delay of this legislation.  One pithy commentary which sums up the business view comes from The Association of Recruitment Consultancies’ chairman Adrian Marlowe who stated: “Such a move would hit jobs and the economy hard.  Union leaders must be living in la la land if they think bringing in the Agency Workers Directive now will protect one job.”

 Adrian went on to say:” The government should think twice about the true cost of implementing the directive at a cost in excess of £2 billion, money the country can ill afford.  At a time when employers need flexibility and encouragement to take on new workers, gold plating the Directive will simply lead to greater unemployment.”

The union view is very much pitched against the injustice of a relatively small number businesses who wish to exploit usually low-paid workers.  However, the vast majority of the 3 million plus UK agency workers chose this way of obtaining work as a life choice and businesses to deal with their peak loads without lumbering themselves with unnecessary costs.  You and many fellow business owners may well be questioning Gordon's grasp on business reality, as business leaders have for months, with such a move but he is probably stuck between the rock of the EC Agency Workers Directive's final implementation date in 2011 and the hard place of the worsening situation as well as keeping one eye (sic) on the forthcoming general election next year. 

 What does this mean for your business?   If you use agency or contract workers to smooth your peak resource loads as do such as fruit farmers, construction workers, some factory operations and even retail,  it is a fair bet that use of such staff, who are taken on at short notice, is unavoidable.   To protect yourselves against the additional risk implicit in the new laws, now is the time to inform yourselves of the implications. 

 Remember, do make a budget allowance for agency worker claims in your management accounts.  If you run a “happy ship” with good employer/employee relations, you may even find that the budget allowance could remain on the bottom line. 

 The author, Philip Norris is Principal Consultant and Managing Director of Norris Management Ltd.  In a long and varied career, Phil has been a Programme and Project Manager for high profile projects in the Construction and Transportation fields.  In recent years, he has provided much needed support as a management consultant to corporate and SME clients on the development of, the management of, team building and the employment of people in the workplace.