Employee Rewards and Benefits News
Equal rights for agency workers under new plans
In its ongoing crusade to provide equal rights in the workplace in regards to pay and reward, the government has outlined its plans for agency workers in the most recent Queen's Speech.
The long-standing tradition held during the state-opening of parliament saw the Queen underlining how the government wanted to improve working conditions for all people in the current economic climate, upgrading the rights of individuals associated with such companies.
Her Majesty said in her speech: "My government will ensure that agency workers have a right to equal treatment with permanent staff on pay, holidays and other basic conditions."
The rights will come into place after such workers have spent 12 weeks in a job, aiming to undermine trends picked out in a recent poll held by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) which discovered that agency workers are regularly bullied and overlooked.
Last month, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said of the current situation: "At a time of recession vulnerable workers are even more likely to be exploited by unscrupulous employers. Agency workers are particularly prone to abuse as they have so few rights."
Posted by Jo Morgan
